The heartburn thread: Who suffers from it?

[biteme]

I first noticed it at 31, started drinking aloe vera and cutting back on the culprit foods. I have it now, it's more of a nuisance than anything, but I don't think it's a good idea to go around with a burning chest 4 or 5 times a day. I'm gonna try Tums after I eat a large meal and anything that causes heartburn which is just about everything.

 

[Smurfy]

Nexium works wonders.

I have never had heartburn but I take Nexium for a different kind of Reflux (laryngopharyngeal reflux)

 

[Lestat]

i get it sometimes, I always have zantac on hand just in case.

 

[superqt4u2nv]

I go in phase right now poping 1-2 zantac's a day.

 

[puddlemonkey]

It burns when I pee, think its related?

 

[velvett]

Nexium, Protonix, Prilosec (OTC)

Maintaining a proper PH balance with the foods you eat will help as well.

 

[fistfullofsteel]

i have it real bad, totally fucking sucks. nexium or max pepcid ac for me. the other stuff doesn't do anything for me. definitely no caffeine or spicey foods for me. it's hard. alot of stuff i don't eat or drink anymore.

 

[AAP]

it wasn't heart burn, but I had a problem once where no matter what I swallowed (shut up) it would sort of "bounce' right back up and then go down like a brick covered in broken glass.

That lasted about 3 days. Have no idea what that was as it hasn't come back.

 

[Lestat]

sucks. now when I travel i bring heartburn meds just in case.

 

[theoak01]

ya i get it occasionally,and i take prevacid,tums contributed to my kidney stones so I avoid those fuckers

 

[billfred]

Nexium is a godsend.

Lay off the tums..... if you need it regularly it is better to get nexium before the acid does some eshophogus (sp?) damage.

 

[Sub-Zero]

it wasn't heart burn, but I had a problem once where no matter what I swallowed (shut up) it would sort of "bounce' right back up and then go down like a brick covered in broken glass.

That lasted about 3 days. Have no idea what that was as it hasn't come back.

that happens when im eating food really fast with no watter

indigestion?

 

[Smurfy]

also try not to eat anything within 3 hours of laying down to go to sleep at night

 

[seaking420]

What exactly do you feel with heartburn?

 

[Smurfy]

What exactly do you feel with heartburn?

i guess a burning sensation in your chest? its actually got nothing to do with the heart. "heartburn" refers to the location of the discomfort. the esophagus lining behind where the heart is gets irritated by stomach acid that flows back up past the sphincter of the esophagus that's supposed to keep the acid out. but the sphincter can get loosened and then it doesnt work so well. there is also a sphincter at the top too right where your neck meets your clavicle and when acid gets up there, it irritates the throat lining very badly - thats where I have my problem but nexium improves the symptoms (but does not totally resolve them)

 

[gonelifting]

i guess a burning sensation in your chest? its actually got nothing to do with the heart. "heartburn" refers to the location of the discomfort. the esophagus lining behind where the heart is gets irritated by stomach acid that flows back up past the sphincter of the esophagus that's supposed to keep the acid out. but the sphincter can get loosened and then it doesnt work so well. there is also a sphincter at the top too right where your neck meets your clavicle and when acid gets up there, it irritates the throat lining very badly - thats where I have my problem but nexium improves the symptoms (but does not totally resolve them)

Hmmm, I was diagnosed with something like this, but it may have been misdiagnosed. I had a persistant cough that the ENT said it was from that. I forget what meds I took for it. Didn't help anyway. Good stuff.

Can you ever "fix" the problem you have? I don't mean lumberg, I'm referring to the throat issue.

 

[Smurfy]

Hmmm, I was diagnosed with something like this, but it may have been misdiagnosed. I had a persistant cough that the ENT said it was from that. I forget what meds I took for it. Didn't help anyway. Good stuff.

Can you ever "fix" the problem you have? I don't mean lumberg, I'm referring to the throat issue.

yeah i was misdiagnosed with chronic sinusitis and i had the persistent cough at night while laying down too. and throat stuff. and mucus in there all the time (yuck) but i didnt want to believe it was reflux cuz im like "well ive never had heartburn in my whole life" but you dont necessarily need to have heartburn to have reflux. anywho after weeks upon weeks on antibiotics and a gazillion prescription antihistamines and decongestants - my allergist said, just give the nexium a try and within 10 days i guarantee you'll notice a difference. and i did.

