New Things to Try for GERD

Well, I've tried the doctor's ways. Two different kinds of PPIs + metoclopramide, both of which didn't help the nausea and had horrible side effects. I'm still taking the kytril, even though I'm not sure it does anything at all.

Still more research on the net this morning. I think I've probably spent more than 20 hours so far reading up on GERD. Mostly the stories are heartbreaking. There are people who've suffered from GERD for more than 10 years, people who vomit after every meal, people who've had surgery without any relief, people who can't enjoy food at all, people who can't sleep, people who have constant pain and coughing. And it sounds like they've tried everything.

I was almost going to give into this GERD thing, just accept that I'm going to be vomiting occasionally and burping constantly 'til the end of treatment. But reading these accounts has made me even more determined that I have to do something about this right now, before it becomes a chronic condition. It's also made me realize that drugs, even if if they helped in the short-term, are not a long-term solution. The internet is rife with accounts of people who were on PPIs for a while and then they eventually stopped working.

There were a few new treatments I read about. They seemed mostly targeted at relieving heartburn, but I might try them anyway: slippery elm, aloe vera juice, acupuncture, dried papaya spears, chewing non-mint-flavored gum, abdominal exercise to strengthen muscles. I also really need to figure out how to sleep more vertically. I don't have the kind of bed where the head can be raised, and my GERD is not so bad that I'm willing to buy one. But I can add more pillows than the two I'm already using.

The list of foods to avoid are numerous. The ones that will be the hardest for me to give up are chocolate, onions, caffeine, garlic, black pepper.

I also did some reading on the mechanism behind GERD, because no one seems to be able explain how chemotherapy can cause GERD. Not my doctors, not any of the articles I've read so far on the internet. In general, it sounds like it is either caused by the weakening of the esophagal sphincter muscle. However, I also read, interestingly, that normal people may experience as much reflux as GERD patients, but that there is less acid and the level of reflux is generally lower. And this might be mitigated by swallowing and saliva. During chemo, I definitely have noticed that I'm less prone to generating saliva. Dry mouth is a common symptom, I think because the chemo drugs attack the rapidly-dividing mucosa cells of the mouth. I'm also less prone to swallowing, because my saliva tastes so strange to me. Maybe this is the root cause of the GERD.

I have yet to read a satisfying explanation of why some people burp more because of chemo and how burping is related to GERD.