I started off with Prevacid many years ago and then went to Nexium when the insurance forced me to. That was working pretty well but I would have a "breakthrough" sometimes during the late afternoon and would feel the burning sensation till after dinnertime.

Now I am on Dexilant - used to be Kapidix. It is a time released capsule and it really has helped me. I really want to get off of all the GERD meds because I have heard that there can be bone density issues, especially hip and that it is not always found with a bone density scan. Anyways, found out I have a small hiatial hernia that is probably the cause of my GERD so I can't really get off of the meds. Watching the diet helps - can't eat bacon and have to really watch the acidity of what I eat.

I can't take the PPIs, it works for a month or two then makes the problem worse. It also caused a major itching problem which has taken months to go away after I quit taking them. The best thing I do for that is to eat small meals. It doesn't matter what I eat it just has to be 2 pieces of pizza instead of 5 or 6. LOL

I got a bad flare-up from drinking too much lemon juice. That been almost 2 years ago. I was on omeperzole. Now for the last month or so I have started to feel sick. Can anyone help me? I'm 62 years old.

Hi mfitzpatrick72: Thank you for the vital info. about lemon juice triggers acidic stomach .. I notice the same when I drink that before bedtime. If you look at this government research, you'll see most of our drinking water are LOW in magnesium, but has decent calcium.

Government document on the
magnesium level of bottled water vs.
tap: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1495189/

I once read two books written by M.D's that to help with acidic stomach, magnesium works better than TUMS (calcium carbonate). I take Nature Made magnesium oxide (very alkaline) and it WORKS IMMEDIATELY for acidic stomach, better than Prisolac and Prevacid. Plus magnesium oxide is cheap and has only 1 side effect: diarrhea if more than one pill. Prisolac and Prevacid has many side-effects.

Magnesium citrate doesn't work as well because it's bind with citric acid. However, magnesium citrate is less laxative. All magnesium helps with my sleep. Chewing gum also helps with acidic stomach, according to WebMD.

What about red throat? My throat is still red. I gargle with a recipe my doctor gave me ( 1 quart of water mixed with 2 tablespoons of salt and 1 tablespoon of baking soda). This is the third doctor I have been to. I'm concern about the redness of my throat for such a long period of time. I too feel sick at times and lie down.

Hi mfitzpatrick: The best doctor would be YOU, since you know your body best. I would google for info., such as "red throat and WebMD" that might help. I once got chicken-pox with fever at 32 year old ... I was at a family reunion with 3 siblings who are M.D., plus a brother in law (M.D. from Stanford). None of them know, until a 12-year old kid told me my skin looked like what she went through: chicken-pox.

I mentioned magnesium oxide for heartburn, but IT'S NOT THE BEST, since it's VERY LAXATIVE. Amazon reviews gave magnesium chloride (from sea-water) as effective for heart-burn, without the laxative effective. Here's one product from sea-water, see below Amazon reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/Mega-Mag-replaces-upc-786601005018-Liquid/dp/B000I1HNEM

Mega-Mag (replaces upc
786601005018) - 4 oz - Liquid

$9.99 ($9.99 / Count) Free Shipping for Prime
Members

"I had issues with magnesium
citrate and Magnesium Malate. Mostly heartburn. With mega mag I was able to
take much larger doses to get my levels back up to a normal level. I take it
one hour before bed and I sleep like a rock."

"Makes my system very regular. Due to where it comes from (Great Salt Lake)
taste is extremely salty. It is difficult to take without putting it in a
thicker juice or smoothie. We prefer to take it in fruit or vegetable juices
(Naked, Bolthouse, Oswalla, etc or homemade."

"The content label indicates a
dosage is 4ml and there are 30 doses per bottle at that level. The dropper is
1ml so you need to fill it 4x for the 4ml dose. Each 4ml contains: Magnesium 400mg Chloride 1120mg

Sodium 10mg Potassium 5mg Sulfate 90mg Boron 1.5mg"

There's another liquid magnesium chloride product that Amazon customers reported help with heartburn: Nutricology Magnesium Chloride Liquid, 8-Ounce Glass Bottle http://www.amazon.com/Nutricology-Magnesium-Chloride-Liquid-8-Ounce/dp/B00015545K/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1429037801&sr=8-8&keywords=liquid+magnesium

By Enthusiast on October 14, 2012 " Mg chloride exhibits the highest absorption by far, but it's a bit tough on the stomach. Mg gluconate is has the next best absorption, at a rate of several times the percentage absorption of mg citrate, and at least a hundred times the percentage absorption of mg oxide. The reason why mg citrate and mg oxide cause diarrhea is that neither are absorbed well, and the mg compound remains in the intestine where they attract water. Mg Cit and Mg Ox are osmotic laxatives, meaning that they pull water into the intestine to get the desired result.

If you want absorption, magnesium chloride (e.g. this Nutricology Liquid or Slow Mag tabs) or mg gluconate are the ways to go. If you want laxation, try the others. Magnesium is non-toxic. "

List Price:$15.20Price:$7.99 ($1.00 / Fl Oz) + $4.99 shipping

FAR BETTER THAN EXPECTED !!

