Thin males with hiatal hernias have the best 10 year outcomes for laparoscopic antireflux surgery. You mechanically fix the problem...stop the reflux...instead of just masking it and making it feel better with meds.
If you are overweight, lose weight.
If you are thin..you are the type of person who can develop Barretts and increase your risk for esophageal cancer in the future.
See a surgeon who performs at least 10 laparoscopic antireflux procedures (specifically lap nissen) per year.
Flycaster is right you must not smoke or eat high fat things.
I was having some digestive difficulties - on-going for months - they were : belching, bloating, heartburn, sensitivity at the waist, intestinal gas, hiccups, difficulty in swallowing capsules, overall fatigue, full feeling at base of throat, pain or burning in upper chest, pressure in the chest, pain in the left side of chest.
So I read on-line about hiatal hernia and I tried the self-massage technique described here and felt immediately better.
I had to do it more than once over a period of time and I had a masseuse do it to me 3 times in 3 months. I also did the water in the stomach technique.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX0zKB2_ ... re=related
As of 90 days ago, I also stopped eating chocolate, stopped drinking coffee, alcohol and sparkling water began taking natural papaya enzyme with meals and chewable calcium after meals.
The calcium helps the LES valve to close. I now eat a 95% low-fat, starch based diet and I much smaller meal at dinner than ever before and I do not eat after 5:30 or 6:00. I go to bed
at 9:30 or so and it's best not to have eaten anything within 3 hours of bedtime.
For the last few weeks I have felt "normal" again. It's wonderful! Oh I did take Prilosec for about 8 weeks but was able to taper off that using Pepcid. If you want more info on that, let me know.
It takes a lot of years to develop Barrett's Esophagus.
At the top of the page, in the blue banner, you will see 'Health Information'. Hit it, and select 'GERD'. Look at the causes and especially the treatments. It's common sense. I'd add that if you are taking a drug like Nexium, take it exactly as suggested. If you smoke, stopping will work wonders. If you snack on high fat foods after dinner, that will absolutely keep the GERD symptoms rolling. If you are overweight, I suggest you look at a good weight loss plan. Adding either pharma drugs or natural nostrums take second place to a healthy lifestyle, in my opinion. I say with some experience.
Keep us informed.
If u have reflux all the time and a family history, u may want to again have urself tested, in the mean time what r u doing for it?
What meds r u taking and have u modified ur diet and life style to aid in the reduction of acid?
Pro biotics work well, so do talk to ur Dr about this as a possibility for u to help get ur digestive track back in it's natural balance.