I'm about to fucking lose it

I'm about to fucking lose it.
I've been on pantoprazole/Protonix for GERD for a while now, and the last two days, it doesn't seem to be helping at all.
The spiciest thing I eat is water at this point, and my doctor isn't being very helpful.
Anyone else gone through this? I'm sitting at work with tears in my eyes because it hurts so bad.

Pepto bismol

Before I got on protonix I was going though a bottle of extra strength a week. I don't want salicylism, I already have tinnitus.

You had an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy? Barium swallow? Anything at all that could test for something more than what you have.

For whatever reason they're trying to avoid borescoping me. Both docs I've seen keep saying 'well it's not really necessary.' I'm about to make an appointment and just bitch until they do it.

Yeah, do it.

Just take some antacids for a bit

You've probably got a stomach ulcer, I had one once from drinking too much wine. You should keep taking the pantoprazol, in 40mg /day if you don't already and for the time being take some direct acting anti acid medication. The ulcer will heal in a week or so. A gastroscopy won't help cure it faster.

Direct acting like Tums type stuff?

Yes. I have a sliding hiatal hernia.

I don't really get pain from the reflux, I just can't sleep. I wake up every 45-60 minutes and get 3-5 hours total per night. I eat lightly in the evening and don't eat anything for at least 3 hours before I go to bed but I still get it. My doctor told me to just be patient (and take omeprazole), and if it's still happening in a few months we'll talk about other options. The lack of sleep is driving me fucking crazy.

I highly recommend you make your doctor fucking do something about it or just find another doctor. If this has been happening for a few weeks/months, get an endoscopy/gastroscopy with a test for helicobacter pylori. Also think about your diet, if you have any allergies or intolerances (allergies and intolerances are different btw) you'll need to completely eliminate them from your diet. Note that excess stomach acid is rarely actually the root cause of reflux - you only need to have a tiny bit of acid escaping your stomach to burn your esophagus.

I'm 37 and began having GERD when I was 15 from doctors fucking up my feeding tube after a car accident. I went through every antacid and proton pump inhibitor there was and the shit just got worse over time.

I finally got to the point where I couldn't leave my house because the stomach problems felt like heart attacks. I went to another doctor and he suggested that I have extremely low stomach acid and I should try another approach. He said that after years of lowering my stomach acid my stomach might be trying to push food out because it can't digest it.

So I started out with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in water before every meal. After the very first day my GERD went from a 10 to a 2. I've added in taking enzymes to get my stomach flora revved back up and I only need 2-3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar throughout the day and my GERD is gone.

I was hesitant to try this because I had always thought I had too much acid, but when you run out of options, and you will, you'll have to try something new. I think the whole antacid and PPI industry is a bit of a scam now and I have never met a person with GERD that wasn't taking at least three times the dosage of whatever drug they were currently on and were looking into graduating to the stronger and more expensive drug to treat it.

Yeah like that.

Yeah, my diet feels like it's mainly cucumber, baked chicken breast, and water at this point. The fucked up sleep is what's killing me the worst. Glad to hear (you know what I mean) that others are in the same boat.
I'd like to avoid increasing the dosage. Not gonna let it get that far. I'm 28, it only started like 3 years ago, and it was just with super acidic stuff like lemonade at first (which sucks because I fucking love lemonade) but in the past 4 or so months it's gotten to where I can't have a slice of tomato on a sandwich.

Forgot to say: I've been on protonix for maybe a month and a half.

You would like to avoid increasing the dosage but you still feel like you need something stronger am I right? You will never find a pill that stops your GERD, you will always have to move up to the next one. I still have bottles of Dexilant and my "emergency" Zantac 150's which I was taking at least 10 a day along with Dexilant or whatever other prescription PPI I was on at the moment. Some new pill would feel like the cure but no matter what I was taking, after a month I was always needing something stronger.

I have scarring on the inside of my stomach and a slight hiatal hernia and was told that stomach acid was burning it, but in reality it's the scarring that's somehow interfering with production of stomach acid. I'm not telling you to say fuck off to your doctor's advice, but look into it. Those nights where you feel like you're going to vomit into your mouth if you lay on your back or that burning in your chest that makes you feel for the pulse on your neck, I don't have any of that shit anymore. It doesn't matter what I eat now, I just have a little apple cider vinegar whenever I know I'm going to eat something that might bother me and take some enzymes first thing in the morning.

This is retarded

This so gonna sound dumb but

Metamucil

4 times a day

>GERD
my and my friend got diagnosed with this in the same week by the same doctor, his solution was to take tablets three times a day for the rest of our lives
turns out he was a shit doctor and I have digestive issues and have to follow the fodmap diet (but I can eat lactose)

Whole Food Plant Based diet

Thank you all tons. I'm writing all of this down so I can get it all in order when I'm thinking straight again.
Makes sense, fiber is absorbant.

NOT TAKING APPLE CIDER VINEGAR.

seriously if you want your Gerd gone, eat yogurt and take acv shots. Kill it from the source instead of covering up with that shit. Also drink pH water.

Doctors are fucking retarded and it pains me when people say "consult a doctor" whenever they have a health issue. Doctors are only good at writing prescriptions for expensive pills that only make things worse.

Real lemon not sugary lemon shit also helps because lemon acid stabilizes your pH in a good way. Don't overdo it tho.