Heartburn any easy cures

[dullbird]

Hi

couple of months ago i got really bad heartburn lasted for about 2 weeks only had it happen once or twice since then.......

Tonight I have it really bad :( I have taken gaviscon which seems to have settle the I'm going to throw up any minute type feeling but the pain when I breath in higher up in my chest is really painful.

Does anyone know of anything else I can do that will help?

Figured there might be some old wives cures or something out there I could try

[51jay]

See your doctor and find out why you are getting this

[Chucaro]

You have asked for "some old wives cures" for heartburn so one is to take a spoonful of vinegar when you start to feel heartburn. Also, eating shredded raw potato can help. Another common remedy is to slowly chew 6 raw almonds.

Then again I would read THIS (http://www.naturalhealthlibrary.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=167&Itemid=18)

Get well soon :)

[Slunnie]

See your doctor and find out why you are getting this
x2

For my friend a bit of heartburn turned out to be a lot more serious.

[dullbird]

I thought everyone gets a bit of heart burn:eek:
I didn't think it was that bigger deal only dramatic coz you feel like your dying at the time:D

[Mud_Bogger6]

I've always had bad heartburn caused by my hernia, I found that 'Eno' sparkling helps mine, but its effectivness varies person to person

[DEFENDERZOOK]

you want old wives tales........?


i found out a cure today from my boss.........

after his meals.......he has a tiny pinch of bicarb of soda in a glass of water.......

and has never suffered any form of heartburn or bloat or indigestion.......





i havent tried this.........as ive only found out about it today......
but give it a go........i suppose it cant kill you......as he was at work today........

[Grumbles]

Heartburn. Maybe it is and maybe not. Could also be mistaken for a cardiac problem or kidney stones. I suggest you go see a doc and get it sorted out.

[seano87]

Hi

couple of months ago i got really bad heartburn lasted for about 2 weeks only had it happen once or twice since then.......

Lou, on that basis alone I'd be wanting to at least mention it to your doctor. Might be nothing sinister but its worth at least being checked out.

Hell, I had some vague cardiac symptoms once upon a time that I thought was normal, and ended up having heart surgery 3 times as a result!

No harm in at least mentioning it and getting a proper medical opinion.

As for home remedies, I've always heard of the teaspoon of bi-carb trick, never really tried it mind you!

Seano

[chunk]

Hi Lou it sounds like you may have Gallstones, you are a bit young to be getting them as it usually affects people in there 40's. With 80 % of patients being female.

Lou as with all re-occurring chest pains you should see your doctor to be on the safe side.

[hiline]

you want old wives tales........?


i found out a cure today from my boss.........

after his meals.......he has a tiny pinch of bicarb of soda in a glass of water.......

and has never suffered any form of heartburn or bloat or indigestion.......





i havent tried this.........as ive only found out about it today......
but give it a go........i suppose it cant kill you......as he was at work today........



i used to use this method :D
works well................

[John W]

if a level tea spoon of bicarb in water does nothing then it isn't heartburn. Start thinking angina (bad heart), gall stones, ulcers even cancer. If bicarb works then for a long term relief cut back on your weight, alcohol, smoking caffeine & sex. May be easier just to see your GP!

[seano87]

if a level tea spoon of bicarb in water does nothing then it isn't heartburn. Start thinking angina (bad heart), gall stones, ulcers even cancer. If bicarb works then for a long term relief cut back on your weight, alcohol, smoking caffeine & sex. May be easier just to see your GP!

Oh Lou, we better start preparing a eulogy next!

Without any of us knowing your true medical history and detailed symptoms, ?foods that exacerbate it, lifestyle factors, none of us can really comment on an underlying cause beyond saying go seek medical advice.

