Back almost 2 weeks now. Felt terrible for the first few days and now reflux almost gone.

 

This is after almost 5 years in Thailand having severe breathing difficulties and non stop indigestion ,  lump in throat combined with a mild pain around my hiatal hernia.

 

To me there is only one conclusion and that is that there is something very wrong with food in Thailand.

 

I am at the point where I wonder if it's worth it to go back to Thailand and risk stomach cancer. Btw, I tried making my own food, wife making kefir and yet had no improvement whatsoever besides some herbal pills from 7/11.

 

I buy kefir from the supermarket here, it's very mild with around 2bil bacteria and it does wonders for my stomach. Besides that I don't eat much healthier.

 

I am now very paranoid about going back. I'm sure there is something I don't know about food in Thailand.

 

 

 

 

I can sympathise with you about bad reflux because that was the reason I gave up my job and retired early, having being diagnosed with Barrett's oesophagus as a result of ongoing reflux.

 

Thankfully it has all but disappeared and really does give me no problems now and I have been living here in Thailand for 11 years, so I'm not sure that it is the Thai food that's doing it, well it certainly isn't for me, although I don't eat a great deal of it.

 

That which I do, I cook myself and I never use any of the cheap and nasty oils, only extra-virgin olive oil or just very occasionally a little rice bran oil.

 

Omeprazole helped me on the way to settling the condition down (as did lack of stress I do believe) and a natural capsule, D-limonene, helped it disappear completely and now I rarely take either of them.

 

Of course your hiatal hernia is not going to help the situation – – ever thought of getting it fixed?
 

I have suffered from Reflux problems for more than 2 years and would get it almost every night when I laid down to sleep as well as randomly during the day about twice a week.

 

However my Doctor recommended taking Nexium and since I have been regularly taking it I have only had about 3 attacks in the last month.

 

Omeparazole did not ever help me.

I take Omeprazole every day, it was prescribed to me .It has worked miracles for me  , I can eat anything I want  and do not have any incidents while I take it. If I miss it for even one day the condition returns immediately. For me it does not seem to have any side affects.

I take Somac ( pantoprazole ) which works very well for me. Take it during the evening meal.

I find no real difference between my diet in Thailand and my diet in Australia, in terms of reflux. IMHO if one overeats, one pays the penalty.

by any chance , when you were in Thailand were you eating at the same time that you were on thaivisa?

that could be one reason for acid reflux...

Then I don't know what it is. It could be simply the nerves.

24 minutes ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

Then I don't know what it is. It could be simply the nerves.

could be something stresses you more when you are here in Thailand .   maybe the "change of scenery"

and having different things to do than your thai routine have given you relief.  why not give it more time (in canada) to see if your health remains better.   

Diet is everything (you are what you eat, and all that).....but sometimes you have to experiment with different foods to see what works best.  Goes without saying that in thailand and probably canada too you have to wash all vegies and fruits real well ( soak in vinegar)

And, back to stress :   its what causes most problems with me.  

Good luck getting things straightened out.  I always feel better/healthier going home for a while. 

I doubt the food since we are all eating it, unless there was something unusual about what you ate or you have a specific food allergy.

 

Omeprazole and Nexium do NOT stop reflux. They just make it less noticeable by rendering the stomach contents less acidic. This does come at a price especially if taken long term.

Does anyone know if they sell Gavison Advance here in Thailand. 

2 hours ago, rumak said:

And, back to stress :   its what causes most problems with me.  

Yes, once I got out of the stress, little sleep, work cycle with the help of triazolam, the omeprazole helped tremendously and the D-limonene and I was on my way to recovery.

 

Can eat anything now, even raw chillies (although red capsicums are a no-no).

2 hours ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

Then I don't know what it is. It could be simply the nerves.

