GERD and the SB

mearow · Wed May 16, 2007 3:03 pm

Ok so I went on SB a couple of years back but didn't stay on it becuase my pro-time(clotting time) went thru the floor with all the vitamin K in the diet. However after 18 years of heartburn I had none for the entire length of phase 1. Now I have a HUGE decision to make. My GERD is so bad now they are wating to "scope" my stomach and do a biopsy etc. Crap on that! So its either back to SB and increase my blood thinners or surgery...The blood thinners are hell on the kidneys so I do not like increasing my doseage but this pain in my stomach is just getting worse and worse and worse... I talked to the doctor yesterday and he was all about the surgery didn't even suggest diet changes, that kinda made me upset. It just seems to me a trip to the doc anymore is "here is a pill and have a nice day" I have changed doctors too because of that very thing. Am I weird that I don't want a pill to "fix" it. I want to fix it naturally or try everything else before I get a "quick fix". Anyways just rambling on...back to phase one on Friday.

RedRox · Wed May 16, 2007 6:30 pm

I don't know if it will help with true GERD, but I no longer have heartburn at all (well maybe once in a blue moon) eating SB friendly foods. I know when my Dad was on cumadin, he had to watch his K intake and that got rid of a lot of SB friendly veggies. I too believe finding non-surgical and non-medicinal solutions should be explored to their fullest potential first, so I wish you the best!

puccini · Thu May 17, 2007 7:23 pm

i agree with the response. please PLEASE do not get surgery. gasto doctors are so easy to give you a pill for this and a pill for that, and you wind up taking SOOO much of it, right? BAD! They are nuts. Its all about money for them. Trust me I went thru this and i am still going thru it!!!

I would get an endoscopy though, because that at least tells you exactly what is going on. I have never had one and regret that.

If you really dont want GERD anymore, you have to make drastic lifestyle changes. No coffee, asleep upright, dont overeat, dont eat late, ect...and actually this diet may or may not help. The best thing to cure your stomach is food combining plan. Search it online. It helps ALOT. Also, if you lower your med dosage slowly, that may actually help. Because sometimes taking too many meds are worse for you. I would also suggest digestive enzymes, aloe vera juice, and probiotics. Eat mostly raw foods such as vegetables because they are alkaline for the most part. If you are going to eat fruit, eat it alone and in the morning with nothing in your stomach. Try to reduce fat because fat is hard to digest. DGL licorice is wonderful and I highly recomend it. Also I find that plain yogurt is really good daily, and a few raw almonds when you are having an attack may help you out alot.

Another cause of your GERD may be a food allergy. You said that you don't get heartburn with this diet...its possible you are allergic to wheat then or maybe fructose since phase 1 cuts it out.

Do natural research online...doctors are such loads of crap these days!!! Hope this helps! Good luck!!

SoyLatte · Fri May 18, 2007 4:19 am

puccini wrote: Another cause of your GERD may be a food allergy. You said that you don't get heartburn with this diet...its possible you are allergic to wheat then or maybe fructose since phase 1 cuts it out.

Do natural research online...doctors are such loads of crap these days!!! Hope this helps! Good luck!!
I was going to mention gluten. I used to have heartburn and terrible stomach issues until recently when I found out I was gluten intolerant and went gf. Honestly, if you really want to avoid surgery and are willing to do most anything, giving up gluten containing foods would not be all that big a deal. I felt better in days and after a week MUCH better. I could have died when I tried gluten for the food challenge (I did this all through a food challenge rather than the rather unreliable blood tests. Not that I knew I was testing for gluten, we were testing for ANYTHING at that point, and when gluten incapacitated me for 3 days, there was no way I was going to eat it for testing purposes. Lol!)

Anyway, good luck!

mearow · Fri May 18, 2007 2:12 pm

You know now that you mention it I didn't have HB return until after I started adding things back in on phase 2. :roll: The first thing I added was an apple and that went fine. Then I added in a slice of whole wheat bread and bam...heartburn. It might just be an allergy to gluten....I have developed allergies to perfumes this late so why not gluten? I think I will start experimenting with phase 1 combined with different foods daily to see what kicks it off. I went phase 1 yesterday but ate a banana just to try it and see what happened and I had zero pain and zero heartburn. I will keep you guys posted about whats going on. Its so nice to have somebody to talk to about this. :)

I already sleep head up, no caffiene, mint, chocolate etc...