By E. F. K. on June 23, 2013

Size Name: 8 oz Verified Purchase

I looked into magnesium supplements for two reasons, heart health and acid reflux disease.
After taking 4 teaspoons of this product for TWO DAYS - 30 years of heartburn (treated with prescription meds)
GONE !!! That's no meds, NO HEARTBURN, after 8 teaspoons of this stuff taken over the course of two days.
Heart palpitations for about the same amount of time. 30 years or so. Progressed to A-Fib in 1992. Had to be converted to normal rhythm 3 times with meds during hospital visits. But "palpitations" would constantly come and go daily. GONE!!! Heart has not made a peep!! That's YEARS and YEARS of heart jumping around - GONE!!
Tastes terrible, works like a miracle! Mix with a little juice or just water and its no problem to take. 1/2 teaspoon is 66mg of magnesium. So I am taking little over 500mg per day. Read about Calcium/Magnesium balance. You may need less calcium than you think.

how can I get rid of the red throat? Can anybody help me. Do you know of someone he had red throat and now its completely gone?

When I checked on red throat, there are many possibilities: bacterial, viral, or fungal infections, an allergic reaction, or inflamed tonsillitis. Gargling with SALTY water helps, as your doctor had advised. I would NOT put baking soda in the salt gargle, since it's too caustic, and inflame your throat further. My hard-well water is VERY alkaline, pH 8.5 almost as high as baking soda, and my water worsens my eczema (red rash).

You mentioned drinking lemonade and heartburn. The peels of lemons are sprayed with fungicides, plus waxed with either inflammatory cottonseed oil, or chemicals in car wax. These fungicides and chemicals are known to cause red rash, plus cancer. A banned fungicide is also found in Minute Mate orange juice, and other brands which import oranges from Brazil. I have BRIGHT RED rash on my right-hand, from squeezing lemon juice, plus peeling mandarin oranges for my family. I have no problems with ORGANIC lemons, and using a lemon-press plus wearing gloves.

Dairy also cause heartburn, according to WebMD. I recently switched from soy-milk to cow-milk, and my heartburn comes back. Local store no longer carries Organic Valley soy-milk, without inflammatory carrageenan, so I have to switch to cow-milk, and the heart burn came back after many years without one.

Also popular anti-acids like Prilosec and Zantac is known to decrease absorption of vitamin A (necessary for skin health, and prevent inflammation). B12 is also deficient when anti-acids is used, here's an excerpt from NPR site: "Acid-inhibiting drugs like Zantac and Prilosec have become hugely popular because they're so good at preventing the unpleasant symptoms of heartburn and acid indigestion.

But the drugs also make it more likely that a person will be short on vitamin B-12. And that can contribute to health problems including depression, nerve damage and dementia.

People who took acid-inhibiting drugs for two or more years were more likely to have B-12 deficiency, according to a study published Tuesday in JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association. The more medication they took, the more apt they were to be short on the vitamin."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/12/10/249975706/popular-antacids-increase-the-risk-of-b-12-deficiency

Thanks a million for taking the time to share comments with me. I think the doctor may put a camera down my throat. That causes me to be nervous. I go to a new doctor Monday.

I would avoid anyone who wants to put a camera down your throat, when a simple test for bacterial, viral, or strep can be done. I once had a useless bronchoscopy that cost $5,000 .... it didn't do anything good, it was just a simple case of pneumonia (from inhaling peatmoss) which went away on its own. I was coughing up blood for 1 month, it was the antibiotics that helped .. and the bronchoscopy (putting a tube down my throat) was a waste of time & money.

One answer from Yahoo on constant red throat, see below:

Best Answer: Consult an ENT specialist.
The following diagnostic tests may be performed:
* Complete blood count
* Monospot test (to rule out mononucleosis)
* Throat culture and rapid strep test

Source(s): http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sore_throat
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sore-th...
http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec08/ch089/ch089e.html

gangadharan nair · 7 years ago

The huffpost has an article: 11 things you need to know about strep throat, see the this link: Sore throat info.

Below link is a discussion on long-term sore throat: http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18394

Medhelp also has a discussion which someone asked the same question as you did many years ago. My best wishes to you. See below link:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Ear--Nose--Throat/sore-throat-for-a-long-time--can-it-be-due-to-STD/show/7233

Red & sore throat: here's an excerpt from the below : http://medicalcontent.hubpages.com/hub/Persistent-Sore-Throat

Some inflammatory processes are also involved in the development of a persistent sore throat. Conditions such these are highly influential to sore throat:

• GERD – Gastroesophageal reflux disease is a disorder involving the digestive system that makes the undigested contents from the stomach to go back up the esophagus. The regurgitation of the contents can make the throat inflamed thus causing a sore throat.
• Allergies – Allergens that cause an inflammatory reaction can cause sore throat. Complicated cases of postnasal drip can also affect the throat making it irritable and inflamed.
• Cancer – The presence of tumor in the throat simply results to a sore one. Once the sore throat persists in a long period of time, the possibility is that cancer progression is at hand.
• Croup – Laryngotracheobronchitis is a respiratory condition that is characterized by barking cough. As a person struggles with this condition will most likely have a sensitive throat.
• Pertussis – characterized by a whooping cough, this bacterial infection involves the respiratory system.
• Diphtheria – another respiratory problem that involves a pseudomembrane formation on the tonsil, pharynx or nasal cavity. Once this is not treated, its progression may lead to even serious problems.
• HIV infection – In acute infection of HIV, sore throat is one of its manifestations.
• Eating disorders – Bulimia can be a root for sore throat. Forcing oneself to vomit the food taken can be harsh to the membranes of the upper digestive system, which includes the throat.

Strawchicago, I did have a bacterial infection. You are right about that.

Thank you for the update, I hope you feel better.