Painkillers & Acid Reflux Symptoms: Unhealthy Relations

My husband and I suffer from headaches (bad ones). In 1995 he introduced me to ibuprofen, which greatly helped his headaches, and mine too.' He had been taking it for headaches for several years. In 2000, he thought he was having a heart attack, and went to the hospital. There, after many tests, they determined it was reflux. Two years later, I too, turned up with mild reflux. A few years later, we figured out that ibuprofen relaxes muscles, can cause constipation as well as relaxing the LES stomach valve and causing GERD. We very rarely use ibuprofen now, but still suffer from reflux problems. Orange peel/orange peel extract helps, as well as using a 2-week prilosec treatment when needed. Coffee is poison for me now! I try to keep away from coffee so I can drink wine now and then.

In response to the acid reflux/ibuprofen link. I was a regular user of advil cold sinus during the fall to help with sinus headaches. I have suffered from reflux off and on for 5-7 years. I also am curious about a possible antibiotic link. I was prescribed tetracyclene in the 70's for acne. I took it for at least a year. In 1996 I was prescribed another cyclene antibiotic and it really bother my stomach.

I have had symptoms of GERD for about 4 months-coughing, lump in the throat, terrible sore throats, etc. I can't pinpoint what the cause of it is. I have noticed though, that when I take aspirin -Excedrin, for several days in a row, my symptoms act up. Since I suffer from migraines and sinus headaches, Excedrin (2 pills) would be the only relief for me. I also thought back to when my symptoms of GERD began. Doctors had put me on rounds of antibiotics. When one didnt work, they prescribed another-several times. Again, I was taking aspirin during the same time as well. I truly believe there is a connection between the 2. Now Im hoping to find a natural cure, as I sit here typing and my throat's on fire! =/ I think Ill give the ACV a try.

I just wanted to contribute to the acid reflux/pain killer theory. I have had terrible acid reflux for 15 years and never ever take Advil or similar pain killers, so I am sure that it was not caused by Advil. Thanks!

Regarding the ibuprofen connection to GERD, I do not take any form of this pain reliever, and still have GERD. I do take tylenol, but not frequently.

I've had acid reflux in 1987 again in 1992 when I was in the military. I got ibuprofen from the on call doctors. I had tendonitis in my legs so the I started to use for any problems. I had until 1998 when I had a pain in my stomach I was week a felt horrible like I wouldn't live. I saw a doctor in vermont about my symptoms he didn't know why I was sick a few days later I got even sicker my roommate said had a holistic doctor she wanted me to go to after she looked me over she found I Ibuprofen had built up in my system so much I nearly died. she then figured out what my body needed to get now I try not to take the ibuprofen any more

I just came upon your site and am going to try the remedies for my acid reflux that was just diagnosed but that has bothered me for some time. I wanted to write that the first time I felt ill was when I was on the South Beach Diet and I have been plagued ever since..

I don't agree that the painkillers are what cause GERD. I was diagnosed with it about four years ago and was prescribed Nexium. I did not take the medication and by chance cut back my intake of breads and baked goods. GERD's symptoms went away almost instantly! Now I'm on ibuprofen daily for arthritic hip-GERD has NOT returned. Actually, I laid off the refined carbs, like sandwich bread, rice, cornbread, yeast rolls, commercial bake and serve breads...' I stopped getting the burn in my chest and throat from regurgitating my food intake.

Using Nexium is the only thing that has worked so far, although the low carb diet helped some. While I was in Italy for a semester I noticed some decrease of acid reflux thanks to a better diet, even if I still had to avoid the pasta. I ate a lot of oranges while there, and that seemed to help some. Mostly though, I am replying to the idea of the painkiller ibuprofen being a leading cause. To this, at least in my experience, I firmly say nay! I'm 20 years old, and even during sports I rarely use any sort of painkiller, opting rather to deal with it or alleviate the hurt with hot or cold, etc. I will go months at a time without touching any painkiller and yet I have severe GERD with related asthma symptoms. Maybe for some of you this has caused it, but the few times I have taken painkillers, I really didn't notice much of a difference.

What has caused acid reflux to be so wide spread? It's the soda. Everyone I've talked to that has had major problems with acid reflux was a heavy soda drinker, including me. Once the stomach has been eaten up by the acid in the soda over many years, it takes forever to heal and be well again.

I have never taken much ibuprofen, but I have been a rather regular user of Excedrin in the past (aspirin, acetaminophen and caffeine). I don't take it anymore. My GERD started after I had been on a lo-carb diet for about 5 months. I had never had trouble before. I think the high fat/high protein diet wasn't the best thing for GERD. I went off the diet immediately, but the GERD never left (it's been two years now). Just for your information. I am not overweight and I exercise daily.

Re: reflux caused by Ibuprofen sorry, I don't even know how to spell it, because i have never used it. I have reflux. I have never taken ANY pills too much, let alone that one. Very very rarely have i taken medication. This is not what caused my reflux :( MY friend uses ibuprofen all the time and has no reflux. So, there has to be yet another reason :(

I'm responding to the survey on ibuprofen and GERD. I was just diagnosed with GERD, which surprised me because I never have heartburn and assumed that my constant throat clearing and voice fatigue was due to allergies or LA air or something. Anyway, I vote NAY on the ibuprofen theory. I rarely take painkillers of any kind, but I do vote YES on the soda theory and would love to hear more responses to that. I've been drinking lots of Diet Coke for almost 20 years. I'm trying the ACV, but have no opinion yet.

While I use Motrin and other such ibuprofens, I don't use them regularly, and I used them with out any Acid Reflux symptoms. I don't know what caused it originally. Several things have helped for awhile, but it got to the point where I have chronic sore throat, ears plugged up and asthma so I went to an ENT who prescribed Aciphlex. While it stopped the Acid and gave me relief there, about two hours before the next dose was due, I would be very nauseous. After a week, I went off of it. I found this website, and while my doctor has prescribed a different medication, I have decided to try the Apple Cider Vinegar, first. The best thing is, last night I took the ACV about an hour before I would normally start with the nausea. I didn't continue w/ the Aciphlex, but with three doses of ACV and Raw organic Honey (2 TBS ACV to 1 TBS Honey in 4 oz water shaken), I did not net nausea at all. I took it again this morning and feel okay. I think that my stomach is in some sort of shock from no medicine, but I will take the ACV mixture again tonight and will let this site know how it goes. I personally don't think it is related to ibuprofen specifically.

I have taken Ibuprofen for YEARS for back and neck pain. I got clued in to the possibility of this causing or aggravating the situation through something I read on the internet. I don't however experience a real dramatic or seemingly direct correlation between the two. I have only had GERD symptoms for less than 1 year. I have also experience extremely painful esophageal spasms. I've been taking protonix (gave me severe stomach cramps), Famotidine (has started to give me the same problem), tums, Pepto Bismol, Maalox, Aloe Vera Juice. The Protonix made the sore throat that I'd had for a few months go away. The Famotidine did the same thing as long as I took it but a week or so after I stopped, everything was back. The Aloe Vera juice soothes my esophagus and with regular usage helps the burning pain.