I have a pretty irregular sleep schedule and sometimes need to get in some calories later on in the day, but the days when it’s closer to going to bed, I notice I have more flares, overall discomfort, and even more severe insomnia from acid.

So without further ado, how long before bed do you all stop eating?

I dont know if any of you have had this same issue or if it's just really crazy timing. But! I would say 4 days ago I had a crazy horrible bad gerd flare up, im talking the works. Chest pain and back pain that felt like a heart attack, struggling to breathe, etc. Usually those last an hour or two for me and im okay but I woke up the next morning so so sick. A cough thats now completely got rid of my voice, sweats, chills, cant eat, etc. Mostly the cough has been the problem. I would occasionally cough up the glob of yellowish green phlegm but. I might just be paranoid and its crazy timing but it still hasn't improved so im not sure if it really is an infection??? I know nobody here is a doctor but its so hard to tell the difference between a sinus infection or gerd at times! 😭

I'm newly diagnosed and having some very bad symptoms. I'm talking problems swallowing and keeping food & liquids down, constant heartburn, chest pains, and being backed up with acid in my throat pretty much 24/7. I can barely eat or drink, I can't lay down and have to sleep in a sitting position (not that it helps much, as my throat stays full of acid anyway.)

I've been to the GP a few times over the past week and all I get is a "you poor thing" and being given an extra dose on omeprozole and gaviscon. Thing is, it's not helping at all. I swear my symptoms worsen by the day. 

I feel like I'm losing my mind from not being able to eat, drink, and sleep. My GP said unless I don't get better in a month or start vomiting blood, they won't follow up further. So what, am I just supposed to suffer like this? What the hell do I do?

I'm off the Omeprazole now, and on Famotidine (Pepcid) 40mg 2x day. I'm on day 8 of 14 at this dose, then I go down to 20 mg day/40 mg night for 2 weeks, then down some more. My doctor says the worst symptoms should peak somewhere in the second week, and today is that day. Nothing is helping. I've eaten half a bottle of Tums and drank 2 glasses of baking soda in water. I can't sleep like this. It seems to be fine for awhile, then it just rushes up and spreads across my chest. I actually called an ambulance because I thought it was my heart, but they took my bp and an ekg and said my heart is fine, it's just the rebound effect, but they'd take me to the hospital if I want. Nope. They'll just give me more PPIs.

I didn't have days this bad when I wasn't on meds. I'll be so glad when this is over. One day I'll feel fine, the next I eat one little tad of tartar sauce on my fish and BAM! I think I'm having a heart attack.

I'm definitely getting some DGL and Gaviscon tomorrow to see if that helps.

Would love to hear what foods or drinks people have found are NOT triggers? Looking for food/drinks that are super enjoyable or happy surprises to still eat with GERD (:

Also thank you so much to this community, the posts and advice have really helped me feel less sad about this diagnosis and helped me learn ways to manage the symptoms better

Has anyone had this symptom post endoscopy before? I have had 2 previous endoscopies done many years ago and do not remember having any symptoms let alone this afterwards.

I noticed it right after waking up from the procedure when I tried to drink ginger ale. It has persisted into the next day 24 hours later. It feels like things go down but then get stuck, or squeezed at a certain point and I can feel pressure and temperature of the food or liquid right around my collarbone. The report said they took two biopsies, one upper and one lower esophagus, so maybe this is swelling or inflammation from that? It also feels like after things go down that I need to burp to release the pressure build up.

Anyone have something similar after your endoscopy? If so, how long did it take to go away?

I’m in my mid 30s, and I’ve been dealing with a cluster of symptoms for the past 48 days. I’m struggling to understand how they might be connected, so I wanted to ask whether anyone else has experienced something similar.

I’ve had an ECG, echocardiogram, and bloodwork, and the results were reportedly normal. However, I still experience symptoms that make me feel as though something isn’t quite right.

How it started.

Everything started after I ate spicy food and drank carbonated beverages mixed with lime and sugar for about a week. This triggered severe acid reflux symptoms. Since then, I’ve experienced discomfort around my upper abdomen, particularly near the epigastric/xiphoid region (where the upper abdomen meets the lower breastbone).

My burping was more frequent when these symptoms first started, but it has decreased over time. It now tends to occur during episodes of upper abdominal discomfort, particularly after prolonged sitting or lying down.

Certain foods, such as raw apples and some protein-rich foods, seem to trigger gas or a sensation of trapped gas in my upper abdomen.

The symptoms are often worse after sitting for an hour or more or lying in bed while using my phone. When I get up and walk around, I sometimes experience a single, long burp within a few seconds or a minute, similar to the kind of burp you get after drinking a carbonated beverage.

I occasionally feel an unusual warmth in the middle of my chest. Sometimes my breathing pattern also changes, although my SpO₂ readings remain around 98–100%.

