My daughter needs help

Dear Blair,

Welcome to our community! There is much support here. I just saw another post about a young adult with GERD and vomiting episodes on this site.

Teen and adult GERD is most commonly associated with heartburn and indigestion rather than vomiting. This is because adult GERD is more of an issue of too much acid. In infants and young children, there is more vomiting associated with GERD. The muscle at the top of the stomach/esophagus doesn't close or stay closed after a meal and allows food and acid to escape in the form of spit up or vomiting. Now a track runner may be putting too much stress on the muscle and causing the vomiting. eating smaller meals, sipping water rather than gulping, eating a low fat diet and timing meals around sports may help. I know of some teen athletes who have benefitted from seeing a sports medicine specialist.

I would have a good long talk with the gastroenterologist too. It is always worrisome when the PPI (nexium) doesn't work. We know that when we decrease or eliminate the acid with medication, most people with GERD get pain relief. There is a smaller group who still experience pain despite reducing acid. We don't know why. sometimes there are other meds to try such as erythromycin. sometimes another brand of the same medication.

You might want to explore other reasons for the vomiting such as food allergies or intolerances (lactose intolerance), celiac disease and eosinophilic esophagitis.

Let me know what you find out.

I hear from many parents of teen athletes. I know combining sports and athletics is a challenge but it can be done.

Best wishes,

Jan Gambino

The Refluxmom

Blair,

Hi, I am a 38 year old woman and dealt with this for the last 7 years and I too searched for answers and medications were not working. I woke up 3-4 times a night choking in a panic state for those years and was exhausted from the reflux. I was also desparate for answers and the doctors told me surgery wasn't an option.

I have been taking a product that has literally changed my life!!

I feel your daughters pain and I was given a gift and want to share it with others and how it has helped me.

If you have a contact email I can share with you off this site.

Be blessed,

Amy in MN

Please try the ginger juice remedy seen here:

http://www.mynews2u.com/video.php?vid=66

It's safe, effective and there are no side effects.  The link will show you how to make ginger juice from ginger root and these is also more information from Dr. Walt Stoll on why ginger works.  He says there is a 100% effective rate.  Please try it.  

Hi Blair,

I am sorry to hear that your daughter is having such problems. While online advice is not a substitute for your doctor's advice, there are things that you can do to help her.

You said she is on erythromycin. Apparently that is an antibiotic that is regularly prescribed to help acid reflux. You can read an article by Tracy Davenport here. Tracy has a son who has had acid reflux for some time and she says the antibiotic has helped a great deal. You can read more about Tracy here and more of her shareposts here.

You've also heard from Jan Gambino, who has a child with acid reflux. Some of the things she mentioned in her response can be found here. Jan said, " You might want to explore other reasons for the vomiting such as food allergies or intolerances (lactose intolerance), celiac disease and eosinophilic esophagitis."

Jan has another article specifically addressing kids and sports here.

You may already know this information, but it is helpful to read it again and use it to help you ask all the right questions to better manage your daughter's care. First, there is a good overview of what acid reflux/GERD is and how it affects the body and what some causes could be. Next, you can check symptoms here. Now that your doctor is treating your daughter, you can look up any medications being prescribed here, and look up the various treatments available here.

Lastly, there are some great tips about diet and lifestyle that might help. Tracy Davenport has an article here about sleeping and tips to help keep the acid reflux at bay. Also, there are diet changes and other tips you can try to help. Dr Eisner has suggested that Papaya and Pineapple are good fruits for their help in digestion. You can read his posting here. Also some other tips are listed below.

People with heartburn should first try lifestyle and dietary changes. In one study, 44% of patients who experienced symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) reported improvement after changing their diet. Some suggestions are the following:

• People with heartburn should avoid or reduce consumption of foods and beverages that contain caffeine, chocolate, peppermint, spearmint, and alcohol. Both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee increase acid secretion.
• All carbonated drinks increase the risk for GERD.
• Although physicians often advise patients with GERD to cut down on fatty foods, studies are finding no evidence that a low-fat or high-fat meal make any difference in symptom exacerbation. Better studies are needed to confirm this. In any case, as a rule, it is always wise to avoid saturated fats (which are from animal products), and cut down on all fats if one is overweight.
• Increasing protein may help strengthen muscles in the muscle valve. Patients should choose low-fat or skim dairy products, poultry, or fish, in such cases.
• Whole grain products rich in selenium may have some protective role against dangerous cells changes in Barrett's esophagus.
• Patients should have a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, although avoid acidic vegetables and fruits (e.g., oranges, lemons, grapefruit, pineapple**, tomatoes).

** See Dr Eisner's posting above regarding Papaya and Pineapple.

Most of all, you are not alone. I know this is a lot to digest (pardon the pun) but there is much information out there available that will help you and your daughter manage her care with the help of your doctor. Also, there are many folks here willing to listen and help if we can. Just reach out and let us know how you and your daughter are doing!

Stay in touch!

Vicki M