Old wives tales and cures are a different story... :angel:

Seano

[Vern]

diet may'be, i get (got) it real bad, as in had to get out of bed to walk around as i was in so much pain, had presciption medication fo it aswell, being a type one diabetic i thought why an i getting this so much and at the age of 35, so changed my diet a little and now only drink low carb beer (yes i know i shouldn't drink but hey), but the main thing that brought it on was diet coke(and zero), now which i don't touch abd haven't had heart burn since:).
so doctor then diet i say

[rovercare]

diet may'be, i get (got) it real bad, as in had to get out of bed to walk around as i was in so much pain, had presciption medication fo it aswell, being a type one diabetic i thought why an i getting this so much and at the age of 35, so changed my diet a little and now only drink low carb beer (yes i know i shouldn't drink but hey), but the main thing that brought it on was diet coke(and zero), now which i don't touch abd haven't had heart burn since:).
so doctor then diet i say

You drink beer?, I never noticed:D

[Vern]

i've been known to:)

[dullbird]

Yes I was thinking probably diet......

Although funnily enough the 2 week stint started when I started taking lunch to work rather than going out at lunch and eating crap!! no word of a lie i took a sandwich, a yohgut and some sultanas and bugger me start getting bad acid/heartburn...Just want to clarify that when I had it for 2 weeks it was only acid up to the back of the throat no chest pain.

I'm thinking as I have never had it this bad that perhaps the acid reflux has just irritated my oesophagus hence the pain in the chest.

I have to get an injection on Mon I will ask about it! If the chest pain is there in the morning still I will try and get fitted in before I go off road tomorrow:)

[Panda]

Lou - go & get it checked out. My father had what he thought was heartburn - ended up having a heart attack. Apparently heart problems can be mistaken for heartburn.

[Blknight.aus]

^ that...

best cure for heart burn I know of is a heart attack, a good one of them and you aint having heart burn ever again.

[markyc]

A year of heart burn / gaviscon sent me to the doctor; one endoscopy later: bacterial ulcer. Seven day course of meds killed it. Go make an appointment! :)

[drivesafe]

Hi dullbird, 20 odd years ago, after having heartburn for years, caused by years of shift work, crap food while at work and so on, I spent a weekend at a relos in Moree and went through a large bottle of ENOs and still had a gut ache.

Anyway, on the way back to Sydney, the family stopped in Coonabarabran for lunch, at a health food store.:angel:

While waiting for the food to be served, out of curiosity more than any real interest, I was flicking though a natural remedies booklet, I came across a remedy for indigestion. Chamomile tea.

Tried it when I got home. With in a week the heartburn was gone and I have only had a dose of heartburn about 4 times in the last 20 years and the Chamomile fixed it every time.

[richard4u2]

sounds like you could have an ulcer , if i were you i would be at the doctors tomorrow morning

[Slunnie]

I'm thinking as I have never had it this bad that perhaps the acid reflux has just irritated my oesophagus hence the pain in the chest.
Thats what my friend had except his wouldn't go away. 4 kids and 33yo. His funeral was on the 28th April 2009. Oesophagus cancer - devastating.

[dullbird]

OMG!! Slunnie sorry to hear about your friend.......certainly put the willies up me :(

I very much doubt I will be able to get into the doctors tomorrow so will have to go monday there always booked up and they shut at 12.

[rovercare]

Thats what my friend had except his wouldn't go away. 4 kids and 33yo. His funeral was on the 28th April 2009. Oesophagus cancer - devastating.

Nothing like making someone feel good Slunnie!:eek:

Can't help, mine last until a quick eze tablet and its all alcohol induced:D

[Slunnie]

OMG!! Slunnie sorry to hear about your friend.......certainly put the willies up me :(

I very much doubt I will be able to get into the doctors tomorrow so will have to go monday there always booked up and they shut at 12.
You're more than likely fine and it just be heartburn, but I just think get it checked out. The older I get the more I seem to be seeing people drop from really really silly things. My mum runs a hospital and is always saying... get it checked out.

