So I've had bad reflux for 15 years due to a hiatal hernia. Last look and my esophagus and upper stomach are a disaster.

Okay, two weeks ago I thought "Why wouldn't chewing gum, which produces a stream of alkaline saliva, help relieve the distress?"

As it turns out it works pretty fast at knocking down the discomfort and what's better is the relief lasted for hours! It was like my "acid thermostat" requalibrated back to where it was supposed to be.

Then, after three days of doing this I noticed something wonderful. For the first time in fifteen years I'm going one or two whole days without a single reflux! And the relief seems to be lengthening! (And no, I don't chew gum in public. I'm almost fifty.)

The particulars:

Trident sugerless gum. Pick a non-mint flavor. Some types of mint flavoring can cause what we are trying to stop. My favorite is the bubblegum flavor as I can't taste the xylitol in it. (Which tastes like wood alcohol to me. Don't ask.)

I thought I would tell the world this before I was hit by a bus or had a heart attack or something.

P.S. As scarey as it is to type I have to say that even after a 24 hour fast both my esophagus and my upper stomach were black in endoscopic examination. I saw the pictures. Doctors seem to get really interested in you if some part of you is black that isn't that color in other people. Took nine souvenirs of their visit to my insides with them. They are going to get back to me on this.

(Okay, I know what that usually means. But life is hard enough to get through without assuming.)

__________________
Gimme a minute to read through Jay's latest observations...

Write a paper.

Wait, someone already did: The Effect of Chewing Sugar-free Gum on Gastro-esophageal Reflux

__________________
0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 ...

BinaryMan, (Thanks Kai! Good name!)

I can't tell if you are being helpful or mean.

__________________
Gimme a minute to read through Jay's latest observations...

I chew licorice which I assume works for the same reason as the gum.

__________________
"To excel in physics is to embrace doubt while walking the winding road to clarity." - Brian Greene

Not mean. Didn't mean mean. Hoped it was informative, leading to helpful. Apologies if you felt it was mean.

Wouldn't it be helpful for at least others, maybe you, to know this is part of the literature, with many subjects and statistical results even.

And, get well soon please.

__________________
0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 ...

Sweat it not, 011.

The "write a paper part" *I* took wrong, chief.

I know you are not a jerk. But I can be sometimes.

__________________
Gimme a minute to read through Jay's latest observations...

I rarely suffer from gastric reflux but when I do I just sip a glass of water.
Washes the acid back to where it belongs,works every time and is free.
Better than antacids,your body makes acid for a reason.

Writing a paper is a good idea. Let people know that this could help.

BigDon-- my brother in law has Barrett's esophagus, and is trying out your method. So far, he likes it-- thanks.

I remember one of those late night infomercials a guy said the stomach produces excess acid because it does not have enough acid and antacids actually defeat the purpose. He said a natural cure was to drink a little vinegar which put acid in the stomach so that the stomach would not need to produce more. Sounded somewhat logical but is probably bad advice for someone with advanced disease.

Years back I was headed down that road, seeing doctors, getting x-rayed, etc. I finally realized it was my job that was causing stress leading to acid in the stomach. I learned to recognize the build up of stress and found ways to relax myself and control the problem. Today I do not have the problem and do not require any antiacids or pills. I guess I was lucky enough to realize the source of my trouble. (and I don't chew gum)

Different causes of the similar conditions require different treatments. Acid reflux is not necessarily caused by excess acid, in particular this is not the case in hiatus hernia.

In the case of acid reflux caused by a hiatus hernia, which I also have, the problem is that the valve at the top of the stomach is failing to keep the acid in. There is no particular suggestion, in this case, that the stomach is producing more acid than usual. So the "infomercial" veeger saw is not relevant to this case. In this condition, antacids (or more often these days drugs like Ranitidine alias Zantac, which strictly speaking isn't an antacid) are not used to correct the stomach's acidity to a normal level, but rather to keep the stomach at an artificially low acidity, so that when reflux happens, as it does, it isn't so acid. Unfortunately a safe and effective method of restoring valve function is not available. If this is the cause your acid reflux, then it sounds like the gum inducing saliva is just acting as additional, natural, antacid, so why shouldn't it work. Drinking vinegar (or a more pleasant acidic drink such as wine) is obviously counter-productive in this case, as I can personally confirm, since I indulge the more pleasant alternative on an almost daily basis, to my folly given my condition.

If the cause of someone's acid reflux is something else, such as excess acid production, then obviously different considerations are likely to apply.

Mr. Viehoff,

Are you getting that pseudo-asthma effect?

I am. Quite annoying. According to 011's link the operation will relieve this pretty quickly, but I wonder will I still be able to lift?

I would like to try to pick up 400 pounds and lift it over my head. A fairly modest goal, considering I only need a couple months of training on average to bench that much. And I've lifted that much waist high in the past. But I can't seem to transition to the grip needed to push up that much weight.

Anybody have any input on this? The operation, that is.

__________________
Gimme a minute to read through Jay's latest observations...

You're having a Nissen fundoplication? You'll get a lot of stuff googling that.

I was led to understand by my doctor that surgery is only used in serious cases, because it does have risks. When one reads "...a mortality rate of less than 1%" I'm supposing that is a mortality rate higher than 0.1%, which is rather worrying for a correction of what is normally not a life-threatening condition.

I'm a 75kg/165lb cyclist (who would like to lose 15lb I didn't used to have), not a weight-lifter, no breathing difficulties. And my problem is at the mild scale of things.