The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Aloe Vera
Posted by Grant (Texas City, Texas) on 05/08/2009
★★★★★
Was just reading Ted from Bangkok, Thailand post 12/04/2006 on acid reflux and wanted to pass my findings along. Back in the early 70's I had acid so bad that I would swallow antacids whole, by the handfulls. While shopping the, (then, very new concept in my area), herb store, I found aloe vera "gel" which used Irish moss as the gelling agent and ascorbic acid as the preservative, it cured my "AR" with the first swallow! Later I determined it was actually the Irish moss that stopped my acid! However, I can't find the combination anywhere any more.
Mustard
Posted by Staci (Cleveland, Georgia) on 06/05/2009
★★★★★
I can not believe this!!! It is 6 in the morning and I have been up and down all night with acid issues. I did the right things. No eating after 7...waited 3 hours before going to bed...propped up...ate non-acid foods...but still all night. So...at 5:30 I finally gave up popping the Tums and drinking the milk(my son tells me Milk is an acid so it does not work. Drink Tea!!! he says). I decide to check out the internet...why not? Up anyways. This website is a life saver. Mustard. Who knew? Vinegar? Made no sense to me, but I figued why not? I ate my spoon full of Mustard...and can tell the difference. It is still hovering around, but now I know I have won the fight tonight. Mustard. I am a believer!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!
Almonds
Posted by michelle (Cambridge, UK) on 06/03/2009
★★★★★
Dear Sammi, I have been eating almonds with every meal, before, after, or during the meal, for the last six months, and they have completely taken my acid reflux away. I think they work because they are alkaline.( I found this advice on this site )
I took 5 per meal to start with, then dropped to 2 after the meal, but at night I tend to eat a bit more, so sometimes need none if my meal is very alkaline, ( ie. lettuce , avocado and lemon juice ) or 15-20 if I eat late and heavily ! They ALWAYS WORK !
Celery
Posted by Sammi (Flowery Branch, Ga) on 06/02/2009
★★★★★
I have learned a lot after reading all of your comments. This is the first time I have seen this web site and reading it mentioned in passing on Dr. Mercola's web site. My husband used to get acid reflux painfully bad, but after he gave up drinking quarts of tea a day (hey, he's a southern boy!), he very rarely gets it. He avoids bad eating, but sometimes (and it's usually some kind of fast food) he weakens and pays for it. He used to use baking soda, but found it was slow to work and sometimes didn't. Our son-in-law has BAD problems with it and found only eating celery (don't know if he knows about the other recommendations) could fix it. Hubby tried celery and has stuck with it as it works on the rare occasions now when he's affected. I can't get him to try the ACV. He thinks my son and I are crazy using it. Thanks for this site and all the fine input.
B12
Posted by Nate (New Orleans, LA) on 05/24/2009
★★★★☆
Hey, I tried everyting from this site. I was on Aciphex and Malox. This helped but did not cure anything. Then I saw these emails about apples and apple cider viniger. I have been taking apples for months before I read this. It did not help. Applecider vineger did not help. Probiotics did not help.
So what did? One guy posted here saying that Acid Reflux is a B12 deficiency. I had liquid B12 and put it under my tongue. Within 30 minutes I felt relief when I was previously having a bad reaction. I also had a nuropethy thing going on in my scalp that started after I got on blood pressure meds. My head tingled as my sinuses got bad. Even this partially but significantly went away. Not completely but a significant change. Much relief. 5 days later, I am feeling even better. I have to take B12 daily under my tongue but major results. Better than when I was on Aciphex. I feel that I will be cured in a few weeks as long as I stay on B12. I hope this helps some of you.
Slippery Elm
Posted by Lenore (Chicago, Illinois) on 05/23/2009
★★★★★
Slippery elm bark cured my acid refux.You can buy slippery elm bark powder in most health food stores. I found out about it while researching for a cure for acid reflux, made the tea by adding 1 heaping tablespoon to one pint of boiling water- let steep one hour then simmer a few minutes - strain( or not) and drink. Prior to this I took tums, prisolec and other otc and prescription meds to no avail. After using this remedy I have no more trouble, I was also informed that tums and other drugs taken over the long haul begin to cause the problem they were originally meant to cure. I had acid refux so bad it burnt my throat and I had to try to sleep while sitting up. Amazingly I only had to take it 2x in a whole year and otherwise have not even modified my diet at all. Slippery elm bark is also very nourishing and is said to heal anything it comes into contact with.