 

[musclemom]

Cliff notes version at the end for those of you who find me excessively verbose

I had heartburn everday for close to a year, it would start about an hour after eating lunch and wouldn't be gone until I woke up the next morning. I tried EVERYTHING, nothing helped until I found my trigger/allergy foods and eliminated them completely and utterly.

If you suffer from frequent heartburn it's your body's way of telling you something YOU are shoving down your gullet is NO GOOD for you, period. It is possible to be intolerant of a food without having a full blown, testable allergic reaction. If you regularly take antacids or proton pump inhibitors all you're doing is compounding the problem and setting yourself up for other problems later in life.

Doctors are full of shit on this one. The problem is NOT excess stomach acid, the problem is the food is not moving THROUGH the digestive tract as it should and it's sitting in our stomach longer than our stomach was designed to hold it for. Eating food that doesn't agree with us damages the microvilli in our gut, which dramatically slows the peristaltic action that moves the food through the digestive tract.

If you get heartburn you should keep a very detailed food diary that includes when heartburn symptoms happen. You should log this for at least two weeks, preferably a month. For that month you should try to eat as SIMPLY as possible (a super clean diet), because that's the only way to spot the pattern.

The thing that causes you heartburn is something you eat often, either as a food group or an ingredient, and probably enjoy.

There are two other things that can cause heartburn, but you should eliminate the food intolerance issue first because continued exposure to a food your body cannot tolerate can cause all sorts of other health problems down the road (starting with things like polyps and colorectal cancer). Repeated exposure to foods you cannot digest is also one of the main causes of frequent headaches, migraines and IBS and if you suffer from some combination of heartburn, IBS and headaches I guarantee you that you are absolutely consuming a food you shouldn't and taking antacids, aspirin and Imodium is only covering up the symptoms, not curing the actual cause.



CLIFF NOTES:
1. Antacids cover up the symptoms, they are not a cure.
2. Heartburn is your body telling you that you ate something bad.
3. Track your symptoms/diet to find the real cause of heartburn.

 

[seaking420]

I get this discomfort at times(almost daily) right near my heart/sternum area not sure if its heartbrun or not. I might go get it checked out. I also get this nasty stuff that builds up over a couple of days in my tonsils and I pick it out, this stuff smells and looks like partially digested food, probably linked together.

 

[Bikini Mod]

MM - I agree wholeheartedly with everything you said. I have long been suffering w/reflux and all the complications thereof since I was old enough to remember. Yup, I grew up literally thinking that Rolaids were candy.

I've been poked, prodded, tested out the wazoo, have taken every pill/potion even had surgery in a desperate attempt to gain relief.

And yup, you guessed it. The drugs I took were in such high doses that when they finally alleviated my reflux sypmtoms they caused other sides so severe that they were worse than the initial symptoms. I won't even go there about how the surgery has PERMANENTLY screwed me up.

My symptoms are now so advanced and severe that I do recognize it will lead to my demise sooner than later.

I was at my sickest at the height of my competitive bbing career. Very small, super clean meals - very low bf - very active - no drinking or smoking or any drugs. The docs all shook their heads and merely called me an enigma. On the outside I was the picture of unbelievable health yet I had the insides of a 65 y/o alcoholic, sedentary, obese male smoker.

I have suffered with SEVERE diahrea since the surgery a few years back which has gotten so bad that it nearly killed me. I am ALWAYS in pain. Food gets stuck on the way down. Matter of fact, it is not pretty because I can't always predict when it will get "ugly".

If there were a food or foods that I could eliminate or something supplement/medicine I could take to make it go away or if there was some sort of lifestyle change that I could make, I would do it gladly.

 

[guest username]

Let me clarify a few things, as there are multiple causes of heartburn. Some of the things mentioned here are correct, while others are not.

