What do you think when someone mentions gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)? You may first imagine that it has to do with your digestive system, however GERD is a more serious form of gastroesophageal reflux, which affects the ring of muscle that is between the stomach and esophagus. This condition may cause trouble in the long term. Here at the Digestive and Liver Center in Orlando, we have experts that help with treating and reversing this disease. When we talk about GERD, there are a couple of facts that will be covered in order to help you understand better how to manage and help with the condition.
Symptoms:
When you have a condition like GERD, it’s imperative that you understand the symptoms. These will give you an idea on what’s going on with your digestive system. If you feel like you may have this disease, you can reach out to any of our GI experts in DLCFL. These symptoms include:
Frequent heartburn
Dry cough
Asthma
Trouble swallowing
Treatment:
Before starting the treatment, you should visit your primary health care so they could refer you to a gastroenterologist. Here in Orlando, we have 6 physicians who can help you to find the perfect treatment if you have GERD. Below are a couple of treatments that we encourage each patient to follow:
Lifestyle changes: eat small and frequent meal portions, avoid laying down after each meal, wearing loose clothes, avoid smoking and trying to stay on your ideal weight.
Medications: antacids, calcium carbonate antacids, foaming agents, H2 blockers, proton pump inhibitors, and prokinetics
Surgery: this can help in order to stop the discomfort and taking too many medications in your daily life. You should only consider surgery as a last resort if the above mentioned treatments didn’t work.
Foods to avoid if you have GERD:
Having this disease might mean to watch what you eat all the time—since it’s a digestive disorder. Our Orlando GI doctors, recommend a couple of suggestions regarding diet. Having a healthier lifestyle has a lot to do with how you manage your diet, so you may want to consider removing the following from your regime.
Tomato-based foods
Spicy foods
Mint flavoring
Chocolate
Garlic
Onions
Drinks with caffeine or alcohol
Fried foods
Additional tests you might consider if the GERD persists:
Sometimes this disease may persist in the long term. You might consider doing other tests if you perform all of the treatments stated before. A couple of tests that our GI experts in Orlando suggest are the following:
Barium swallow
Upper endoscopy
pH monitoring
It’s safe to say that the more you know about GERD, the probability of successfully dealing with this disease may increase. If you feel like you’re experiencing any of the symptoms mentioned above, speak with your primary healthcare doctor about getting a referral so you can meet with one of our gastroenterologists. They will be able to come up with the best solution for you. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact us by calling (407)384-7388.