Fibromyalgia and GERD and one proven home treatment

I am a great believer in doing everything I can to support myself in reducing symptoms. Sometimes there are easy things we can do instead of taking medications or as well as taking medications. Things that are actually evidence-based and therefore proven to work. This post discusses GERD and one such important and studied simple approach to reducing GER and GERD symptoms. 

Fibromyalgia often coexists with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). A connection has been made through research into 35,000 patients discovering that people with fibromyalgia have a high incidence of GERD and also that there is a high percentage of people who have GERD that go on to later develop fibromyalgia. 

WHAT IS GERD?

Did you know there is GER and GERD? According to NIDDK Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) happens when your stomach contents come back up into your esophagus. Doctors also call GER  acid indigestion, acid reflux, heartburn, or reflux. 

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a more severe and long-lasting condition in which GER causes repeated symptoms or leads to complications over time.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF GERD?

• acid reflux
• heartburn
• some people have GERD without heartburn
• chest pain
• pain when swallowing
• difficulty swallowing
• nausea
• chronic cough
• a hoarse voice
• bad breath

Heartburn is that uncomfortable burning feeling or pain in your chest that can move up to your neck and throat. 

LONG TERM GERD SYMPTOMS

On-going GERD can lead to more serious problems such as Esophagitis, an inflammation in the lining of the esophagus; Barrett's esophagus which changes the cells in the lining of the esophagus and can lead to cancer of the esophagus; and strictures that can interfere with eating and drinking due to scarring and narrowing of the esophagus. These are all the reasons why you must have the help of a medical professional if you have GERD.

ONE PROVEN HOME TREATMENT FOR GERD

It has been proven that eating 3 hours before lying down reduces the symptoms of GERD in the following study aptly named Association between dinner-to-bed time and gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Objective: It is generally recommended that patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) refrain from eating within 3 hours of going to sleep. In addition to a remarkable lack of supporting clinical evidence, whether GERD patients have shorter dinner-to-bed time is unknown. This study was designed to determine a possible association between dinner-to-bed time and GERD, compared with healthy adults.

Conclusion: In this matched case-control study, shorter dinner-to-bed time was significantly associated with an increased odds ratio (OR) for GERD.

This is why when our doctor tells us to refrain from eating 3 hours before bedtime we should actually do it as it can reduce GERD. You would have to agree that it is a strategy that we can do at no extra cost to us and probably has other health benefits.

I'm sure there are many other proven strategies for GERD and I will investigate them and report back here.

Are you following your doctors' instructions for GERD and have they helped? Let's chat in the comments.

RESOURCES

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

Cleveland Clinic

The study: Association between dinner-to-bed time and gastroesophageal reflux disease.