I just had to go see an ear, nose & throat specialist today. Blew out my voice singing with a molotov cocktail of allergies, lack of sleep, & acid reflux. Does anyone else suffer from this? My doctor told me to lay off wine for a while. I also got some medication to relieve the symptoms. Does acid reflux alter your wine intake at all? I'm going crazy right now because I haven't had wine in 7 days and I won't have any for another week. (Until I get past my performance this Fri.) I am currently staring at my VK, looking at the Melville Inox and Estate Pinot and drooling uncontrolably. Sad.

jb

I have it. I have never had a problem as long as I take my daily dose of whatever acid reflux pill the insurance company currently allows.

Cruel and unusual punishment, JBembry! Shouldn't be allowed! Doesn't that doctor know what he's putting you through?

But seriously - an old boyfriend had this and he was always careful to take his anti-acid reflux pill. It alway took care of it. If he was worried about it, he just made sure he didn't have too much of the trigger foods (garlic, tomatoes, sometimes dairy) if he was going to drink.

All things in moderation. Even if that tends to be a bit boring sometimes.

j,

went thru this earlier in the year and took the meds. never missed a beat with the wines, so I say the ENT needs to have a drink and lighten up!
I'm not a doctor, but I used to sell drugs to them so I probably know more than they do! I've self-medicated for years and I think I be o.KaY...

J.B.: I cannot testify to this (thank G-d), but say it isn't so, my man!!!

I follow my doc's advice(s), but this is 1 that is asking for too much. Kill me 1st. I will give up anything but that & 1 other thing

But, seriously, we have some activities coming up...

Champagne/sparklers do it to me - also, highly acidic mixed drinks, i.e., daquiris, etc., create an incredibly painful experience. Don't have the problem otherwise, and haven't taken meds for gastro problems for 30+ years (ulcer at age 8 - go figure?!?)

JB,

Absolutely the same symptoms. Went to a GEI (GastroEnterologist, or something like that), got the whole treatment, Upper GI, etc., so he prescribed some meds, took them for 30-60 days, they took care of the problem, don't have a real issue with it anymore, but if you're having a simple indigestion problem, an over-the-counter retail drug that works well is Pepsid AC. Go for it.

Good luck.

Unfortunately, I also seem to have acid reflux.
Zantac takes care of it, it seems, but I suppose
I should seek "REAL" medical advice. My sympathy
and empathy to all who are afflicted thusly.

If I overindulge several days in a row I have the same problem. I just take a pepcid for three or four days and I'm fine.

Zantac seems to work for me. Wine + reflux, etc. kills my sleep so wine sleep is not always the best!

Confession from an ex-stomach ulcerite.

My doc told me to lay off the wine, not so much because of the reflux, but because of the drying effect that wine has. I have to be able to perform on Fri. and he didn't think it was a good idea to have wine before then. Don't worry. I will be opening some good s#@t on Sat. night.

jb

You need to have your doctor distinguish a simple overindulgence vs GERD(gastroesophageal reflux disease).

Alcohol has acid and alcohol, both strong irritants to the esophagus. A binge can cause direct damage, which takes ~5-7 days to heal.

Reflux is a symptom complex of many causes but the underlying problem is anatomic and causes acidic stomach contents to flow back into the esophagus, especially at night when lying down, and burn the lining. This is no joking matter, is a disease of the 90's becoming far more common as we get fatter, eat larger amounts close to bedtime, and drink more alcohol and coffee. Medication can decrease acidic content and heartburn symptoms, but not often the reflux, which can cause choking at night and aspiration pneumonia. And, medicine does not stop the irritatant effect of alcohol. The real problem is reflux esophagitis, which can diminish normal swallowing action called peristalsis, causes painful esophagus erosions, strictures, and lead to abnormal tissue formation and cancer of the esophagus. Further, the medications are not a panacea, since they can with long time use cause gastric atrophy and gastric cancer---which makes sense since the stomach thrives in an acid medium cut off by the drugs.

Medicine works for most short term until other behaviors and weight loss---not your problem---can resolve symptoms alone. You don't want to take these long term. For some surgery---antireflux--is recommended, which is now done laparoscopically and effectively. Newer treatments are still experimental.

Bottom line, if you experience AM heartburn 2-3 days a week, you need to see your doc. If this is a one time event, don't worry. If you have reflux, unless high grade, a trial of meds is usual. If you routinely drink alcohol and have reflux, and do not wish to change your habits, you may need to consider elective surgery. From experience.

DrT

[ 07-22-2002, 11:37 PM: Message edited by: dr.tannin aka x-man ]

Dr. T - you know I think you're an amazing person and I love to read your posts.

I must tell you that when reading this one for the first time, I substituted, "Blah blah blahty blah blah blah" for part of it, a la Peanuts cartoon teachers.

I had to read it twice to make sure I actually READ all the words.

But I did appreciate the detail after I finally "got it". Thanks!

xxoo,
Gwen

[ 07-22-2002, 11:50 PM: Message edited by: LilacWine ]

Wow... that's a lot of information Dr. T. Thanks for the long post. Sorry to hear about your troubles JB. I'm still coming down August 10th weekend... and some wine we will drink!!!

I personally... have to make sure I have something in my stomach before drinking red wine... just the littlest bit is all I need though. However... a regular bad day of indigestion is always taken care of by two Tums. I feel lucky since my mother can barely take a sip of red before feeling it in the tummy.

Hey, will you stop talkin'bout "gastro" like that? It HURTS!

Dr. T, thanks for the post. That was some very helpful information.

jb

meritage
Spoken like a true drug rep

j bembry

Also as a long time sufferer, I take my meds Previcid or Prlylooc [Can't speeell tody ].

I still eat my alloted chocolate, tomatoes, and my wine.

There are a couple things to do,

1] Do not eat or imbide three hours before bed time,
2] Use a higher pillow to keep you diaphram higher than the stomach,
3] Go for an upper endoscopy, to track the progress of barret disease, which is a small cancer [Done about every two years].

Beyond that, enjoy life.

Only sometimes when I drink champagne and other sparkling wines.

Doc

I have it, too. Very unpredictable--I can get it eating almost anything. On the other hand, I drink wine with almost everything, so it might be the wine that causes the reflux. Almost always occurring in the middle of the night.

To complicate matters, my acid reflux will cause me to go into atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat), so I have to be especially careful. I am very happy to say that Nexium has pretty much eliminated all of my acid reflux symptoms.

Great topic, JB. Interesting to hear that so many others on this board have reflux issues. I guess wine can be a trigger.

LilacWine,

Are you sure you didn't hear "Whon-whon, whon-whon whon whon?"

J-bembry,

What's this "performance" you keep alluding to?

[ 07-23-2002, 11:36 AM: Message edited by: Keith Scott ]

I just thought of something.

Recent research also shows that coffee contributes to acid reflux. So, the interactive effects of wine, food, and coffee (which I think most of us drink regularly) can be quite damaging.

So, is it the wine of coffee?

Doc

Ladies and gents-

Didn't mean to be didactic about this topic, rather just dispense some info. Again-

1-This is common disease stuff. Number 3 complaint to doctors is dyspepsia, which is sour stomach, heartburn, food sticks in throat, symptom stuff. The disease most often involved is termed GERD- pronounced Gird. The problem is part neuromuscular where the normal high pressure sphincter between the acidic stomach and the conduit tube esophagus relaxes too much or too often and part anatomic where part of the stomach herniates into the chest called a hiatal hernia. Stomach fluid backs up into the esophagus or worse the throat and possibly into the lungs. This stuff is not neutral water but high acid or rarely high base and burns the tissue lining. Compounds with acid eg wine, OJ, coffee aggravate symptoms. Over months and years, repair systems fail and scarring, abnormal cells first Barrett esophagus , then cancer develop.
It is no surprise so many of us have this. Our diet is more acid than ever. We eat more increasing pressure in the stomach. Standing up little happens because gravity fights the reflux. Lying down and asleep---boom the trouble.

Medications relieve the symptoms, but not the disease. This is important to realize, and believe me you will, especially if you forget to take them. The diagnosis is made by history and symptom pattern, and degree of damage assessed initially by Barium Esophagram test. Most people have no gross damage. If there is evidence of damage, a GI doctor may schedule an upper endoscopy to look inside and /or biopsy tissue to exclude bad stuff.

2- Don't blow this off. It's easy to, since antacids temporarily help. For most people anti acid secreting drugs, not antacids, and a motility drug eg Prevacid/Propulsid are given and work well. These are not lifetime drugs, however. Behavior modification, diet alterations- if you haven't made these on your own, and weight loss can be the best treatment of all. I know people who've lost weight and cut out/down acid and late night alcohol and are symptom and meds free now. The surgical option is for bad reflux that wakes you up at night, chokes you; I've had the latter and haven't had heartburn or meds in 3 years. Your GP can discuss this with you make the appropriate referral if you need.

Geez, I just can't stop...Sorry, but I hope this helps some

DrT

[ 07-23-2002, 12:59 PM: Message edited by: dr.tannin aka x-man ]