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Pay It Forward (PNW) on 02/03/2024: 
Wish I knew years ago, I probably could've avoided gallbladder removal. Turns out many have poor bile quality and don't know it. If I'd have taken ox bile at each meal that may have resolved the problem. But alopathic drs knowledge is limited to big pharma Rx meds. After yrs of ignorance and suffering it cost me my gall bladder. I was also taking antacids nightly instead. And those are terrible for your health! Particularly robbing your calcium, magnesium, and B12 causing a concerning deficiency. H2 Blockers can deplete calcium, folate (B9), iron, vitamin B12, and vitamin D... and Proton-pump inhibitor (PPI)'s can deplete magnesium and vitamin B12.
As we age, two of the most concerning deficiencies are vitamin B12 and calcium. Both PPI's and H2 blockers significantly increase the risk of vitamin B12 deficiency in elderly patients. Vitamin B12 requires gastric acid for absorption. The elderly population is already prone to deficiency in intrinsic factor, a protein necessary for B12 absorption. Symptoms may include trouble walking or changes in memory, conditions that may be mistaken for aging or dementia.
Even the Journal of the American Medical Association reported concluded that the use of PPI's for over one year results in people being 2.5 times more susceptible to hip fracture than control subjects. The drastic drop in calcium and vitamin D absorption that occurs with PPIs is believed to be the cause.
ACV and Ox bile, avoid eating foods you know to be triggering, stop eating 4 hrs before bed. Even now, with my gallbladder gone, I simply take 1x 125mg Ox bile capsule during my meals and feel 10x better for it. *Keep in mind, I would not recommend bile salts for people with hyperthyroidism (extra bile can increase conversion of T4 to T3 making you more hyperthyroid) or people with active diarrhea.
Joey Marie (WA) on 04/11/2023:
sl0j0n (Waycross, GA) on 12/25/2022:
Brooklyn Baby (Brooklyn Ny) on 12/30/2018: 
Adam (Charlottesville Va) on 09/25/2017:
Worked Temporarily
Paul (Amsterdam) on 09/22/2017:
Thank you sooo much for this website, it changed my life. At age 9 I was diagnosed with GERD and had ulcers in my esophagus. I was operated with Nissen plastic, but it unfortunately did not have any effect. The doctors then put me on anti-acid meds (esomeprazole). I have been taking them for 21 years (!!! ). Although I never experienced stomach acid in those 21 years, the side effects of the meds were horrible with intestinal problems (diarrhea) for more than 10 years. Taking anti-acid meds daily means you have no stomach acid to digest the food, resulting in non-digested food into the intestines. As a self-defense mechanism, the intestines start to develop bacteria to process the food with overgrowth intestinal problems as a consequence. My first discovery was the FODMAP diet 7 years ago, that changed my life. You stop feeding the bacteria, however do not solve the culprit of the problem, the lack of stomach acid. I had never been able to get off the anti-acid meds, cause I would have serious attacks of stomach acid.
Now 6 months ago I started with ACV and results have been AMAZING, now at 1 time 2 tablespoons in the morning. I have not taken any medication ever since. Furthermore I had a check-up gastroscopy recently and it all looked perfect. I have attacks of stomach acid once per month after a very fatty meal, but that is absolutely normal. I am so happy with this solution.
Spread the word and make sure you understand the consequences of anti-acid meds!
Cwk (New York, Ny) on 03/16/2017: 
Carole (Banbury, England) on 02/07/2017:
L Murphy (Liberty, In) on 09/28/2016:
Ihateacidreflux (California) on 07/25/2016:
John (Warwick, Ri) on 07/05/2016:
Yhen (Philippines) on 06/16/2016:
Amanda (Kingston, Jamaica) on 05/08/2016:
Sheila (Tennessee) on 04/25/2016:
Finally after just being sick of being sick, I came across your site.. I immediately went to the kitchen and did 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in half of a glass of water, and within minutes... RELIEF. This is a God Send. I finally slept and woke up this morning feeling better. I believe the earth gives us what we need to survive. I'm sick of meds and doctors that just want to push RX and its all for money. They do not truly care for our health.
Thank you again for this site.
Nora (Ma - Massachusetts) on 03/27/2016:
Gilde (Palm Beach, Florida) on 11/25/2015:
Manuj (Ghaziabad) on 10/17/2015:
Rohit (New Delhi, India) on 06/20/2015:
Another method to prevent reflux is to have half an apple before going to bed with some honey.
Jacqueline (London, England) on 02/11/2015:
Worked Temporarily
I think this site is wonderful, and I was hoping someone might be able to help me. I've had acid reflux/silent reflux/LPR for the last three months, it started with a flu bug but I carried on experiencing a burning sensation in my throat along with heartburn, dry mouth and a bad taste. The doctor thinks it is caused by reflux. The doctor gave me omeprazole which I took for a week which made the problem worse. I believe that I have low stomach acid rather than too much.
I started taking two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar with warm water and honey in the morning and evening which helped tremendously, however it seems to have become less effective, and I'm finding that I have to take more and more to get any relief.
My question is, am I taking it correctly? Should I take it with meals or on an empty stomach? Can too much ACV cause problems? I was so relieved to find some relief, but now I'm worried that I'm back to square one.
