Another bout with acid reflux July 15, 2005
I’m having another serious episode of acid reflux or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) . When this happens, I drop everything that I’m doing or I’m supposed to do and take a rest.
Unfortunately, today is the exception because although I asked to be excused from work a problem at the office demanded my presence for a short while. Acid reflux notwitstanding, that had to be taken care of ASAP.
In 2003, the first time I learned I had the ailment, I had already been hoarse for three months. The doctor told me that the acid component of the liquid that made its way back to my esophagus from my stomach, which is what acid reflux is all about, had reached and inflamed my larynx or voice box.
Most normal individuals experience reflux or the rising back of the stomach’s liquid contents into the esophagus as frequently as acid reflux sufferers. The only difference is in acid reflux patients, the refluxed liquid contains more acid and this remains in the esophagus longer.
In the countless articles that I’ve read about the subject, in the hope of coming across a cure, I’ve come to realize that I am my own worst enemy and the impediment to my healing.
The part of the body that prevents reflux is the lower esophageal sphincter, that tube in the lower-most part of the esophagus just before the stomach. It is a specialized ring of muscles that relaxes for a few seconds to let food or saliva pass into the stomach and closes off again to prevent liquid in the stomach from rising back into the esophagus.
In most acid reflux sufferers, this ring of muscles has weakened and has a greatly reduced capacity to prevent reflux.
Factors that contribute to this abnormality in the sphincter are changing hormones in pregnancy, exposure to secondhand smoke, severe anemia, and unhealthy eating habits. And I am guilty of all these things. If that’s not bad enough, I am in a line of work where I am constantly subjected to great stress, considered a major factor in the recurrence of the illness, through deadlines.
Before I had resolved to really eat three meals a day in the proper time, my eating habit was so unhealthy sometimes my first meal of the day would be at 3 p.m. Related to this lack of nutrition was anemia that at one time had caused my heart to enlarge and left red dengue-like blotches on my skin. In my early 20s, health was the farthest thing from my mind. Now 10 years after, I suffer the consequences.
Now I try to lead a healthy life but old habits die hard and once in a while I find myself regressing to behavior I’ve sworn to discard. Just as naturally, acid reflux follows.
Marlen, I have the same problem for the past 3 or 4 years now. I had a very bad bout of hyperacidity in college which was causing my GERD. It is horrible, since the “episode” usually start after eating and the “heart burn” kicks in and then vomitting follows. Do you drink antacids or Maalox Plus to help neutralize the acid in your stomach?
Hi Alma. I’m sorry you have it also but I’m glad I’m not alone in the whole wide world. I drink antacids but in my case, they are usually only effective for short periods. I agree that this illness is horrible–I feel like I’m having a heart attack when I have heartburn. In some acid reflux episodes, I feel pain and discomfort in my neck and shoulder blades. In my latest bout with acid reflux, like right now, I’m coughing like crazy at work because the acid is irritating my throat.