[Slunnie]

Nothing like making someone feel good Slunnie!:eek:

The story was meant to be more along the lines of get it checked.

[solmanic]

I take Mylanta chewable tablets which taste pretty good and a lot easier than fiddling about with glasses of water (especially if you wake up in the middle of the night with heartburn). They work for me like flicking a switch. Usually all gone in about ten minutes. Seems to be a lot of scary responses here but I would only worry if you don't get a rapid response from any regular medication.

[slt]

Definitely one for the GP mate!

BTW, I had gall stones a few years ago, and none of the 5Fs applied to me either. Funny thing, since then I have been getting episodes of heart burn. The doc says it's because of increased acidity in the gut as a result of the gall bladder missing. But I've learned what foods to avoid, and there's prescription drugs that keep it under control.

slt

[stevo68]

I take Mylanta chewable tablets which taste pretty good and a lot easier than fiddling about with glasses of water (especially if you wake up in the middle of the night with heartburn). They work for me like flicking a switch. Usually all gone in about ten minutes. Seems to be a lot of scary responses here but I would only worry if you don't get a rapid response from any regular medication. X 2 on the Mylanta...I tend to get it at least once a week. For me it tends to be particular foods that kick it off.....so good to see when you get it and what you have eaten. Can be food you have eaten for yrs...then one day it sets off heart burn. I had it really bad the other night...woke me up...thought was going to chuck......a mylanta later and all was well. Have tried quick eze as well...but find the Mylanta works quicker.

Regards

Stevo

[HangOver]

rennnies

if you are stuck and need something quick a glass of milk helps

[gruntfuttock]

One word of warning to ALL who get heartburn regularly.

If you get heartburn regularly (like every day) make sure you tell you doctor as you could be in the high risk of developing barretts diesese. This will lead to cancer of the liver.

This would only be the case if you had heartburn everyday for a number of years.

[dullbird]

rennnies

if you are stuck and need something quick a glass of milk helps

I drink a lot of milk anyway.........love the stuff

[chunk]

DB..."if pain persists see you doctor"...they don't say that for nothing you know ;)
Probably just heartburn but can be so many more things....never hurts to check it out




Ha ha...yeah...we got taught gallstones as occurring in the "5 F's"....fair, fat, forty, female & flatulent :D:D

The pain of gallstones, severe heartburn and a heart attack are too similar to ignore :(

Hi NM they still teach the 5 F's :D My wife had herGall blader removed last year and that's what the specialist told her, but she only had 4 F's;)

[slt]

rennnies

if you are stuck and need something quick a glass of milk helps

Without wanting to start too much an argument, let me provide a little insight as someone who's 'been there'.

Milk will definitely mask the symptoms, i.e reduce the 'burn' (so will plain water). However, milk may be a contributing factor to what the problem is in the first place. 'Heartburn' (often also referred to as gastric reflux) is often the result of an inflamed cardia (which is a set of tiny muscles that control the stomach intake (ie. where your esophagus/food pipe meets the stomach). When they are inflamed, they spasm, leading to a series of non-symptomatic chest pains that are difficult to pin-point. As a result the cardia may also not close properly, allowing gastric acids to move from the stomach back into the esophagus (getting you the acid taste at the back of your throat, especially when sleeping).

Chronic gastric reflux, as someone has already pointed out, can cause permanent damage to your cardia/esophagus, so needds to be treated. There are a number of prescription drugs on the market that effectively reduce stomach acidity. They go by brand names such as Somac, Zantec and Nexium, the latter being one of the newer ones (and in my case giving me better results), but also the most expensive one (for the government), so you will get only one repeat on prescriptions. These drugs are quite safe for long term use (from what I've learned so far), but because they do reduce stomach acidity, they can give nasty stomach bugs an easier life, so making you more susceptible to gastric infections.