Bryan (Texas, US) on 12/27/2014:
Kyle (Vero Beach, FL) on 12/15/2014:
Kyle (Vero Beach) on 11/21/2014:
Gena (San Fran, California) on 03/28/2014:
Gina (Montana, Usa) on 12/11/2013:
Kay (Jax, Fla, Usa) on 12/08/2013:
Zark (Emerald City, The Land Of Oz) on 11/07/2013:
Kelitababy (Yucaipa, Ca, Usa) on 10/10/2012: 
Warning
Eddors12 (Wheat Ridge, Co/usa) on 09/22/2012:
Melissa (Portland, Oregon) on 06/22/2012:
I am amazed. Apple Cider Vinegar (plus other remedies/ changes) actually works!
I have had GERD since I was 16, now 24, I have used medication for the last 8 years. Wow, 8 years!
I started with Ranitadine, and "graduated" to Omeprazole a couple years ago when Ranitadine 150mg twice a day pretty much stopped working. I started on 20mg Omeprazole once a day and a few months ago was put on 40mg twice a day. Rediculous, it got so bad that even THAT wasn't completely stopping my symptoms, I felt like my stomach was retaliating as soon as it could create acid again. And on top of it, ever since I was diagnosed with GERD if I ate any "trigger" foods (Coffee, Tea, Chocolate, spicey, acidic), I would get such an immense pain in my chest like something was trying to claw it's way out of me. No doctor can figure that one out, I got an endoscopy all is fine, so I was told to just avoid those foods. Fine, I can do that, except that after I was taking my Omeprazole 40mg THAT was tiggering the pain! You can imagine the doctors where clueless to that as well.
Now I think I finally know why the medicine stopped working and even hurt me, the medication was just funking up my body. My stomach had no idea what to do, and was sensitive to EVERYTHING. I wanted off medication, but was scared to do so. I had tried about a year ago and had bad results. My GERD causes acid to go into my throat, usually while sleeping but sometimes during the day too. And when I tried a natural remedy before, yep, acid in the throat. Not a pleasent way to wake up I must say. But I felt, after finding this site and reading up elsewhere, that I was ready to try again. I have now been off of it for about 9 days, and am doing well.
I made a plan for myself, as I felt that simply taking ACV like a medication would actually work. It was part of the "Plan". My routine starts in the morning with a tablet of DGL Licorice, have it before anything else and wait a few minutes. The DGL (Hopefully) helps your stomach create more of the protective mucus lining that helps prevent and treat ulcers. Since I am drinking acid and know that with GERD I am at risk for Barret's esophagus I think this extra step of caution is a good one to take. Then I take around 2-3oz aloe vera gel (it's just a thickened juice, you can get regular juice I just think this feels better going down). I get this organic one in a glass jar at Whole Foods, primarily because they don't use Citric Acid, but instead lemon juice and it is in a glass jar- no BPA! :) I cannot remember the name, but I think it's the only organic one in a glass jar there. I had the Aloe Vera Juice from Trader Joes and it was like drinking pure acid, it hurt so much to drink and tasted horrible. Not worth saving like $10 a month just so you scorch your throat in my opinion. Okay, so after I take DGL and Aloe I have breakfast, small meals are very key to controlling GERD/Acid Reflux in my experience. Do NOT drink water with your meal, you should chew, chew, chew to let your saliva moisten the food, this way the enzymes that naturally neutralize stomach acid help you in your quest to be drug free! Then drink, drink, drink! You need a ton of water to help your stomach digest, and to dilute acid the rest of the day. If I am doing good, I will pee about every 60 minutes, maybe sooner. Lol. But it is worth it. I Don't seem to wake up at night though, so that's good. In the afternoon, if I can, I juice, vegetables really help neutralize stomach acid and are healthy for you anyways! Though I don't think you have to do this, I have had much success with out a lot of juicing. I try to make my lunch the largest meal of the day, that way I can work hard and digest for a long time afterwords. Then comes possibly the most important part for me personally, the night routine. I have dinner NO LESS than 3 hours before laying down, I SIT UP or STAND for the whole three hours before bed. This way gravity is on your side while digesting your relatively small dinner. After I eat I will wait about 20 minutes typically then I drink only like 1 teaspoon ACV (Organic, unfiltered) in a couple oz of water, then I chase it down with just water to try to get the ACV off of the throat. (Sometimes after lunch I will do a ACV and Baking soda mix, you can probably do this for dinner as well if you like. Sounds counter intuative, but your body actually neutralizes the ACV anyways, but it still stays acidic enough to help aid your stomach with digestion. When you mix these two it takes the burn away when you drink it, find the Ted's recipe, he explains it more. ) Then right before bed I will drink about 4 oz water with a slightly heaping teaspoon of baking soda to neutralize whatever's left in my stomach and I am ready to sleep on my slanted bed. Slanting your bed is SO important, again gravity is on your side by keeing acid away from your throat.
So my lifestyle and diet changes summarized:
-Avoid foods that can cause issues (Esp. Chocolate and Coffee! These contain methylxanthine witch relaxes the LES allowing food and acid into the throat. Eat Carob as a chocolate substitute. :)
Anyways, I really hope this helps people like I does me. I will say I am not 100% symptom free, I get heartburn, but not as bad as if I did nothing, and I have yet to get acid in my throat. I am happy with the results and feel everyday my stomach is getting back to the way it was before I wrecked it with caffeine, stress, and ibuprofen, naturally. :)
Reginald (Rowlett, Tx) on 05/17/2012:
