The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Paul (Anchorage, Alaska) on 03/30/2007:
I have been diagnosed with acid reflux for 5-6 years. Right off the bat they put me on prevacid, then switched me to nexium a year or two later. The past year I been doing pretty well on 20mg 1x/day. In January I started tapering off xanax which I have been on for 20 years. I have since been informed that xanax will cause reflux and other GI problems and coming off it can fire things up too. You have to taper off xanax very slowly BTW to reduce withdrawal symptoms. In February, about a month into my taper, my reflux started to get really fired up. So my GP upped the dose to 40mg. 2 weeks later I was still having bad reflux so contacted my gastro doctor. He upped it again, to 40 mg 2x/day. I didn't want to do it, I hate pills,but I wanted to protect my esophagus so agreed to the higher dose. The short of it is that I was still getting break through acid, mostly the feeling of acid fumes in the back of my throat. I'm a believer in modern medicine, but I also think that many times all the doctors know to do is cram more pills down a persons throat. I decided that if this big of dose wasn't going to fix the problem the next thing they would be suggesting is surgery. I also have read stories of many people, like those on this web site who have had only misery from pills that end up not working given enough time and maybe in fact the make things worse. I have read about the many folks here who have claimed that apple vinegar worked well, so I decided I had to try something or I saw my self heading down a one way, dead end road. So, skeptical I bought some organic apple vinegar, honey and some aloe vera. Last night I took my first dose and felt almost immediate relief.I laid down and went to sleep and slept all night.Nice. I took it again this morning and had a pretty good day. Tonight after dinner I was starting to feel miserable and took another dose and it helped a great deal right away. I don't expect ACV to cure my GERD in a couple of days, but I think there is some definite promise with plain old vinegar. Its interesting that my doctor tells me all the things I should avoid that can aggravate my reflux such as chocolate, my beloved red wine, coffee, etc. So I ask myself if natural things like this can fire it up, why can't natural things like vinegar and aloe vera calm it down? But you have to remember I'm trained in science and the empirical process. I'm sure no double blind studies have been done on the affects of apple vinegar for treating reflux, but with all the people here saying it works, and having positive experience myself I don't need a double blind study to convince me when my belly feels better :-)So I will continue to try and see how it goes p.s. if any of you out there are on xanax or a tricyclic antidepressant they could have something to do with your reflux, my GP even admitted that was possible. Hopefully, when I get off the stuff it will all be better. Cheers.
I suffered from GERD, actid reflux... the whole 9 yards! the doctor told me my stomach lining was detertiorating! i woke up 3 times a week with horrible pain. i was on nexium, prilosec, mylanta, malox... the works... then one desperate morning i ran into the grocery store and bought a bottle of apple cider vinegar. i had read up on it recently on this site. that day changed my life. i havnt felt pain in months. i still get a bit of acidity if i really abuse my stomach (tomato sauce, to much coffee or liquor). but that horrible pain at the mouth of my stomach. GONE! 1 ounce of ACV in a glass of water 3x's a day! after i cut down on the dose. take it in the morning and at night. I AM CURED!! i now preach to all...APPLE CIDER VINEGAR!
Hi!! Its me again.. Though I've already mentioned that apple cider really helps people suffering from GERD. I also discover some product which i know can help people with GERD. I was introduce to a product called shape work of HERBALIFE. It's a drink which will not only help you loose wait but also prevent acid reflux to attack. The secret of this product is having apple cider vinegar. Its actually effective i've been taking it for 2 days now and i already lost 4 lbs..not only that it also help me sleep well and breathe well!! Its my second feedback here about apple cider!! I've no doubt why apple cider is very popular/famous here in the Philippines now a days!!Thank you so much for bringing my normal life!
I'm just writing to thank you for this amazing site. I had been suffering from acid reflux, gastritis, GERD -you name it- and one day I found your site which suggested I tried apple cider vinegar for the fire in my stomach. And wala, lo and behold! Apple Cider Vinegar is like magic! My stomach feels a 100% better! Thank your for spreading the good word.
Good day!! my name is Con from the Philippines and i read about the article about ACV which cures GERD. I'm a 26 yrs old married woman suffering from gerd. I've been taking Nexium 2x a day but since i had an allergic reaction to that medicine so i stop and go back to my old medicine which is omepron. I heard about acv from one of our trainer from hawaii who asked me to take acv with a glass of water. At first i was doubtful about it because I've been rushed to the hospital 2x because of difficulty breathing. Several days past by so i decided to check to read about acv online. Finally, i got to check on your website and learn more things about acv. I'd like to thank you guys for helping me lessen my suffering. I've been taking 2 Tbsp of ACV with a glass of water 3x a day and Thank God i my suffering has ended. Keep up the good work coz i know your website is helping so many people suffering.. Thank you so much!!!
