Who would have thought?!?

[Leigh Costello]

Alas, I have reached the time of my life where great decisions must be made. Yes, fellow creekers, age is catching my sorry behind despite my efforts to keep time at bay. I had a few White Castle sliders yesterday. I am STILL suffering. Heartburn, generally limited to chili night has plagued me since lunch yesterday. Ugh, now I know what momma was talking about. I suppose next time I will have to eat fewer.

The chocolate shake will not be forgotten but the sliders may have to become a once-in-a-great-while treat (with antacids as a side).

[Joe Shinall]

I am only 27 and when I even look at a slice of pizza I get heartburn immediately. I was eating a subway sandwich last week and after my 2nd bite it was hard to swallow just that quick.

Zantac 150 barely works sometimes.

[Joe Pelonio]

Since my wife and I decided to eat healthier the last few years, I notice feeling bloated and uncomfortable after an infrequent treat of A big fat juicy burger with fries. Still, I can't resist sometimes. As for antacids, I keep a bottle handy but usually just for acidy stuff like dark red wine, and real spicy food like hot links with BBQ sauce, another one I have to do once in a while.

[Ben Franz]

All things in moderation..... and, moderation most of all!

[Jim Koepke]

I have the same problem and my wife has acid reflux quite often.

We do have a different solution that works for both of us and we find it amazingly better than most of the antacids we have used.

It is a few leaves of a plant called Lovage, aka Levisticum officinalle.

Some of my friends have also called it celery on steroids. It has a strong celery taste with yeasty overtones. My wife just says it tastes bitter. I grow my own and hope to have enough to store through the winter as the plant does die back during the winter months.

This does the trick for indigestion or heart burn and fast. If you have gall bladder problems, I am not sure if this will help. It has been used for centuries as a digestive aid.

jim

[David G Baker]

It is time to take a look at Prevacid or the purple pill. I suffered for years until I found Prevacid. I tried all of the over the counter antacids and none did the trick until I found a drug that turned off a bunch of the acid pumps.

[Matt Meiser]

Omeprozole works for me. Its relatively cheap too. Available OTC for about $17 for 42 last I checked, but my insurance is still paying for it so I get it from the pharmacy at $10 for 30. Dr. said it doesn't matter whether I buy it OTC or the pharmacy so do whatever costs me less.

[Jim O'Dell]

Heck, White Castle sliders did that to me the one time I ate them when I was about 25!!! Luckily, very few things bother me so far. Jim.

[Belinda Barfield]

I have always had a cast iron stomach, until recently. Like Joe, I started eating a more healthful diet several years ago. Fried chicken is my absolute greatest craving. I couldn't stand it any longer last Saturday and drove 30 minutes to the nearest Popeye's. Two pieces of chicken, a biscuit, and three hours later I was completely miserable. Indigestion, nausea, bloating, the works. It's not fair, is it Leigh? I want to be 16 again so I can go get a DQ brazier burger, fries, cherry coke, chocolate shake for dessert, and not feel horrible. Oh, and have the metabolism I did then so that after that meal I didn't gain an ounce!

[Bruce Page]

I used to get bad heartburn and occasional acid reflux. My Doc prescribed one aciphex tablet each day. It worked so well that I now take one tablet every other day.

[Art Mulder]

a few leaves of a plant called Lovage, aka Levisticum officinalle.

Some of my friends have also called it celery on steroids. It has a strong celery taste with yeasty overtones. My wife just says it tastes bitter. I grow my own and hope to have enough to store through the winter as the plant does die back during the winter months.

what a coincidence!

I just planted one of those in our back yard a couple weeks ago. Got it from a friend who was dividing up their plant. Lovage is supposedly very easy to grow. Ours is flourishing so far. My plan is to use it in soup. (harvest, chop, and store in the freezer)
Do you just eat it straight?

[Jim Creech]

I feel your pain....... Literally!
For me, Pizza night is now Pizza and Pepto!
Tacos and Tums!
Meatloaf and Metamucil!
My fridge, which was once filled with brightly colored food with exotic names is gradually being replaced with a cabinet full of brightly colored meds with exotic names!
Sometimes I wake up only to discover that what doesn't hurt.... doesn't work! And I'm not quite 60 yet! I suspect it may be a government plot to keep us "seniors" inside and off the street!

[Jim Koepke]

what a coincidence!

I just planted one of those in our back yard a couple weeks ago. Got it from a friend who was dividing up their plant. Lovage is supposedly very easy to grow. Ours is flourishing so far. My plan is to use it in soup. (harvest, chop, and store in the freezer)
Do you just eat it straight?

I usually just pick a little and eat it when indigestion occurs.

I have not looked too deeply into ways of storing it. All parts of the plant can be used.

I have used it in soups.

It does grow fairly easy. Getting the seeds to germinate is the tricky part.

We brought some root divisions with us from California.

jim

[Dave Ogren]

When ever a person has acid reflux their body is saying that it does not have enough acid to process the food you are eating. You are actually hurting yourself by taking an antiacid treatment. That eliminates the remaining acid and your body has to work harder until the next time you eat to build up its acid reserve.

The best thing to do is to take a teaspoon or tablespoon ar a small dose of vinegar to raise the amount of acid in your stomach. If you did this at every meal for a few weeks (2) you probably will never have acid reflux again, or not for a few years.

Any kind of vinegar is OK! the best is apple cider organic vinegar with mother. But what ever you can take will work., even the kind to put on to a salad.

Most vinegars are 5% acid, your stomach is approximately 2.5% so drink a little water with it if you have to.

The reason you do not hear about this is because vinegar is cheap, non patientable because it is a natural product and there isn't a way to make money from it.

Using vinegar is also a great way to test your supplements,, but I will save that for another post.

By the way the heartburn feeling will be gone in about 20 seconds.

Good Luck,

Dave

[Kelly Craig]

I have to go the direction Dave indicated.

A friend had significant problems with heartburn. Of course, big pharma and those who are "practicing" medicine all wanted to reduce the acid his body produced to digest food. Then he went to one of those "quacks," who prescribed hydrochloric acid tablets (available at health food stores).

He said "whaaaa"? Take more acid to get rid of my acid problem? He was suffering, so went for it. Now you couldn't steer him off that path.

Recently, my very young, but living on her own, teenage daughter was having problems with acid indigestion. I had her try bromelain (look it up on the net, it's also something my friend's eye surgeon had her take). It appeared to have solved her problem.

In the end, there are many alternatives, some of them just aren't as patentable/profitable as others.