My previous hiatal hernia.

I was diagnosed with a hiatal hernia in 2012. I did not undergo surgery, and I gradually improved after following a diet consisting exclusively of boiled foods for approximately 7-8 months.

I’m mentioning this because I’m wondering whether my current digestive symptoms could be related to my previous hiatal hernia or whether this might be a separate issue.

Chest wall and breastbone pain.

I have a specific tender spot just below my left collarbone, near the breastbone (see attached image) pressing this area causes pain. I’ve experienced similar chest wall pain in the past following gym injuries, and I suspect it could be costochondritis, although I haven’t confirmed that this time.

Image Link

The discomfort tends to flare up when I slouch, use my phone while lying in bed, or carry or lift heavy objects with poor posture. It sometimes seems to coincide with my digestive symptoms.

When the chest discomfort is active, I sometimes feel as though my breathing becomes unnatural or I need to consciously remind myself to breathe into my abdomen. I may also experience a strange, lukewarm or emotionally uncomfortable sensation in my chest. It’s difficult to describe, but it resembles the sinking feeling you might get after being betrayed by someone.

At times, the discomfort makes me feel as though my heart is racing or something is moving in my stomach. However, when I check my pulse and touch my abdomen, everything seems normal.

I also notice a sensation of tightness or clenching around my upper abdomen and xiphoid area. When I relax and practise gentle diaphragmatic breathing, the symptoms often improve within seconds or minutes.

Unusual emotional sensations.

Something else that has changed during this episode is my emotional response. When watching uplifting or inspirational videos on my phone, I sometimes become unexpectedly emotional, even though I wasn’t like this before these symptoms began.

Occasionally, while using my phone in bed, I suddenly feel like crying for no apparent reason. Interestingly, yawning sometimes makes that sensation disappear.

I don’t know whether this is related to stress, discomfort, breathing patterns, or something else, but it’s unusual for me.

Posture seems to make a difference.

I spend many hours sitting at a computer, and I tend to lean forward with my head pushed forward, especially when concentrating on something. I also have what appears to be an anterior pelvic tilt.

The symptoms sometimes occur after sitting in an ergonomic chair for an hour or less, particularly when I’m absorbed in researching something online. They can also happen when I lie on my right side while using my phone.

I’ve been trying cat-cow stretches, gentle diaphragmatic breathing, and glute bridges to improve my posture. However, some of these exercises occasionally seem to aggravate the tightness around my diaphragm or upper abdomen.

Current situation.

It has been 48 days since this started. The first three weeks were particularly difficult, and I worried that I might have a more serious underlying problem.

My ECG, echocardiogram, and bloodwork came back normal, but I haven’t yet consulted a gastroenterologist. I have not received a confirmed diagnosis of gastritis or costochondritis for this episode.

I’m wondering whether these symptoms could involve more than one issue, such as reflux or another digestive problem alongside chest wall pain or muscle tension.

Has anyone experienced a similar combination of reflux, upper abdominal discomfort, episodic burping, chest wall pain, and changes in breathing?

Have you noticed that sitting posture, slouching, or lying down makes your symptoms worse?

Has anyone with a history of hiatal hernia experienced similar symptoms years later, even after a long period of improvement?

Has anyone experienced unusual emotional sensations or a sudden urge to cry during episodes of physical discomfort?

Did treatment for your digestive symptoms, physiotherapy, or posture changes help?

If you experienced something similar, what kind of doctor did you consult, and what eventually helped?

I’ve wondered whether the vagus nerve or the interaction between digestive symptoms, breathing patterns, and muscle tension could be involved, but I don’t want to jump to conclusions.

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences. I understand that everyone is different and that other people’s experiences cannot establish a diagnosis.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

(English is not my first language, so I used ChatGPT to help correct my grammar).

Long story short. I have reflux, still waiting for endoscopy to be 100% sure it is GERD.
Had a flare a couple of weeks ago and decided to get famotidine at the pharmacy.
2 days later I had a panic attack, started feeling horrible anxiety, inner restless and overall weird body feelings.
5 days later I was at the ER feeling very off. Anxiety super bad. Another panic attack, couldnt sleep.

They run a bunch of tests and everything was ok. The ER doc asked me to stop the famotidine just to see how I feel (I had NO idea that it could be famotidine).

Well, 2 days after stopping started feeling better. A week later I am 100% back to myself.

Still suffering with reflux flare, but I am never taking this med again. Just wanted to share in case someone is feeling off and might not know why.

It’s seems as though meals are taking longer to digest on days I work out causing GERD symptoms the next day. Any ideas on how to fix this?

I’m taking Refluxter or Khelp before workouts and again before bed but I’m still getting silent reflux overnight.