Doctors are full of shit on this one. The problem is NOT excess stomach acid, the problem is the food is not moving THROUGH the digestive tract as it should and it's sitting in our stomach longer than our stomach was designed to hold it for. Eating food that doesn't agree with us damages the microvilli in our gut, which dramatically slows the peristaltic action that moves the food through the digestive tract.[/I]

I disagree about us being full of shit regarding heartburn. You are partially correct. People who are allergic to certain foods will produce more stomach acid and therefore have heartburn. However, this isn't the only cause (more on that later).

The stomach is lined by histaminergic receptors that stimulate acid production. If you eat something that you are allergic to, then it will stimulate acid production. Heartburn comes not from the amount of acid produced, but the inability of the lower esophageal sphincter to control it. It refluxes, thereby causing symptoms. Taking an anti-histamine, specifically an H2 blocker, reduces these symptoms. Examples of H2 blockers are ranitidine (Zantac), famotidine (Pepcid), cimetidine (Tagamet), etc.

As musclemom correctly pointed out, anti-acids will only cover up what is wrong. Keeping a food diary is a good idea. I am allergic to pineapple, and if I absolutely must eat pineapple (for some reason, I seem to crave it sometimes), then I premedicate myself with 150 mg of ranitidine.

So the problem is not with food moving slowly through the digestive system, but instead is a problem with an allergic reaction stimulating histamine production (through mast cells), which in turn stimulate acid production by stimulating the histamine receptors. This excess acid overwhelms the ability of the lower esophageal sphincter to prevent it from refluxing into the esophagus.

i had the persistent cough at night while laying down too

The three most common causes of cough:

1. Postnasal drip
2. Cough-variant asthma
3. GERD

People who have a chronic cough without evidence of serious disease often get relief from PPI's.

Maintaining a proper PH balance with the foods you eat will help as well.

Actually the pH of your food has very little to do with acid relufx. Your stomach acid has an extremely low pH (very acidic). There are very few things that can change that level.

I'm gonna try Tums after I eat a large meal and anything that causes heartburn which is just about everything.

I would recommend against Tums. Calcium is one of the stimulants for acid production. Although you will get some instantaneous relief with Tums, it will actually make your heartburn worse by stimulating more acid to be produced.

For immediate relief of heartburn, the recommendation is to drink several glasses of water (dilutional effect), take an anti-histaminergic (i.e., ranitidine, famotidine), and avoid lying down for 30-60 minutes. It usually takes about 30 minutes for an anti-histaminergic to start working.

For prolonged treatment, a proton-pump inhibitor works best. They take 2-3 days to start working, and you may find that you only need to take one every other day. You can buy omeprazole (Prilosec) over the counter.

Finally, if you continue to have heartburn, you should be tested for Helicobactr pylori. Sometimes ulcers can present as heartburn. If you have H pylori, then you'll need antibiotics to treat it (a complicated medicine regimen actually).

I am assuming your self-diagnosis of heartburn is correct. Many patients who have cardiac ischemia complain of "burning" in their chest. So if you have risk factors (family history, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or other things), then I would make sure it's not your heart.

My own Cliff's notes version:

1. Not all heartburn is caused by food allergies.
2. GERD is often caused by inability of the lower esophageal sphincter to control regurgitation of acid.
3. PPI's are not for immediate treatment of heartburn; it's for prophylaxis and continued treatment.
4. GERD is associated with development of Barrett's esophagus, a precursor to cancer.
5. Treatment with PPI's may not prevent development of Barrett's (it's thought to be from reflux of bile acids as well).
6. Surgery is sometimes necessary in severe cases of GERD (a Nissen procedure).

 

[bigmann245]

my wife gets it real bad. we need to start owning stock in Pepsid-AC Complete. she goes through a bottle every week, sometimes sooner.

 

[guest username]

my wife gets it real bad. we need to start owning stock in Pepsid-AC Complete. she goes through a bottle every week, sometimes sooner.

If you get it more than 2-3 times/week, you should be taking a PPI for prophylaxis unless you can identify the cause of the heartburn.

 

[bigmann245]

If you get it more than 2-3 times/week, you should be taking a PPI for prophylaxis unless you can identify the cause of the heartburn.

shes stubborn and wont go to the doc.

 

[musclemom]

I disagree about us being full of shit regarding heartburn. You are partially correct. People who are allergic to certain foods will produce more stomach acid and therefore have heartburn. However, this isn't the only cause (more on that later)..