Apple Cider Vinegar - Acid Reflux. I have had this lump in my throat and I already knew that I had Acid Reflux - GERD. I took Prilosec for two months and it worked very well. I have not been on anything for month three and noticed that my symptoms came back. I decided to do something naturally, I found your website today and at 5:00 PM I took 4 oz. water, 1/4 TSP. baking soda and 1 TBSP. Apple Cider Vinegar. Thank God I found your website by spelling out APPLE CIDER VINEGAR FOR ACID REFLUX. I have heard many times about ACV for Reflux-GERD, had some in the cabinet that I bought and afraid to try it. I have been experiencing the lump/burning in my throat that I decided to try it. My body is sensitive to any supplements etc., that I take, I decided to follow what one of your online friends wrote and followed the above amounts. Within an hour, I have noticed already how the lump feeling and burning is starting to heal. Thank you and God Bless. It really is true that Natural Cures work and that we can cure ourselves. P.S. I see my throat specialist in two weeks and can not wait to see what he says when he looks in my throat with his scope in the office.
It's been 10 days and I can honestly say I am nearly cured of this horrible GERD that I had developed over the past several months. After the first dose of ACV I noticed a difference and now am nearly symptom free. This is the best advice I've ever received. Better yet, I've passed it on to other gerd sufferers and they are experiencing relief for the first time in years! Thank you Thank you!!!
I have been experiencing recurrent chest pain for almost the last year, all tests (ECG's, Halter Monitor and lots of blood work) indicated that there was nothing wrong with my heart so the doctors put me on one of those fancy (and expensive) proton pump inhibitors as they assumed everything was related to GERD (acid reflux). I am not sure if it was GERD that I had but the chest pain has gone away. As a bonus I have been shedding pounds like never before. However I do think that the weight loss is mostly water due to the fact that ACV acts as a mild diuretic. Interestingly enough unlike other natural diuretics ACV doesn't affect your salts/electrolytes because it contains potassium. Really happy to have found this website!
For the past 5 weeks I have been experiencing coughing fits that would get worst nocturnally. It originated from a sinusitis infection that turned into what I thought was now a chest cold. Tried antibiotics and over the counter cough medicines along with codeine to control the coughs. All this did was mask the underlying problem which I finally realized was GERD (acid reflux) . My doctor wanted to try a more potent antibiotic but I refused since the first didn't work. I coughed so much I strained my back muscle which made breathing nearly impossible. I asked her to give me a proton pump inhibitor (Prilosec) and thankfully I got samples to try so I didn't have to waste my $$ if it didn't work. I tried the Prilosec that night and I was up ALL NIGHT COUGHING AGAIN. The only thing it did was reduce the burn. I went on the internet to learn more about GERD and a pop-up-screen came up saying apples was the cure but I had to pay $$$ to get the info which to me is insane. I linked "apples and GERD" and this site came up. Got the'ACV on 11/17/06 and it WORKED and I slept for 6 1/2 hrs straight! Woke up at 4:00am with a cough took a dose of ACV again and within 15 minutes (in the mean time I remained sitting up and meditated) my coughing fit stopped and went back to sleep. I have not slept through the night in weeks; it's quite liberating. With continued use I hope to heal the damage done to my esophagus and get back to my normal self. Thank you for sharing this with the rest of us. Isabel
I have had gerd for about 3 months now. After switching back and forward to all sort of anti acids, prilosecs, protonix and etc my condition has not gone away. In fact, when I switch from one to the other the pain and burning comes back worse. There are some pills that do not work at all at this point and others that help very little even though I'm taking them at the highest dosages possible. Tonight I was at the end of my wits with the symptoms. Tomorrow I have an upper endoscopy. But since I could not stand the pain I went to the kitchen I drunk a glass of water with 1.5 tbs of ACV, then 1tbs of honey. I can't say that all the symptoms. have gone completely away, but they certainly have improved. I hate the traditional medicines but since I'm too scared to just cut them off completely. I'll try to let go of them gradually and incorporate the natural remedies instead. If you guys know of anything else other apples, ACV and pickles that could help me, please let me know.