It's important however to have the medicos have a look at you, because the non-symptomatic chest pains I referred to above can mask more serious problems such as stomach ulcers, gall stones, kidney stones and heart disease. Either stones can quickly be found with ultrasound. Given your chronic pains, the GP may (should) recommend an endoscopy (optical examination of your stomach), which if you have private insurance will only take a few days to arrange, takes a couple of hours and is simple and painless. I won't go into details with heart disease, since I don't know your background, but as with most other problems in life, it's best tackled early on.

For me in the end it was a case of adjusting my life style. While Nexium helped a lot (do insist on that one if your doctor decides you have gastric reflux), re-thinking my diet was the crux. As I mentioned before, milk reduces the symptoms, but most fatty foods (pizza, chocolate, fatty dairy products, incl. milk) contribute to the cause. Eating smaller portions helps. Stay away from acidy foods (currys etc. but also including softdrinks and beer) while you have the symptoms (they'll make the burning worse) even though they don't generally contribute to the underlying problem. Regular exercise (such as plain old walking) also helps.

Hope this is of some use. Anyway, dullbird, do see a GP.

[Panda]

Don't want to worry you further Lou, but my mother actually died from a stomach ulcer that bled out & she was quite young ... not a pleasant way to go!

[George130]

Lou if you are thouwing up with it and you get it on and off it may be reflux.

Took my 10 years before I went to the doc about my reflux. I spent 4 years on teablets before I just decided not to bother anymore. I still get a bout of it at least once a year for up to a week.
Havn't actually thrown up for a couple of years now but this year it's back to it's worst and the pain can be intense.

Late at night I will chew on a peice of plain bread or drinck some milk or just sit next to the lou for a few hours till it dies down enough to go to sleep.

[WhiteD3]

I had intermittent heartburn for years, using Mylanta and various other concoctions to cope with it with limited success. Finally went to the Drs; diagnosis was that it was caused by my three favourite things......................red wine, chocolate and coffee:(.

Have been on low dose Acimax for some years now and never had a repeat of the problem.

About $32 for 30 tablets, one a day. Swear buy it.

[drivesafe]

diagnosis was that it was caused by my favourite things......................coffee:(.

Love the stuff but that use to kill me too :twisted:

[ATH]

Definitely see the Doc to get the real low down on exactly what is causing it. Mine was caused by ulceration which was caused by the pills I take for RA, but with medication (Losec/Nexium etc - Proton pump inhibitors) it cuts the acid and gives good relief.
Mine has been recurring lately and I've just had an endoscopy to see what's what and no ulceration so that's good at least.
May need an increased dose of pills worst luck, but I'd rather that than the alternative of the damn pain in the guts and reflux problems.
Nothing to worry about with the endoscopy by the way, it's just the starvation diet before they do it may give you some probs.!:o
Good luck anyway.
Alan.

[BMKal]

Lou - go & get it checked out. My father had what he thought was heartburn - ended up having a heart attack. Apparently heart problems can be mistaken for heartburn.

I can vouch for this from experience.

Sunday night, watching television, about 10:00pm after a pretty quiet day. What I thought was heartburn (I had never experienced heartburn before)started slowly and gradually got worse over a period of about 2 hours, until I could hardly move. Was taken to hospital and told that I had just suffered a heart attack. Two weeks in hospital, and have been on medication to manage blood pressure ever since.

This happened when I was 36 - I'm on the wrong side of 50 now.

Get it checked out - it's not worth trying to second guess stuff like this or to rely on "old wives tales".

[dullbird]

Spoke to doctor....going to have a breath test on Weds morning. Apparently its tests for a certain bacteria that can live and breed in the stomach. I believe (if I have this right) can be the cause of some ulcers.

Anyway I'm sure it will be fine...but doctor said Diet at first which I said was what I thought...then she said do you smoke "NO" do you drink "NO" do you drink coffee to which I replied yes I do...probably on average 2/3 cups a week :D to which she replied "Oh that's not a lot". I reckon perhaps that's why I'm going for the test.