Of course you're going to disagree with me, you're a conventionally trained physician. Staying within the paradigms of conventional thought is rewarded in your profession.

Look, I have NO argument with docs when it comes to trauma. But when it comes to "curing" illness, they're clueless. Sorry.

A NORMAL human body does NOT "NEED" proton pump inhibitors any more than it "NEEDS" aspirin (or tylenol or Advil or Relpax ...)

What physicians DON'T understand about the body would fill more volumes than what you DO understand, short and sweet. While I respect your calling, and your training, the inability to think outside delineated parameters makes it impossible to have a logical conversation with a physician. PERIOD.

Until ALL doctors begin testing for gluten intolerance as FIRST LINE for patients complaining of heartburn in combination with either IBS/slow/low bowel motility and/or headaches/migraines and/or acne, acne rosacea, I have NO hope for Western Medicine NONE, much less being able to even have a reasonable conversation with a western/conventionally trained/indoctrinated physician.

 

[biteme]

MM - I agree wholeheartedly with everything you said. I have long been suffering w/reflux and all the complications thereof since I was old enough to remember. Yup, I grew up literally thinking that Rolaids were candy.

I've been poked, prodded, tested out the wazoo, have taken every pill/potion even had surgery in a desperate attempt to gain relief.

And yup, you guessed it. The drugs I took were in such high doses that when they finally alleviated my reflux sypmtoms they caused other sides so severe that they were worse than the initial symptoms. I won't even go there about how the surgery has PERMANENTLY screwed me up.

My symptoms are now so advanced and severe that I do recognize it will lead to my demise sooner than later.

I was at my sickest at the height of my competitive bbing career. Very small, super clean meals - very low bf - very active - no drinking or smoking or any drugs. The docs all shook their heads and merely called me an enigma. On the outside I was the picture of unbelievable health yet I had the insides of a 65 y/o alcoholic, sedentary, obese male smoker.

I have suffered with SEVERE diahrea since the surgery a few years back which has gotten so bad that it nearly killed me. I am ALWAYS in pain. Food gets stuck on the way down. Matter of fact, it is not pretty because I can't always predict when it will get "ugly".

If there were a food or foods that I could eliminate or something supplement/medicine I could take to make it go away or if there was some sort of lifestyle change that I could make, I would do it gladly.

I'm very sorry about that and I hope you find a cure some day.

 

[Smurfy]

Of course you're going to disagree with me, you're a conventionally trained physician. Staying within the paradigms of conventional thought is rewarded in your profession.

Look, I have NO argument with docs when it comes to trauma. But when it comes to "curing" illness, they're clueless. Sorry.

A NORMAL human body does NOT "NEED" proton pump inhibitors any more than it "NEEDS" aspirin (or tylenol or Advil or Relpax ...)

What physicians DON'T understand about the body would fill more volumes than what you DO understand, short and sweet. While I respect your calling, and your training, the inability to think outside delineated parameters makes it impossible to have a logical conversation with a physician. PERIOD.

Until ALL doctors begin testing for gluten intolerance as FIRST LINE for patients complaining of heartburn in combination with either IBS/slow/low bowel motility and/or headaches/migraines and/or acne, acne rosacea, I have NO hope for Western Medicine NONE, much less being able to even have a reasonable conversation with a western/conventionally trained/indoctrinated physician.

so if you had a sick child you wouldnt take them to a physician?

 

[musclemom]

If you get it more than 2-3 times/week, you should be taking a PPI for prophylaxis unless you can identify the cause of the heartburn.

DON'T YOU GET IT, THERE IS A CAUSE, A CAUSE!!!

She is NOT digesting her food properly, WHY? WTF is wrong with assessing her diet FIRST?!?

Don't you wonder why we're getting cancer? Don't you wonder? Do you think it's normal for the body to let cells run amok? NO? WTF is suppressing the immune system? 70% of the frigging immune system is produced in OUR INTESTINES! If the intestines are being damaged by exposure to toxins (foods we are intolerant -- as opposed to truly allergic to) doesn't it stand to reason that the immune function starts breaking down.