Raw Potato
Posted by Ivette (Pasadena, California) on 05/23/2009
★★★★★
Hello! I have acid reflux and I found that eating one half potato relieves the symptoms quickly. Probably because potatos are high in natural starches, overall, raw potatos have helped me more than prescribed medicine!
Digestive Enzymes
Posted by Ali (Abu Dhabi, UAE) on 05/14/2009
My question is about digestive enzmes. Is this recommended for any reflux problem and what type is best as a remedy. Is it taken with anacid tablets? please advise.
Apples
Posted by Erin (Lima, Ohio) on 05/09/2009
★★★★★
After suffering from symptoms of "Acid Reflux Disease" for about three and 1/2 years and feeling very frustrated with (expensive)pharmceutical treatments and not getting any results, I decided to try both apple slices and apple juice before going to bed or when symptoms appeared (not at the same time). The results, I am THRILLED to say were IMMEDIATE!!! I tried them the same night that I read the testimonials from others on this site and I slept the best I have in those 3 1/2 years! No more sleeping sitting up or on my left side only. I had sloppy joes this afternoon, felt the symptoms coming back, ate apple slices (red delicious) and the symptoms went away. I am still trying to figure out what all of my trigger foods are. THANK YOU for this site and the information!
Raise the Bed
Posted by Another Sufferer (Houston, Texas) on 05/05/2009
I'm a side sleeper, suffering from Gerd and find that sleeping on my right side always makes the reflux worse.
Almonds
Posted by Jeremy (Bloomington, IL) on 05/05/2009
★☆☆☆☆
Almonds doesn't work for me. It seems to make the acid reflux worse. ACV is the way to go!!
Betaine Hydrochloride
Posted by FreeBrrd (San Francisco, CA USA) on 05/04/2009
★★★★★
Acid reflux symptoms are same for too much acid & too little acid. Most treatments are for too much. Most treatments will take care of the symptoms either way. Test for too little acid is if vinegar helps as it is acid. From my research, I don't think vinegar will cure too little acid, just the symptoms. Taking betaine HCL is supposed to cure it by teaching your system to produce more acid.
Too little acid causes nutrients to not be absorbed. You may become anemic, etc. I think this is why they say that older folks do not absorb nutrients as well ei. calcium.
So while the stuff you get at the drugstore will cure the symptoms, if you have too little acid, it will actually make the problem worse.
If you search online for Betaine HCL and acid reflux, it will tell you how to do it. Basically take the HCL with meals that include protein. Take enough to make you feel better. After a while you should be able to reduce amount of HCL taken, stopping completely at some point. If you use acid blockers, etc. it reverses the good results.
Get Betaine HCL at health food stores. Pharmacists go into shock if you tell them that you want to take Hydrochloric acid.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Martha (Sacramento, CA) on 04/30/2009
★★★★★
I went on the Atkins diet twice in my life and both times, my GERD disappeared. I have mentioned that to all the Drs I have ever seen and they all just shook their heads and blew it off as an anomaly. I am happy to hear of someone else having that same experience. I won't go back on Atkins, but now I am motivated to once again cut most of the bad carbs out and see if it helps.
Hydrogen Peroxide, ACV and Baking Soda
Posted by Lynn (Mt Healthy, Ohio) on 04/24/2009
★★★★★
well it's almost 3a.m. but I had to post this remedy in case someone else is suffering. SEVERE acid reflux is much worse, it feels like I just trisd to drink battery acid. It's very painful and is sometimes accompanied with spitting up blood. I've had this happen before only to suffer with it for hours and wondering if it was going to kill me. This time I took the spray bottle I keep in my bathroom loaded with 4oz. of hydrogen peroxide (drugstore brand ok) per 24oz. of purified water to brush my teeth with and sprayed enough to gargle (the same could be done with a cup of purified water and a tblsp of peroxide-don't swallow) and the relief was instant. Keep brushing, gargling, andspitting out into the sink until pain subsides you will cough up the acid-good-get rid of it. Then take a cup of purified water, mix 1 tbsp acv + one fourth/one half tsp. ORGANIC baking soda (I have to watch my budget too but using small amnts. for internal help is still cost effective), I keep it in an air tight jar on the counter, and sip. The bs will make you burp alot but you'll feel much better. Well, it's almost 3:30 am so I'm going back to sleep now. GOD BLESS
Multiple Remedies
Posted by Selena (Chula, GA) on 04/23/2009
