Gerd is a chronic disease which medical therapy can help, but you must realize that changes made for GERD treatment need to be continued lifelong, as it can and will come back if left unattended too. The goals of Gerd treatment is usually to make the patient feel better, let the esophagus heal, and prevent future outbursts. There are three main way to help them heal: Lifestyle modifications, medicine, and surgery.
Lifestyle modificiations
You need to avoid the factors that can worsen the symptoms for you and adopt lifestyles that alleviate the pains.
- Position- Don’t lie down after you eat or eat before you sleep since this allows the contents of the stomach to more easily enter your esophagus. If you have heartburn at night, try sleeping with your head higher to prevent the gastric acide from creeping up into you esophagus. Also, avoid heavy exertion after eating.
- How you eat- Avoid large meals. Eat smaller ones but more frequently. You should try eat slower and in more relaxed situations.
- What you eat- What foods give you problem is one that you must take note by yourself but some common ones are coffee (both caffeinated and decaffeinated), tea, cola, tomato juice, citrus, chocolate, onions, and garlic. If you still want to eat some of these items, you should try to eat in moderation and in smaller portions.
- Other factors- Lose some weight as excess fat puts pressure on the stomach. Pregnancy may also cause some people to develop GERD.
Prescription Medication
If heartburn happens more than twice a week, you should see a doctor to see if medication be right for you. With a lot of the drugs, its only a short term cure and may be required for the rest of someone’s life without other changes.
- Promotility drugs- It can helpful for minor cases of GERD but there are side effects, so patients should see if this is suitable for them.
- H2 blockers- These reduce the amount of acid in the stomach and will allow the esophagus to heal. However, it is only successful 25% long term.
- Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs)- They reduce acid and allows the esophagus to heal in approximately 85% of the patients .
Surgery
It should be only considered as a last option resort and should be discussed throughly with a gastroenterologist. It should be looked as an option when you have gone through all other ways of dealing with the symptoms of GERD.
If surgery is done, 5-20% of people suffer some sort of side effect of being unable to belch or vomit. But most people will recover.