The human body is not discrete parts, operating individually and autonomously, it's ALL integrated, it ALL works together! If you're eating things that your body perceives as dangerous you're setting up an inflammatory condition. Covering up those symptoms with some "prophylactic" medication does NOT remove the inflammatory process, it just changes it's location. You continue to expose your body to the inflammatory agent over days, weeks, months and you create a progressively degenerated state. Over time you damage your body

Headache and heartburn are our bodies ways of telling us SOMETHING IS FRIGGING WRONG! How can doctors be so fucking STUPID!?! Our bodies are NOT stupid, the people living in them may be, but our BODIES are not inherently STUPID. Our bodies desire homeostasis, but as long as doctors tell people that headaches are some bad thing that needs medicine and heartburn is some other bad thing that needs yet MORE medicine people are never going to learn, and neither will conventional medicine.

 

[biteme]

If you get it more than 2-3 times/week, you should be taking a PPI for prophylaxis unless you can identify the cause of the heartburn.

What if you get it intermittently throughout the day. My symptoms do not last long, certainly not all day. Usually after I burp, I can feel the burn for a minute or so, but it never lasts long. I'm just thinking I should medicate because the burn could do some damage long term even though it doesn't last long??

 

[biteme]

DON'T YOU GET IT, THERE IS A CAUSE, A CAUSE!!!

She is NOT digesting her food properly, WHY? WTF is wrong with assessing her diet FIRST?!?

Don't you wonder why we're getting cancer? Don't you wonder? Do you think it's normal for the body to let cells run amok? NO? WTF is suppressing the immune system? 70% of the frigging immune system is produced in OUR INTESTINES! If the intestines are being damaged by exposure to toxins (foods we are intolerant -- as opposed to truly allergic to) doesn't it stand to reason that the immune function starts breaking down.

The human body is not discrete parts, operating individually and autonomously, it's ALL integrated, it ALL works together! If you're eating things that your body perceives as dangerous you're setting up an inflammatory condition. Covering up those symptoms with some "prophylactic" medication does NOT remove the inflammatory process, it just changes it's location. You continue to expose your body to the inflammatory agent over days, weeks, months and you create a progressively degenerated state. Over time you damage your body

Headache and heartburn are our bodies ways of telling us SOMETHING IS FRIGGING WRONG! How can doctors be so fucking STUPID!?! Our bodies are NOT stupid, the people living in them may be, but our BODIES are not inherently STUPID. Our bodies desire homeostasis, but as long as doctors tell people that headaches are some bad thing that needs medicine and heartburn is some other bad thing that needs yet MORE medicine people are never going to learn, and neither will conventional medicine.

I never get headaches. Just intermittent heartburn throughout the day that doesn't last long with each episode. Tomatoes can cause it and tomatoes are a healthy food.

 

[musclemom]

so if you had a sick child you wouldnt take them to a physician?

Depends on what kind of sickness. Did he break his arm, trauma type stuff, yes, to the doctor.

But I tell you, people do not get better BECAUSE of doctors, they get better IN SPITE of doctors.

And before you tell me what a shit I am, remember that there is any number of Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Scientists out there who choose, legally to refuse blood transfusion. If my child or I needed blood transfusion, I wouldn't hesitate, hand that blood over.

However, if the same doctor said that I or my child had leukemia or cancer or multiple sclerosis, or any other chronic terminal illness, they can go take a long walk off a short pier. I'll deal with it myself with diet and lifestyle changes.

I don't say this is right for everyone, this is MY choice ... having been misdiagnosed/nearly killed by western Medicine on numerous occasions it is my right. My point is, people need to know there are OPTIONS.

You go to a doctor with heartburn, doctor gives you a pill, PERIOD. That's how it works He doesn't test for food allergies, he doesn't tell you to keep a food diary and analyze the results. He gives you a little purple pill. That's the way it works. I'm telling you, there are OTHER options, that's it.

 

[musclemom]

I never get headaches. Just intermittent heartburn throughout the day that doesn't last long with each episode. Tomatoes can cause it and tomatoes are a healthy food.

It has nothing to do with healthy food. Peanuts and shrimp are healthy, and how many people have deadly reactions to that? Wheat is healthy, that shit ruins me for a month!