What eliminated your bad breath ?
I don’t know if this is what I have yet, but I see my doctor in a few weeks so far I have very bad halitosis (can’t work, can’t go to school, food and liquid come back up, heartburn sometimes) breath worst with fast food 💔

I'm 22 days post op of a toupet fundoplication. I'm experiencing spit pooling in my throat after meals and at night still, and I guess it's water brash or saliva regurgitation. My throat still hurts and my voice is still weak. I'm still throat clearing and it feels like I have more globus/mucus than before surgery.

I'm wondering what I should do next.

1. I saw an ENT last week who scoped me and said my vocal cords looked normal. I sought a referral to see another ENT who looked at my scope and said don't waste your time. I was wondering about getting a videostroboscopy. I'm not even sure I can get one around where I live. Should I continue to get tests with ENTs and speech language pathologists. Would a FEES test show anything?
2. Start working on voice therapy with a speech language pathologist? My throat still hurts so I'm not sure this is the best idea but who knows. My ENT said my scope looked fine
3. Begin all LPR protocols again in earnest such as alkaline water, alginates, diet, nasal rinses, baking soda water sprays, etc. My diet has been mostly blended oatmeal and cream of wheat, cans of soup, yogurt, etc. I can't eat much yet post surgery.
4. I've had three doctors say try a 10 milligram dose of Amitriptyline for sleep, nerve sensitivity, and to try to dry secretions. I'm hesitant to start this.
5. Do nothing and wait to see how I feel after 6-8 weeks. I'm just at a loss and super disappointed. I thought the surgery would really help me.

I have been diagnosed with stomach ulcer 6 year ago. From that time I have been facing frequent acidity and heatburn. I have been managing these issues with prebiotics like Banana and probiotics like Yakult daily and it helped me a lot. But Recently it was severe heatburn and doctor prescribed me with PPI for 2 weeks. It take 2 week to reduced to managing level. But immediately after I have to go to vacation for 1 week as it was preplanned. I found out that acidity was complete gone. I didn't face any issue even I was not taking pre/probiotics. The only different thing I was doing was walking a lot (like 5-6 km a day). I checked with chatgpt and it confirmed that walking after lunch/dinner can help in downward movement of food and help in reducing acidity. So I start walking 1km in the early morning and 1km in the night after dinner. And the result is great. I am only taking probiotic if I eat oily/spicy food.

Other thing which helped me is drinking lot of water. From some video I found out to drink one glass of water every hour (except 1hr before and after meal). Before I was strict. Later I have reduced but 1 glass of water just after waking up and 1 glass of water just before sleeping is very beneficial for me.

Please share your thought on this.

I get pain when inhaling and exhaling and shortness of breath. It can happen randomly but also seems to be triggered by exercise/bad air quality?

It feels like my lungs are… scratchy? Or like a muscle ache? And I feel it in my sternum but also the sides of my ribs and my back (between my shoulder blades).

I do get heartburn fairly often (maybe a few times a month? Typically while trying to sleep at night when laying on my right side)

I was tested for asthma a few years ago and it was negative. I have recently been diagnosed with POTS (heart is fine btw) and blood tests indicate a possible autoimmune issue.

My primary physician thinks it related to my stomach and had me tested for H pylori (negative) and thinks it’s likely GERD.

But like, it doesn’t feel like heart burn to me? Like there’s no burning or gas or indigestion feeling when it happens.

I don’t know if this is related but sometimes my back between my shoulder blades hurts so bad it hurts to breathe and I can’t help but wonder if they’re connected? Like, which one came first, yknow?

Does this sound like GERD to yall? Could it be an auto immune thing or a connective tissue thing maybe? Could it be all of the above? I’m curious what you think

Were you ever able to eat at your favorite restaurants and foods again? I’ve been very bummed out unable to have what I like. I know I shouldn’t fret but it’s really hard not to.

See how it goes. When the pain is bad it’s bad, but it’s very on or off, though the usual foods make it worse or trigger it etc.

Pantoprazole works sure but I don’t want to be on that forever!

Im consistently waking up most nights around 1-2 hours before my alarm in the morning at 3-4am, my heart pounding and breathing heavily, anyone else deal with this? And did you fix it?

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I’m sorry, but I’m going through something absolutely horrifying and I’d like to ask for help. I’ve been taking Esomeprazole for over a year (40 mg daily for the past 6 months), along with numerous antacids throughout the day and alginates. I’m 23 years old, and since I was 21, I’ve had these problems with intense heartburn and extreme acidity—so much so that it feels like it’s burning. Later, I also started experiencing severe stomach burning, chest pain, and all the typical symptoms of GERD.

Now, the 40 mg dose of Nexium has alleviated symptoms that were otherwise impossible to manage, but I was still forced to take Gaviscon, Pepcid, and all the rest whenever I ate even something slightly different. Now they’ve told me to get a manometry and pH test, so I tried tapering off the esomeprazole (for the past 10 days I’ve been taking 20 mg instead of 40 mg) and I’m going through hell. The symptoms I was already experiencing are insane—chest burning, a throat on fire, stomach pain (even if I eat an apple, lol)—and nothing helps. I’ve even taken a double dose of Pepcid and tons of Gaviscon, but nothing works.