I have major stomach troubles. The drugs mentioned only reduce the stomach acid and not much else. I have tried them all and in the end, just made things worse with rebound reflux. Admitted twice to the hospital over this. Tried just about all the foods to avoid, and I stopped consuming tomato, chili and I eat at the same time most days. I also IMF (I fast - don't eat for 16 hours a day - only drink water)

 

Now stress; this is something I think can do all sorts of nasty stuff to your stomach. I suffer from Bipolar 1 Disorder, IBS, an auto-immune syndrome (effects my eyes), OCD and ADD (all at the age of 49). I have been sick since I was a kid and my stomach was never that good. Over the lasts several months I have seemed to get it back together. My reflux has gone for the first time in a very, very long time but my stress levels have dropped to near zero. For most of my life, I was stressed, and I went through two very messy breakups over the last 12 years, and I  never seemed to have a moment I did not have reflux. 

 

My life has now settled down a lot and since that has happened, the reflux and the food issues have seemed to get better. Yes, we all can have issues with our stomachs. Many of my friends have reflux from eating shat food but I do believe that stress/nerves can play a huge part in our gut health. 

Good post. Something to think about. I do feel less stressed knowing I'm in the hands of competent doctors in Canada instead of rather poor experience I had in Thai (private) hospitals.

 

Maybe also the fact the wife is 13,000 km away ?

Does anyone know if they sell Gavison Advance here in Thailand. 

They sell tegular Gaviscon. I haven't seen Advance.

Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

I`ve been suffering from acute reflux for the last couple of years that has got progressively worse. It`s with me more or less 24 hours a day. At times it becomes intolerable. I can no longer drink a glass a beer, because after 5 minutes it feels like molten lava swooshing in my stomach. I wake up in the mornings and it feels like my guts and throat are on fire.

 

Emos powder helps a little, but now I`m getting to my wits end.

 

 

38 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

They sell tegular Gaviscon. I haven't seen Advance.

Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

 

They sell the purple version for 100 baht more, which I believe is advance.

6 hours ago, Sheryl said:

I doubt the food since we are all eating it, unless there was something unusual about what you ate or you have a specific food allergy.

 

Omeprazole and Nexium do NOT stop reflux. They just make it less noticeable by rendering the stomach contents less acidic. This does come at a price especially if taken long term.

Having suffered from hiatus hernia/reflux for a number of years, I take omeprazole (20mg) twice daily. Completely stops the reflux.

 

Half of Thailand seem to be on omeprazole. It's due to eating spicy food. Also, if you suffer from it at bedtime, it's better to eat your main meal at lunchtime and have a light meal an hour or two before you go to bed.

 

Omeprazole can have long term effects but the majority of people don't get any side effects.

I had a buddy who suffered with this really bad. It pretty much came down to stress and diet. He had a lot of personal financial problems at the time. There must be something that your eating in Thailand that is kicking it off. I sometimes get bad heartburn and acid. 100% diet though (pork) and alcohol that triggers it for me. Everything in moderation is not such bad advice really. In my case anyway. Hope you feel better soon. 

 

I have actually heard that this has something to do with your blood group and diet as well. I am no doctor and i don't believe in web MD either but it maybe something worth looking at and exploring. People with certain blood groups should eat certain things in their diet and on the other side avoid certain foods. Better than taking constant medication. If it works fine. If not at least you tried. It wont cost anything or kill you. Its only food. . 

 

https://www.webmd.com/diet/a-z/blood-type-diet

 

8 hours ago, xylophone said:

Yes, once I got out of the stress, little sleep, work cycle with the help of triazolam, the omeprazole helped tremendously and the D-limonene and I was on my way to recovery.

 

Can eat anything now, even raw chillies (although red capsicums are a no-no).

your body has problems with red capsicums?    explain please

2 hours ago, rumak said:

your body has problems with red capsicums?    explain please

For whatever reason, if I eat red capsicums I get heartburn/reflux!! A lot of onions can have that effect, so stay away from them in the main.

 

Once I was able to get on top of the reflux I could eat most anything and although I read up on the common food antagonists for reflux, I am now able to eat chillis, spicy food, cheese, chocolate, red wine and occasionally coffee...…..in fact most things with no problems.

 

 

Just now, xylophone said:

For whatever reason, if I eat red capsicums I get heartburn/reflux!!