RedRox · Fri May 18, 2007 5:28 pm

I think ww bread is a marginal kind of thing. It's still pretty highly processed stuff even for a whole grain product. I know it's a popular thing for many people to add back quickly, but I've come around to the idea that it probably ought to be one of the last things folks should try to add, and then try denser ww bread products like a ww pita or a ww tortilla rather than the "fluffier" kinds of standard "bread" products. There are many types of whole grains to choose from. The more we can use truly low processed whole grains, the better off we are I think and you might find it reduces the HB even more. Steel cut oats are better than rolled oats for instance, rolled oats are better than quick cooking or instant oats. Keep trying to move close to the whole grain itself.

I encourage you to review this thread on grains. In particular I have a post towards the bottom with a link to an article by Dr. Weil that I think speaks well to your experiences and is summarized by my thoughts above.
http://www.southbeach-diet-plan.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=75676

P2 is really an experimentation phase at first. Finding out what works, what doesn't, do different times of day make a difference with the same foods, do some food combos work better than others, etc. It takes time to work through all of that. The good news is that you are starting to discover what the triggers for you seem to be and that as a general plan, this indeed might help and it is now more of just finding out the specifics that work for you. Good luck!

Burdle · Mon Jul 09, 2007 7:45 pm

I get really bad GERD when I eat wheat, doesn't matter if it is whole wheat or white flour. In my case, it isn't gluten intolerance, it is food allergy. Rye does the same thing to me, it is very closely related to wheat. The more I eat, the worse I feel.
Doctors are great if you need surgery, but I've found, in general, that they don't know what to do in a case like yours except surgery, which isn't always called for.
I also find I get GERD from raspberries and other fruits, so I only eat 1/2 serving at a time, spreading out my consumption over the whole day instead of all at once. A few raspberries sprinkled on a salad is quite yummy!
Good luck, try keeping a food diary, it might help you recognize a pattern.
Burdle

packerprincess · Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:17 pm

I take aciphex for my gerd and haven't had any problems. Use to bother me terrible.
I am curious as to what I've read on the thread about vitamin K and clotting issues. I'm going back to the doc in September to be retested for that. Seems I've had some issues for the past few blood tests with clotting. Are there any particular veggies that I should try to avoid?

tara5578 · Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:55 pm

**BUMP** Does anyone else know about Vitamin K and Blood Clotting? I have a DVT(deep vain thrombosis) with blood clots in my leg. It is a huge concern for me that my blood doesn't clot up. I used to be on cumadin for 9 months but they did not want me to be on it any longer(not great for you all at). Just wondering which veggies are high in vitamin K and thinking I might need to stay away or cut back on those......

DebbyC · Tue Jul 01, 2008 7:12 pm

the rule with coumadin was that if you had those vitamin k heavy veggies, that you limited amounts and a steady/regular diet - not 3 cups on Tuesday, 2 cups a week or so later... The issue with vitamin k is that it reverses the effect of coumadin, it is required for normal clotting, so you would not want to be deficient in it. My ptt was hard to control for some reason and i had to keep vitamin k pills in the house, only had to take them once but my ptt was off the charts in both directions while adjusting the dosage. When I stopped the coumadin none of my docs told me to limit.

Green leafy veggies are high in Vit K, so is green tea

The best things you can do to prevent recurrence of DVTs are: stay hydrated, move around frequently, do not wear constrictive clothing at the waist, the pantyline or anywhere along the legs, oh and don't ever take hormones....the hotflashes are hell, but a PE would be worse!!!

This is from Mayo clnic, but note that it is for patients taking coumadin:
Warfarin is a blood-thinning medication that helps treat and prevent blood clots. There is no specific warfarin (Coumadin) diet. However, certain foods and beverages can impair the effect of warfarin. For this reason, it's important to pay attention to what you eat while taking this medication.

Until recently, doctors advised people taking warfarin to avoid foods high in vitamin K. This is because large amounts of vitamin K can counteract the benefits of warfarin. However, recent research shows that rather than eliminating vitamin K from your diet, it is more important to be consistent in your dietary vitamin K intake. The average recommended daily allowance of vitamin K for adult men is 120 micrograms (mcg). For adult women, it's 90 mcg.

Certain beverages can increase the effect of warfarin, leading to bleeding problems. Avoid or drink only small amounts of these beverages when taking warfarin:

Cranberry juice
Alcohol
You should also avoid beverages that contain large amounts of vitamin K, such as green tea.

If you take warfarin, eat a sensible, consistent diet. Talk to your doctor before making any major changes in your diet and before starting any over-the-counter medications, vitamins or herbal supplements. If you are unable to eat for several days or have persistent stomach upset, diarrhea or fever, consult your doctor. He or she may need to adjust your warfarin dose.

tara5578 · Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:46 pm

Thanks for all your help. I have been drinking high quality green tea everyday!! I guess it's good i found this out now! I have already had a PE so I am not able to go on BC(hormones). I will def. take the veggie's you rec. into consideration.

Thanks again!!!


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