Hi, My response if for Shobha from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India and any other acid reflux sufferers. Before we married, my husband suffered from a severe case of acid reflux. He had to sleep on his right side propped up on pillows. He took "the purple pill" religiously after going through several other well-known "acid-reducing" meds, that one by one became ineffective as he graduated to a stronger medicine. I have always been opposed to these meds because most people suffer from too little acid and not too much acid, so taking medicines to further lower their stomach acids sounded quite "stupid" and dangerous. If you reduce your stomach acid, then your body can not break down your food for energy and nutrition. Then slowly you begin to get all kinds of health problems bascially due to "malnutrtion" and deficiencies. Kind of like starving yourself to death but with lots of bloat, constipation, and allergies and without the weight loss. Oh you'll still have all the fat broken down and stored on your hips and gut, but you won't be able to break down protein into amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of life. Without them your body cannot reproduce new blood cells, muscle tissue, etc. Anyway, back to my husband. Whenever I would try to convince him of the harm he was doing to himself, we would always end up in an argument over it. Finally, Thank God, he started his own company and lost his "company provided health insurance" that paid for a majority of his meds. When he went to refill his prescripton and they told him it was $80 for a month's supply, he turned finally turned to me to help "fix" him the natural way. I put him on a yeast-free-diet and oregano oil capsules. Basically he avoided all simple carbs (white rice, white flour products, all fermented foods and beverages, fungus foods like mushrooms, etc.) He followed the diet Mon-Fri about 95% but on the weekends he cheated alot. In less than 2 months he lost around 15 lbs and his acid reflux. No more meds needed. No more propping on pillows at night while laying on his right side. He could even bend over to wash the bottom of his car without acid coming up in his throat. That was 6 years ago. He rarely gets heartburn now unless he has been over-indulging in beer or refined carbs. And when he does get it, he uses about 1/2 tsp. baking soda in water to relieve it. No more "magic pills" for him. I suggest everyone using this stuff to do some research on the side-effects of it. You are slowly killing yourself. Proton pump inhibitors inhibit a lot more than acid production.
Multiple Remedies
Posted by Jen (L.A., CA, USA) on 04/23/2009
Hi Shobha, I work in the field of sleep disorders medicine and I have many patient that suffer from nighttime (only) reflux and many of them suffer from snoring and or Sleep Apnea (pauses in breathing or shallow breathing). The snoring/Apnea is an obstruction in the airway makes the person's breathing effort increase, however since the airway is compromised and narrowed it causes a "sucking-up" of the acid from the stomach into the throat when the person tries to breathe... Allot of these patients sleep at an incline with several pillows or a wedge. If you snore or have been told that you make breathing sounds or pauses in breathing while sleeping you should have it evaluated. Good luck.
Multiple Remedies
Posted by Shobha (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India) on 04/22/2009
★☆☆☆☆
I think that I have night reflux, as I get up with a coating on my tongue and a sore throat on my right side. Have tried ACV, baking soda, apples and nothing has helped so far. After eating, my stomach feels full and heavy, like its weighted down, and the feeling takes a long while to settle. Is this due to excess acidity or lack of acid for digestion? Could anyone help me? Thank you for letting me share my problem.
Licorice
Posted by Joyce (Joelton, Tn) on 04/18/2009 490 posts
To Denise from Huddersfield, UK:
Hello Denise, to answer your question "why drink acid to relieve an acid stomach problem" I will borrow some information gleaned from an alternative MD named Jonathan Wright. According to Dr. Wright the problem is not too much but too little hydrochloric acid, and if this is true then drinking an acid should relieve it and from most of the correspondence from those who have tried it, I have to side with Dr. Wright as to the cause.
However I got rid of the acid, along with the bloat, constipation, flatulence, and outright peptic ulcer flare ups 4 or 5 times per year, when I stumbled on the fact that spicy foods were not the problem, but anything made with bleached flour always brought on the misery. At first I wondered about the gluten in wheat causing it, but when I started eating bread again I found that whole grain products caused no problems, but bleached flour did, a few other things like any acid foods (tomatoes, citrus juices, etc) from a memtal can brings on the acid regurg misery. As long as I stay away from the above, life is a whole lot more enjoyable and has worked for me for the last 40 years or so. I don't know what they use in the bleaching process that causes the problem, but I do know that eliminating bleached flour eliminates the problem, and without ever being treated for the bug that modern day orthodox medicine says causes peptic ulcer disease.
By the way, don't expect your doctor to be overjoyed to hear that a patient has found a way to relieve the problem without his help, because doctors don't like patients who think they are smarter than he/she is and also don't like the prospects of his income decreasing because you no longer will be visiting for your former chronic complaint.
Another thing to think about, do check your blood pressure periodically because licorice candy is said to elevate blood pressure in those who eat a lot of it, and if it does then licorice root might do the same.