I know several people who say the same but don't have stomach problems otherwise. Must be something genetic.

4 minutes ago, Spidey said:

I know several people who say the same but don't have stomach problems otherwise. Must be something genetic.

I eat red capsicum all the time.  not expensive (like in rimping)  at the big local mkt near where i live.

soak them in vinegar same as all my vegies.  OK,  i'm gonna lay off them for a while and see what happens.  I don't have gert but i have been having bloating problems lately.  If that is the cause I will

be forever in xylophone's debt......

OHH.......so no problem with the green or yellow capsicum ??

1 hour ago, rumak said:

OHH.......so no problem with the green or yellow capsicum ??

To be honest, once I got the reaction to red capsicums I didn't bother trying them...……….BUT have had a few small pieces in a curry with no problems, but don't want to push my luck!!

7 hours ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

 

They sell the purple version for 100 baht more, which I believe is advance.

Yep, dual action, can be used for heartburn and indigestion. Wife swears by it.

8 hours ago, cyberfarang said:

I`ve been suffering from acute reflux for the last couple of years that has got progressively worse. It`s with me more or less 24 hours a day. At times it becomes intolerable. I can no longer drink a glass a beer, because after 5 minutes it feels like molten lava swooshing in my stomach. I wake up in the mornings and it feels like my guts and throat are on fire.

 

Emos powder helps a little, but now I`m getting to my wits end.

 

 

I may have missed this...…….but have you tried a proton pump inhibitor such as omeprazole or similar? Some folks take it twice a day to start with (as did I) but rarely need it now.

 

The problem with the acid getting into the oesophagus is that it scars/burns it because it is not designed to cater for it and as a result the body responds by growing the same cells which line the stomach in the oesophagus, which is a problem. Constant scarring can lead to Barret's oesophagus (which is what I had) which can lead to cancer in around 20% of cases

 

Often the oesophageal sphincter is damaged and any scarring makes the problem worse...…..so cutting down the stomach acid is a must (with a PPI such as omeprazole) and one can take Ranitidine at night to help. Plus the occasional Gavison to soothe the damage AND of course, cut down on stress, exercise more, don't eat big meals and late, prop the bed up and use two pillows.

 

Find out which foods antagonise it and stay off them. Give your damaged oesophagus time to heal and it may respond like mine.

 

A hiatal hernia can be a major cause of reflux and these days keyhole surgery can repair them; other surgery can be performed to try and fix a "loose" oesophageal sphincter and the last resort is a slight folding of the top of the stomach to reinforce the sphincter, called a "nissen fundoplication" but be warned it is not fool-proof.

 

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gerd/multimedia/gerd-surgery/img-20006950  

 

Whatever you do, try to ease the problem as it can ruin your life and lead to serious consequences (as you already know). In addition to all of the above I tried a natural remedy called D-limonene and it worked well for me (look it up in relation to GERD, much on it).

I took omeprazole for around 10 years, and it worked perfectly. However having had 2 stents inserted into a heart artery, I was advised to stop omeprazole as it clashed with my heart medicine. Apolets. The Dr prescribed instead Prevacid (apparently the lesser of evils)  It works but at around 50baht a tablet and no apparent generic version, it is expensive.

 

 

19 hours ago, ThaiPauly said:

I have suffered from Reflux problems for more than 2 years and would get it almost every night when I laid down to sleep as well as randomly during the day about twice a week.

 

However my Doctor recommended taking Nexium and since I have been regularly taking it I have only had about 3 attacks in the last month.

 

Omeparazole did not ever help me.

For me, all the kudos to Omeprazole, that is what my doctor in the government hospital described me, 3 months ago, never had any acid reflux during all that time. I take it in the morning before taking my breakfast. Don't worry about coming back regarding your probelm.

I have acid reflux and other problems regularly when I eat in restaurants in rural areas. I ask for little salt, no MSG, no fried food, but it doesn't make any difference. In contrast, I can eat in middle-class restaurants without any worries. I wonder what the rural folk do to their food that makes me feel so uncomfortable for days afterwards?