I'm discouraged and distressed. It's absurd because I keep taking 20 mg of Nexium, Pepcid, and Gaviscon, and it feels like I'm on fire. How am I supposed to stop taking these medications for good so I can get tested? It feels impossible to go on living like this; I feel defeated. Sorry, but I'm at my limit now.

Only been on PPI for 5-6 weeks to get my issues under control. It was prescribed to me in the ER. I have been told to just go straight to only taking the h2 blocker when the PPI runs out, but i have heard so many horror stories about rebound. I can't really taper if that is an option because my pill can not be cut.

Hello guys, im a teen who has had asthma most of my life, asthma doesnt usually affect me unless im sick as i have really mild asthma, as of the start of this year i noticed i started getting acid reflux along with heart burn, i brushed it off but about 6 months later i would get asthmatic symptoms out of nowhere, never like before. I noticed that when i was sick, the asthmatic symptoms went away, and when i went to the gym the asthmatic symtoms went away too. As of recent in the morning i feel really bloated and sluggish. I really dont know what to do and this entire situation is confusing me, i would really love to hear your guys opinions.

hello everyone, lurked around for a while and now im feeling the need to write down my experience.

Recently i moved out of my country and 3 days later i started experiencing really weird shortness of breath when i would lay down in bed + a sensation of lump in throat that sometimes even felt like someone trying to suffocate me.

In that week of symptoms I had a day of reflux, which I have experience with since I had a confirmed diagnosis of gastritis almost two years ago with a plentitude of other horrible constant digestive issues, that nobody could help me with AT ALL and i was just suffering for three years non stop. Those symptoms slowly went away and I lived a normal symptom free life for about a year and a half.

I went to the doctor since it was getting really scary for me, and when I also mentioned my episode of reflux she also checked my throat and said it’s sore/red/inflamed from reflux, thus prescribing 40mg Pantoprazole.

When I started taking it… It was literally hellish. I couldn’t breathe without feeling pain, I felt constant discomfort and it made it so hard for me to eat. I started having much more intense reflux than what I had. These symptoms eventually went away after a week of the treatment, but I stopped taking them after just 12 days since my doctor ordered I do an gastroscopy. When i stopped taking the Panto i felt like super shit, anything I would eat would make me have reflux, which I calmed down with Gaviscon. It slowly was a bit better, with discomfort after eating and a lot of burping, and a bit more minor reflux.

My gastroscopy came back showing grade B Esophagitis, traces of bile in my stomach and too much acid.

I feel so so confused, I keep thinking the PPI are the blame here, I did not feel this shit before them. My doctor just said to go back to the Panto40mg with prokinetics for around 3 months + a taper-off.

I’m going to get a second opinion from a gastroenterologist, I‘m scared about taking Pantoprazole again.

I’m not looking to demonize PPI, I just feel like I might have done something wrong by even just mentioning anything about reflux.

Hello everyone I am a 24F just recently diagnosed with GERD. Lately, even before the official diagnose, ive been experiencing severe restless where I feel like im not sleeping at all at night and I wake up really tired. Along with this I've experiencing my nerves becoming on intense alert in my arms like sending Shockwave a bit. I was just wondering if anyone experienced this before with GERD because this community has helped decrease my anxiety alot while still experiencing symptoms of GERD and I was wondering if I can get some peace of mind if it's common or is it related to something else. Thank you to anyone who responded and have a great week.

Hi everyone, I have persistent ear pain and sore throat for threw months now. Ent did a scope but no abnormalities found. Was given rabeprazole twice a day to take bit not working. Symptoms persist. Scheduled for mri in end December. Should I be worried ? I am convinced I have throat cancer. TIA.

I have been prescribed Omeprazole twice a day 40mg and that didnt seen to help. I am now on pantoprazole twice a day and it might help a little bit but I am still everyday getting acid in my throat.

I have switch my diet to advoid triggers, coffee and tomatoes are my biggest triggers. I mainly eat a banana or an oatmeal bar for breakfast. I have a small snack of either nuts or a fig bar. Lunch/dinner I eat a small portion and no later then 3 hours before bed time. Guys I am really struggling. Im 24 and I dont know what to do. I know getting acid in my throat is bad and my sister keeps stressing that I could get throat cancer if I dont take care of it. I am at a loss at what to do. I have been drinking a lot of water and staying hydrated. I drink ginger tea often and eat ginger snacks. Nothing seems to help. I really want this stop, its affect my voice. My voice seems to be weak everytime it happens. I know that this is a chronic illness, but i would like to go some days without it happening. Any advice would be welcome.