Licorice
Posted by Lynn G (Columbia, Maryland, USA) on 04/17/2009
To Denise in Huddersfield, UK. I'm glad to hear that licorice extract has helped your acid reflux symptoms. However, I believe that eliminating any "disease" condition is best done by changing and optimizing your diet with eating foods that help you and don't hurt you. Taking herbal remedies or prescription drugs treat only the symptoms and do not affect the underlying cause(s) of your problem(s).
I have written several posts today as responses to others' posts about acid reflux, so I won't repeat myself again. Please think seriously about trying a gluten-free diet for at least six weeks. I know that most people don't want to take on such a drastic step, but when you're sick enough of the acid reflux and of the side effects of prescription drugs, you should then be open to seriously addressing the actual cause of the "disease" condition.
One last thought, most NHS doctors in the UK are the same as the ones in the USA--they are focused entirely on eliminating symptoms with drugs. So, don't expect your doctor to be thrilled with any improvements that you will gain with drug-free options! (The doctor will be just as happy to see your back-side going out the door because there are many more patients in the waiting room to get their own 5 to 10 minutes with the pill-pushing doctor.)
Licorice
Posted by GerdGuy (Yokohama, Japan) on 04/16/2009
★☆☆☆☆WARNING!
I did further readings about Liquorice and I find something significant on its toxicity. I hope this helps, so be extra careful.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licorice
Toxicity -
Excessive consumption of liquorice or liquorice candy is known to be toxic to the liver and cardiovascular system, and may produce hypertension and oedema. There have been occasional cases where blood pressure has increased with excessive consumption of liquorice tea, but such occasions are rare and reversible when the herb is withdrawn. Most cases of hypertension from liquorice were caused by eating too much concentrated liquorice candy. Doses as low as 50g daily for two weeks can cause a significant rise in blood pressure.
Reader Theories
Posted by Johnny (London, Ontario, Canada) on 04/14/2009
read your comments re: hiatal hernia on another website . .. you were dead on regarding stressed diaphram & psoas & quadratus laborum being stressed . . found a chiro to massage these aeas & all acid indigestiong diappeared . . he was conviced all of this was primarily a back injury causing weakness in diaphram .. . he aleady knew all this but your website put me on the right track! you need a seasoned chiro: mine is 30 years of experience trained in applied kinesology so he found the site of weakness very quickly! thank you so much for this invaluable info.
Licorice
Posted by Denise (HUDDERSFIELD, UK) on 04/09/2009
★★★★★
Why drink an acid to cure a stomach acid problem? I have severe Grastric Reflux and have suffered for the last three years. I have tried everything, believe me. I am currently taking medication, which helps, but I still can't walk a hundred yards without thinking I am about to have a heart attack. I have been known to throw up becuase the acid gets so bad. Laying down is a nightmare. My Doctor even sent me for an Angiogram just to makesure I didn't have angina, guess what, my hearts fine, but my stomach isn't. I try to avoid any foods that I know cause my acid to flare-up, I eat healthy, I even gave up smoking, which help a great deal. I have shares in a well known ant-acid company from the amount I have to buy, not that they really do any good when it is this severe. But nothing has been able to stop the pain I feel every single day. However, that changed. What I have found that helps is liquorice root which you can buy from any herbalist. I have been using it for the last few days and I feel so much better. Last night I went to bed and got to sleep straight away and didn't wake up with a sore throat. I have been able to eat without the desire to be sick afterwards. My walking has improved too. I can't wait to tell my doctor next week. Next I am going to add natural silicon to my diet, which I have been told will help repair the damage that is being caused by the acid.
Ginger
Posted by Roy (Brampton Ontario, Canada) on 04/05/2009
★★★★★
I simply would like to mention ginger tea made from raw shaved ginger root boiled in two cups of water then strained and perhaps with a little honey to enhance the flavor, to be drank as a wonderful cure for acid reflux.
Slippery Elm
Posted by Lenore (Chicago, Illinois) on 04/01/2009
★★★★★
My husband had a bad case of acid reflux for years and I found out about Slippery Elm Bark tea. I made him a cup of it and he drank it down and has not been bothered with it for months.Slippery elm bark tea is said to soothe and heal anything it comes in contact with and is very nourishing. The tea is reputed to stay in a sore and ulcerated stomach where nothing else can and can be purchased in powdered for at any health food store. By the way I love your website and told a friend about using ginger while undergoing chemo. He now thinks I am a genius and said it works so well that he can eat again and is gaining weight.