I herniated 4 discs and lived on morphine, and hydrocondine with ibuprofen x4 daily. After 1 year, got acid reflux real really bad. Halted all meds and used apple cider vinegar x2 daily. 1 tbspn acv 2 tbspn honey, in tea or what ever works for you. Didn't cure the back pain but the gerd is slowly going away, thank god!
I never had frequent heartburn until after a nasty knee injury and the resulting reconstructive surgery about 2 years ago. My orthopedic prescribed NAPROXEN. I took this med for a few months whilst heartburn started to really haunt me. I then saw a gastro doc who determined after a videoscope sauntered down my throat that i had GERD.... GERD? wtf... Jeez... i am healthy, and had never heard of this nonsense. So gastro doc prescribed PREVACID worked great but my insurance didn't like that, so then he prescribed NEXIUM which also worked great, but i had to keep taking it. Then my insurance company didn't like that either and stopped covering either of those meds and i began to suffer again. I didn't want to go to the doctor again, so again i started taking over the counter garbage for those very temporary fixes. Then a friend of mine mumbled something about an apple cider vinegar potion he tried. i scoffed, "combat acid with acid? ha!!" a few days later while continuing to suffer through my everlasting esophageal inferno i remembered his vinegar yarn and dusted off an unopened bottle in the pantry, thinking, "it can't get worse and i need to disprove this vinegar nonsense." To my I astonishment i experienced almost immediate relief. wow! I'm not so sure about the long term yet (skeptic) but i feel it is worth a shot (literally) especially after reading some of these other confirming testimonials.
I never had heartburn so didn't suspect that reflux was to blame for awakening at night with a violent coughing fit, feeling as if there were battery acid in my throat. Rather than GERD, this is LPRD - laryngopharyngeal reflux disease. This went on very intermittently for years, then, with age (now 55), more and more often until it was pretty much every night, about 17 minutes after going to sleep. This can drive anyone mad, but also caused asthma in me at an oddly advanced age, and chronic sore throat, throat clearing, etc . Once I finally figured out it was reflux and not sinus drainage, I went to my doctor and got put on Prilosec. It worked great for a while but eventually quit working, even at double dosage. Furthermore, I really don't want to take acid blockers long term because they make one more susceptible to gastrointestinal infections (the dreaded C. diff which causes deadly diarrhea, etc) and worsens absorption of Calcium. So, I did what all desperate people do: I searched the internet. I found earthclinic (thank you!!!). Apple Cider Vinegar seemed to be the best remedy. Counterintuitive, but..... Most of the entries of these people indicated they had tried it for a week or two. Not better than placebo would give, but desperation drives one on. So, I tried it. One tablespoon diluted in water after each meal and at bedtime. Started sleeping thru the night without awakening - from the very first night. However, it made my bowels "overactive", so I cut down the dose. Had recurrent reflux, so gradually increased the dose to the initial level, this time with the bowels cooperating. I have been taking it for 3 1/2 months now and it's nearly perfect. I have only had breakthrough reflux if I eat way too much starchy food at dinnertime. An extra 1 T dose fixes that if it occurs I can even eat out at Mexican restaurants and have big helpings, and still do ok. And it's really cheap (especially compared to Prilosec)!!!!! It seems to reduce the pressure in the gut so there is less pressure at the esophageal gastric junction. I don't suppose this will work for everyone. There may be more than one mechanism for reflux. Of course the sphincter is looser as we get older, but increased gut pressure from less efficient digestion may be part of the cause, too. By the way, my asthma is completely gone, too!
This is my second days to try ACV. So far ACV reduced my symptom significantly. I still do feel something stuck in my left side throat. I hope this remedy work for me and completely cure my GERD.
I do love the site for it's experiential cures. I am desperate for a cure or GERD. I am only in my early thirties and have had reflux for 10 years. Done all the PPI's on the Market: Zoton, Zantac, Nexium, Ranitidine, and chewed enough antacids to turn me to dust.
I definitely found some relief from the Apple Cider Vinegar, excitedly I jumped off my medication and suffered a serious backlash which put me in bed for two days with stomach pains. I was planning on ditching the meds anyway as became disillusioned. I took the ACV tablets three times daily and had success for two weeks before it broke through. I find ACIDOPHILLUS BIFIDUS capsules in the massive billion doses to be highly effective in keeping the digestive system well balanced. I also find magnesium tablets taken in the recommended daily dose helps keep the bowels moving to help prevent any constipation which causes the system to back up and increase likelihood of reflux. These three items combined with avoiding Fruit juices, coffee, alcohol and cigarettes helps keep me one step away from the recommended operation the Specialist said was my only answer. Good luck with your own management of your body!