Look, if it happens with eating tomatoes, THEN DON'T EAT TOMATOES! (how complicated is that?) If it still happens then is it happening when you eat potatoes and green peppers? They're all related, nightshades.

Heartburn is your body's way of saying SOMETHING IS WRONG.

Keep a detailed food diary, I'll GUARANTEE you'll see a pattern. If you can't see a pattern I'll help you, but I GUARANTEE it's something you are putting in your mouth and if you look hard enough YOU WILL find a pattern!

 

[Smurfy]

Depends on what kind of sickness. Did he break his arm, trauma type stuff, yes, to the doctor.

But I tell you, people do not get better BECAUSE of doctors, they get better IN SPITE of doctors.

And before you tell me what a shit I am, remember that there is any number of Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Scientists out there who choose, legally to refuse blood transfusion. If my child or I needed blood transfusion, I wouldn't hesitate, hand that blood over.

However, if the same doctor said that I or my child had leukemia or cancer or multiple sclerosis, or any other chronic terminal illness, they can go take a long walk off a short pier. I'll deal with it myself with diet and lifestyle changes.

I don't say this is right for everyone, this is MY choice ... having been misdiagnosed/nearly killed by western Medicine on numerous occasions it is my right. My point is, people need to know there are OPTIONS.

You go to a doctor with heartburn, doctor gives you a pill, PERIOD. That's how it works He doesn't test for food allergies, he doesn't tell you to keep a food diary and analyze the results. He gives you a little purple pill. That's the way it works. I'm telling you, there are OTHER options, that's it.

I see what you're saying. And you're right - everyone is entitled to their own belief system. But you did call doctors stupid. Maybe you're just very passionate about your feelings with regards to this topic.

 

[DeezGunz23]

zantac works well, if you get heartburn often ive heard that just adding zantac into your daily pill popping routine will help resolve the problem

 

[biteme]

I think drinking a mixture of baking soda and water will get rid of it. I tried it before and I think it worked. Will make you burp for sure.

 

[guest username]

musclemom, I am going to make a few comments, and then will refrain from posting in this thread again.

You accuse me of not being open minded, when in fact I am. I research herbal remedies as much as I do new medicines. Yes, there are some herbs that have benefits. Just because someone is taught something does not mean he or she cannot learn on his or her own. For your information, I was NOT taught in a conventional medical school. In fact, I was taught at a problem-based school that emphasized self-directed learning. Is it a lackluster school that uses this philosophy? Hardly. It's one of the top medical schools in the country. If you're in the Boston area, I'm sure you are familiar.

You are correct in saying that normal human body does not need a proton pump inhibitor. However, for the people who have problems with their lower esophageal sphincter (LES), they would disagree. No matter what they eat, acid still refluxes into their esophagus. It's equivalent to having a leak in the drain of a sink. You turn on the acid (water) to fill up the sink, but the drain leaks down into the esophagus. No food changes will cure these individuals as the problem is not food, but instead is a problem with the valve itself (the LES). Your analogy makes it sound as if you throw distilled water instead of tap water into the sink, the drain will stop leaking. A faulty reasoning strategy to say the least.

I urge you to brush up on your anatomy and physiology, because 70% of our immune system is not produced by the intestines. You should investigate complement production by the spleen, T-cell production and priming by the thymus, bone marrow, etc. Yes, it is true that the intestines contain Peyer's patches and the appendix, but these are not responsible for 70% of our immune system.

You are partially correct in your assessment for the causes of cancer of the intestine. Toxins do play a major role, especially nitrates and lack of fiber. It is not immune mediated, however. Most of it is genetically mediated. p53 genes are the primary mediators, but there are others (MSH2, MSH6, MLH1, APC, etc.). When these cell mediators of DNA replication and mitosis are damaged, the cells run amok and divide uncontrollably. It's hard to say that toxins are the cause of colon cancer in an 18-year-old who dies from hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer (HNPCC) because of his or her diet when the vast majority (one could argue all) of patients without this defective gene do not develop colon cancer before they reach 30 years of age.

