Living with and Managing GERD

GERD is quite a serious condition. Every year more and more people are diagnosed with GERD. This condition has various symptoms and is found to cause pain and great discomfort in patients. There are numerous ways in which the condition can be handled. By properly managing the condition you can make your life easier by reducing the pain and uneasiness. The type of approach to be made depends on the severity of the condition.

Some people have mild symptoms like heartburn. Such patients can manage the condition through simple lifestyle changes. All that is required is altering the diet, cutting out acidic, fatty and spicy foods, giving up smoking etc. In case you don't find any relief from these lifestyle changes you may use antacid medicines. These drugs neutralise the acid content in the stomach and hence provide relief from the discomfort. When you do not find any improvement, you should consult your doctor and seek medical help to handle the problem.

When you are suffering from some severe symptoms like lung problems, an acid suppressing therapeutic trial in combination with histamine antagonists is given to diminish the acid production in the stomach and check that there are no other underlying problems. If you find the treatment effective and no further symptoms are found, this treatment can be continued for a long term relief from GERD.

When you experience further problems and complications after this medication, an endoscopic diagnosis is done to have a closer look at your internal organs. This will show any damage to the oesophagus caused and also lets the physician know of ulcers and inflammation, if present.

If the symptoms do not diminish with treatment you may have to go for some other options. One such option is 24 hour PH testing. Or you can go for additional drugs such as pro-motility drugs. This may help you get relief from the severe symptoms. But in case these fail, the only option available is surgery. Surgery is a highly effective treatment which is found to cause relief in many patients. But like any other surgery, this too has a number of complications and side effects associated with it. Hence before deciding to have surgery, it is necessary that you know all the risks and complications that may arise.

With GERD life may seem quite problematic. You'll need to work to make it easy. Firstly, it is important to avoid eating fatty and spicy foods which increase the acid production. Also avoid foods that may not suit your digestive system. Maintain a proper diet and follow a regular exercise to keep yourself fit. Drinking occasionally may not be that bad but you'll have to quit smoking as smoking often adds to acidic content and increases your symptoms. So, you can live well even when you have GERD provided you learn to live properly.

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