I've been on Prevacid for 6 years, wanting to get off of them. After reading the cases, I got some ACV and tried it. It felt like a blowtorch in my esophagus. I get heartburn from anything I eat or drink, especially water, which I love to drink but it is the worst for my GERD. For now I'm back on the Prevacid, I'm open for other suggestions.
I wanted to write and relay what a great site this is. I have suffered from GERD in the throat for the past 2 years. Most times it's at bay. But it lurks in the background. I stumbled on your site and tried ACV. It worked great. Though I had another episode recently where it made it's way to my throat again. This time I tried the Pickle juice.. immediate relief. WOW! The other day I had some crazy gas pain from constipation(I think). I tried the Baking Soda remedy. Again almost immediate relief....This site is great and the user feedback is extremely helpful.
2 tbsp. Organic Apple cider vinegar - twice daily - at first used honey too & straw. Now use plain w/hot water & sip w/straw like a cup of tea. no sweetener anymore. Cured acid reflux, gerd, heartburn... and I think the gastritis but until I do another scope test all I know is no more stomach problems. 'How is it that vinegar which is acid... can cure acid problems in the body?? It doesn't make sense, but it works. Also I found when i take it -It kills my taste for sweets! so I'd have my sweets and then take the vinegar <smiles> Now I've decided to try using it for that too, to stop eating sweets. by taking it in place of sweets. to lose weight.
Started apple cider vinegar yesterday, I didn't take my protonix today and my throat is not burning and my meals are digesting well. I have been taking 40mg of protonix a day for about a year and have become addicted to them. Without protonix my throat gets all irritated and I get heart burn. I started taking zantac and it worked real well but a doc recommended protonix and gave me a 1 week sample. I think the sample made my GERD way worse and I became addicted to protonix and was not able to stop taking them or it felt like acid was shooting up my throat. I hope this method works as the other times I quit protonix cold turkey like this I suffered greatly. My mom said her uncle always said apple cider vinegar was great for you to take daily and is amazed I found this on the net.
I have been suffering from GERD for a few months now and was up to 30mg of Prevacid, which has not been working. The symptom is constant coughing all day and I had to watch everything I ate. My sister told me about ACV, how she took it when she felt like she was having a heart attack from a reflux episode and it went completely away. I bought a bottle and took a tablespoon with a glass of water with a meal, sipped it slowly. At first the coughing got worse for a few minutes and then my coughing went completely away. It's been two days and I have been eating everything I like again, and in larger amounts. I am weaning myself from the Prevacid, only took 15mg today, and have been drinking the vinegar with my meals. I feel a lot better and my coughing is greatly diminished. I didn't think it would work, but it does.
I have had Acid Reflux/Gerd and a history of Ulcerative Colitis and Gastric Ulcers for over 10 years. I just went through my 5th Endoscopy last week and will have my 7th colonoscopy next week. I currently have 2 ulcers that are healing. I am in constant pain from the back of my throat down to my gut with belching and food retching. I have taken just about every pill that a doctor can prescribe for these conditions, from Prevacid to Protonix, to Nexium, but can't seem to get full relief. If I eat anything with fiber like raw vegetables, or whole grains or any carbs, I am in utter misery for hours - as many as 8 hours later I am retching up acid. I just found your site today out of desperation. I tried the vinegar trick and already the belching has subsided and the throat isn't so constricted. I hope it continues to give me relief even though it sounds ludicrous to add acid to acid. I thank you for the info and will continue to visit this website daily.
The Vinegar helped me so much, I have suffered from AR for at least 6 years & now my stomach feels so good. I can eat my favorite things again like my moms home made Fudge & I love cashews too. I heard some guy in an infomercial talking about his book on natural cures & he mentioned it. I asked my aunt if she knew anything about it so we went to the store to buy some at first it burned so bad, probably because of the burns from my acid in my esophagus. Within a few minutes I felt so much better & now my stomach feels good all the time & I've only taken it for about 2 weeks. The GERD was keeping me up at nights, I lost my voice several times & of course theres the awful Vurps that if someone notices you have to pretend you didn't do. Because no one wants to hear that your foods coming back up on you. It's simply amazing how well it works. Although I don't know if I'll ever be used to the taste. I am once again getting used to eating food I actually enjoy.
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