It is your choice, to a degree, to refuse life-sustaining or curative treatment for your child. However, diet and lifestyle changes will not cure leukemia. It is concerning that you actually believe it will. Do you think medicine would ignore something that cures cancer? Despite what you may believe, we are not slaves to the pharmaceutical industry. I am not on their payroll, and never have been. I do not receive free lunches from them, nor do I write with any of their pens. None of my colleagues do either -- it's strictly forbidden at my hospital. Many other hospitals in the nation also follow along. Even those that do receive free dinners and gifts have nothing to gain by not curing disease. Why? When it comes down to it, we're all human, and physicians hate to see suffering.

A few days ago I witnessed the death of a woman who refused a blood transfusion after a car accident. We tried non-blood alternatives, and both the trauma surgeon and me clearly explained to her that she would likely die without a blood transfusion. We honored her wishes, and she died. It's a sad thing to see, and I wish I had some sort of alternative that could have actually worked. Sometimes the most devoted people often don't make the most rational decisions, but who am I to judge?

Why does a doctor give you a pill when you complain of heartburn? Because the majority of patients are not going to change their diet. This is why most physicians no longer spend a lot of time on educating people about diet. It goes in one ear and out the other. Sixty per cent of people on statins could lower their cholesterol through diet and exercise (the remaining 40% are genetic and nothing they do can lower them from dangerous levels). How many actually choose to change their diets? Less than 8% according to one study I read.

Finally, it is humorous to read how devoted you are to your beliefs about medicine. I'm sorry that you feel that way, and hopefully with education you can see that medicine isn't as closed minded as you think it is. You should open up to medicine and evaluate each option for yourself. You stating that I cannot think outside the boundaries of conventional medicine is like the pot calling the kettle black. You seem so devoted to your cause that you fail to realize other causes of a problem. This is something we call "tunnel vision" in medicine, and it can get patients killed. If someone presents with chest pain, you can't automatically assume that every chest pain is cardiac. There are other causes. You seem to think that every heartburn is caused by a food allergy, which is nonsense.

You should ensure that peer-reviewed studies prove what you advocate. Diet and lifestyle for leukemia will only hasten a child's death. As an Ivy-league educated physician, it was taught very early in my career that there are indications for alternative medicine, and to this day I remain open to them. Some I truly believe in (stress reduction techniques, certain supplements), while others are purely a waste of money. As I mentioned earlier, I do recognize that food allergies can cause heartburn. However, unlike you, I also realize that other causes can cause heartburn as well. Who is it with the open mind?

This will be my last response to any of your posts in this thread.

 

[musclemom]

musclemom, I am going to make a few comments, and then will refrain from posting in this thread again.

My feelings exactly, dear. It is not possible to debate any situation, or even argue it, with one who is not open to any other option. Clearly neither of us is amenable to change: you are indoctrinated and I am fiercely prejudiced after repeated bad experiences.

But I will say this, I can assure you that reading about a few herbal treatments out of context has nothing to do with holistic health.

Be that as it may, those who will achieve true physical health will find it, the path can be found and it is not trod in the office of any indoctrinated MD or off the shelf of a pharmacist.

But I would point out one thing, for all the verbosity of your post, you never once addressed my points about gluten intolerance. NOT ONCE.

As you have chosen to withdraw from this thread I am left with the question, why did you avoid addressing my frustration with the lack of attention to gluten allergy/intolerance in western medicine when, of all my frustrations, I made it BLATENTLY CLEAR, THAT is the one factor that is most GLARINGLY IGNORED in western medicine?

Edit: Oh, one thing, Swat, you did make me smile, seriously ... I'm actually self employed in the medical field and have been for many years. My education has nothing to do with what I've experienced or my level of knowledge. I stand by my original opinion:

THE VAST MAJORITY OF DOCTORS ARE BLOCKHEADED MORONS.

 

[madsdad]

anyone know if any aas can couse heartburn? I di get it from time to time - especially in the middle of the night, but I started getting it mid day - anyone?

 

[ceo]

Nexium works wonders.

I have never had heartburn but I take Nexium for a different kind of Reflux (laryngopharyngeal reflux)

Prilosec is OTC and it's basically exactly the same (active ingredient) as Nexium...cheaper too. Shit works great.

oh...and chew your food fattie.