Apparently, the throat pain that I have been experiencing for quite a while is the result of heartburn. I was told that this can be helped with drugs, by raising my bed, by not eating before bed time, and a host of other things. But one major factor in heartburn, I was told, is diet. In particular, I was told to avoid these things:
Alcohol
Coffee
Chocolate
Spicy foods
Big meals
Acidic foods, like tomatoes
This is basically everything that I eat. I love me some spicy foods. I love me some beer, coffee, and chocolate - yeah, my body’s going to hell, but I get some exercise. Oh, and I love tomato sauce on pasta. And gorging myself.
Anyone else ever been in this boat? Had to change your entire diet? I don’t know how I’m going to do it. It will be a pain to try.
Last October my husband was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Immediately we made drastic changes in the groceries we bought and meals we prepared. April of this year when he still wasn’t responding to treatment his doctors finally concluded he has Type 1, rather than Type 2. It calls for yet another approach.
In addition to managing his blood sugar my husband needs to gain weight. I need to lose weight. Being so focused on calories and carbs and so forth can feel irritating at times, but feeling better is worth it.
I will say that now that we’ve made so many changes and some of the new foods are becoming part of our routine we’re finding things we really do enjoy. I expect you will too. Best wishes.
I suggest eliminating pepper from your diet, and see where that takes you. I’ve advised quite a few people about this, and it seems to help most of them. Pepper, especially freshly ground black pepper, is one of the very trendy spices right now, and cooks will cheerfully grind it into every dish, including cookies and hot cocoa.
You should try to eat at home, at least for the first few weeks, and keep track of EVERYTHING you eat. You might be able to drink tea instead of coffee. Even decaf coffee is a trigger for me, but I can drink regular tea. Celestial Seasonings puts out an herbal tea called Sleepytime, and it is sleep inducing. It’s also very calming to my digestive system. You might want to try it for your late night beverage. It’s particularly good when sweetened with honey.
Wow - I really feel for you. I’m experiencing acid reflux/heartburn so bad it wakes me up in the middle of the night to throw up undigested food (the acid pushes it up my esophagus - eww); however, my condition is temporary and happens with every food.
I hope you’re able to find something that provides relief - it’s really an awful feeling.
I think instead of thinking of all the things you CAN’T have, you have to look at it as all the things you STILL CAN HAVE.
Here’s how the SD can help.
List things you CAN have on your diet. Things your doctor says will be OK for you to eat.
Then let’s ask people reading this thread to come up with new ways for this poster to fix those things so he can have a whole variety of foods to choose from.
People on this board have tons of ideas and recipes. So just let us know what you should be eating and I bet people here will come up with a hundred different ways to fix it, so you won’t feel denied anything.
I’ve been in that boat, only mine is caused by IBS.
I’ve had to give up virtually everything spicy, onions, tomatoes, many vegetables, some breads, greasy foods, and most insoluble fiber. I do best when I also avoid beef, citrus fruits, and corn.
I found that hearburn was caused by only certain foods, or perhaps an excess.
The grain nutrition bars, they must be held to together with something that causes problems.
Fishfingers, I suspect its whatever holds the outer crumb coat on because I have no problem with fish prepared in any other way.
Very high density sugar foods can only be tolerated in moderate amounts, but its also true that very high density salt foods do the same, yet I have no problme withfizzy drinks -even though they contain plenty of sugar.
Pizza - It’s only the frozen ones, I think it must be some sort of material used in the base - my guess is some sort of oil or fat.
What I am really getting at, its very difficult to work out what is causing the problem for you, your first step might be to not consume a lot of any particular thing, I have seen some advocate cuting out pretty much every part of the usual diet, in favour of foods that are generally bland, but considered safe, and introduce things bit by bit.
It took me quite a few years to work out the various items I found difficult, especially since some things I had been eating for many years before.
Bread is what causes heartburn for me, bread and pasta. I just can’t seem to digest wheat.
If I avoid or greatly reduce those items I am not bothered. Spagetti, make a thick, chunky sauce, more sauce than noodles and no garlic bread. Pizza, don’t eat the big piece of crust on the rim. Skip stuffing, macaroni salad, have an open face sandwich on only one piece of bread, etc.
Red sauces dishes with lots of tomatos like spagetti and chili used to cause heartburn until I learned the secret of adding a couple tablespoons of sugar to the pot while cooking. When I do that the red sauce is no longer acidic.
Also saute onions in butter until translucent before adding them to any dish you are cooking instead of putting them in raw and they won’t bother you anymore and you can still get the taste.
**Water **was a trigger for mine, oddly enough - I can only guess it was mechanical - the volume of water was more than the stomach could hold and it bubbled up into the esophagus. I tried food trials, raising the head of my bed, etc, but I could not go anywhere without rolls of antacids at hand - when it got to the point I was eating two or more rolls plus a bottle of mylanta a day, the HMO started to pay attention.
Ultimately, I needed surgical correction as the cardiac sphincter was not closing. If you’re curious, look up laparoscopic fundoplication.
If you’re near San Francisco, I can recommend a surgeon. The procedure was life-changing - the very next day, I was off the antacids completely.
Once you get your symptoms under control, you might be able to experiment and see which of those common culprits applies to you. (also peppermint can be a problem) Your symptoms may be related to quantity (one cup of coffee is ok , but 3 is not), or combinations (coffee alone is ok, but not coffee with spicy foods in the same day), or time of day.
I have the same experience plus symptoms of an abdominal aneurysm. My blood pressure was 157/85 at times. I got a handle on my diet and now the BP is 110/65. The diet is vegetarian with no added salt. I don’t feel deprived, just more disciplined. You should be well motivated by the experience and not let major disease take hold.
I can recommend one additional thing to add to your diet, if you’d like to try it: slippery Elm Powder (can be found at Whole Foods and other specialty food stores in the tea section). Slipper Elm root is good for mucus membranes in the membrane and can help heal the damage caused by acid reflux. You can make it as a tea, but it’s really thick and not to my taste, so I just sprinkle it in apple sauce or pasta sauce.
Really? Those are supposed to be the bad things? I hope cutting them out works for you, but chocolate is the only one on the entire list I consume more than once in a blue moon and I still get terrible heartburn pretty often
I share your pain. I’ve not got heartburn, but some as yet unspecified digestive woe. Until we can find out what’s causing it, I’ve been told to stay away from wheat and dairy products (and, sadly, when I do try them, I bloat like a balloon, so I can’t even lie to myself about it). I had my gallbladder out a few years ago, so I can’t eat lots of high-fat foods. And I’ve just developed an allergic reaction to something, probably nuts.
There are few meals that don’t have at least one of those things in, I’ve found. I can eat salad. Without dressing. And that seems to be about it. I’m losing kilos and kilos, so none of my clothes fit anymore. And I miss proper food.
My sympathies! Those are all the things I love, also… well except for alcohol which I use only rarely. Oh, and lately my symptoms have manifested so that if I eat anything too late in the day, I wake up coughing my head off in the middle of the damn night… even if I don’t have any heartburn.
If appropriate for you, the acid reducers (Prilosec, Pepcid etc.) do help - a lot - and might make it easier for you to eat some of the foods you enjoy at least on occasion. If you’re 100% deprived, you’ll be miserable.
