u/NeonCoffee2

So let me get this straight. For nearly 7 months I dealt with reflux. I couldn't drink coffee, eat heavy-ish meals, drink carbonated beverages, etc. without any cause that I could think of. I took PPIs and H2 blockers, did tons of research, tried different exercises...

All to suddenly have my symptoms go away when I gave up BLUEBERRIES of all things.

Backstory: I've been dealing with GERD-like symptoms since around March. My symptoms mainly consisted of occasional liquid belching, as well as a hot acidic feeling after drinking coffee, eating big meals, or some other things. However, I've been drinking coffee for years, so I refused to believe that suddenly coffee was some kind of big trigger for me, same with many things I was eating.

I've spent hours trying to think through what could possibly be irritating my GI tract so badly. So... I thought, what are some of the consistent things I've been consuming this year that don't include coffee. I had already given up dairy, since that seemed to simply cause belching for me, but the only other thing I consumed a lot was... blueberries, which I had nearly every day with cereal, oatmeal, smoothies, or yogurt...

So I gave them up, specifically the Wyman's wild blueberries, which again, I nearly ate every single day.

And guess what. My reflux symptoms are gone. No more hot acidic feeling in my throat, and I can work out and lift weights without getting any recurring symptoms. I can drink a ton of coffee and not get any reflux or globus.

My question is, has anyone else gotten a similar intolerance to random foods like that? I'm going to experiment with it in a couple of weeks to just double check if that was truly the cause. But all my symptoms are GONE at the moment after I gave it up. Is anyone intolerant to a specific family of berries? Is that how it works? I'm happy but very confused!

Caveat: I have not gotten tested, nor tested myself as to whether adding blueberries back into my diet causes reflux, so this is kind of speculative that blueberries was the actual cause. I am however trying to get other opinions and experiences on this... because its not a cause I would have ever thought could be the culprit.

Edit 1: I also gave up PPIs around 3 weeks ago. I had no symptoms on them and got some rebound after giving them up. Gave up H2 blockers at night a week ago.

Backstory: About 5 months ago I had a mild case of gastritis, which I fixed after a week of PPIs and no caffeine. About 2 months later I also eventually started having reflux symptoms after drinking coffee and eating other foods. Around that same time. I had a sickness that caused my throat to become very irritated, and my ears to feel like they were plugged up. After nights where I talked loudly, pain would begin in my throat and remain there for a day or two.

Fast forward a couple of months, and the pain mostly subsided and the swollen feeling was gone, but I was still dealing with throat issues, and still had reflux. 1 month ago an ENT doctor set me on 20mg of omeprazol, pepcid before bed, and bed blocks to elevate my head at night.

At this point I have no acidic feeling reflux, though occasionally i still do have liquid burps. I feel like my throat does indeed feel better, but I still experience a raw/irritated feeling when laughing, talking loudly, or breathing really deeply inward. I have no diet changes, since coffee stopped giving me obvious reflux.

Is there something I should change? Should I stay the course and see if it heals more over the next month? Below is the rough timeline:

March: Gastritis

April: Gastritis healed with PPI & no Caffeine

May: Got sick (Tons of coughing), experienced (or noticed) reflux symptoms

June: Reflux continued

July: Began Omeprazol 20mg & Pepcid daily

August: Feeling slightly better, but raw feeling in throat still present, still continuing medication.

Backstory: About 5 months ago I had a mild case of gastritis, which I fixed after a week of PPIs and no caffeine. About 2 months later I also eventually started having reflux symptoms after drinking coffee and eating other foods. Around that same time. I had a sickness that caused my throat to become very irritated, and my ears to feel like they were plugged up. After nights where I talked loudly, pain would begin in my throat and remain there for a day or two.

Fast forward a couple of months, and the pain mostly subsided and the swollen feeling was gone, but I was still dealing with throat issues, and still had reflux. 1 month ago an ENT doctor set me on 20mg of omeprazol, pepcid before bed, and bed blocks to elevate my head at night.

At this point I have no acidic feeling reflux, though occasionally i still do have liquid burps. I feel like my throat does indeed feel better, but I still experience a raw/irritated feeling when laughing, talking loudly, or breathing really deeply inward. I have no diet changes, since coffee stopped giving me obvious reflux.

Is there something I should change? Should I stay the course and see if it heals more over the next month? Below is the rough timeline:

March: Gastritis

April: Gastritis healed with PPI & no Caffeine

May: Got sick (Tons of coughing), experienced (or noticed) reflux symptoms

June: Reflux continued

July: Began Omeprazol 20mg & Pepcid daily

August: Feeling slightly better, but raw feeling in throat still present, still continuing medication.

I'm currently trying to decide whether or not I should be doing warm compresses. It's something my doctor has told me to do, but I really can't tell if they're helping or hurting things.

I feel like the only times I get meibomian caps are when I'm daily doing warm compresses. Recently I got some inflamed glands for the first time that actually caused pain because of a visible clog I developed in two of my left eye lower glands after using warm compresses again for a couple of days.

Has anyone else experienced this? I don't know if I should attribute these issues to oil flowing more, or if it's causing inflammation that causes these issues.

I started doing cold compresses in the evening, but I don't really like the way that the bruder mask fits on my eyes for cold compresses. Does anyone have any methods they like?

Hey y'all,

I just wanted to post this website for anyone who hasn't seen it and wants to stay knowledgeable on the current dry eye treatment pipeline. It's super user-friendly and easy to understand!

https://www.dryeyezone.com/drug-pipeline

Backstory: I came down with a relatively moderate sickness around 6-7 weeks ago. It mostly consisted of a fever in the first couple of days, and then a ton of coughing and mucus for the next 5 or 6 days. Afterwards, my throat and inner ears were generally quite sore for weeks. Going out to parties and dances, and talking a lot would induce more pain and make the soreness worse.

I also found that caffeine and some other triggers like lifting were giving me noticeable reflux. I'm not sure if I ever got the reflux before, but now I was noticing it. I experimented different things, and am now on day 11 of omeprazole and my reflux has basically gone away, even with caffeine and exercise.

At this point my journey though, I'm still dealing with throat issues. The pain in my throat and ears are gone, but I'm still dealing with general throat dryness, and occasional sensitive areas around my throat. I also have a mild amount of mucus that's present throughout the day, lot's that I end up swallowing. Obviously, it's gotten a lot better than what I initially was dealing with, but I feel as though it's taking a very long while to fully heal and desensitize.

I also went to an ENT doctor and got the scope that they put through your nose, and she said everything looked fine. I have no voices changes, though laughing and shouting don't feel the best at the moment.

Does anyone have any advice or know how long I should expect to still deal with this?

Backstory: I came down with a relatively moderate sickness around 6-7 weeks ago. It mostly consisted of a fever in the first couple of days, and then a ton of coughing and mucus for the next 5 or 6 days. Afterwards, my throat and inner ears were generally quite sore for weeks. Going out to parties and dances, and talking a lot would induce more pain and make the soreness worse.

I also found that caffeine and some other triggers like lifting were giving me noticeable reflux. I'm not sure if I ever got the reflux before, but now I was noticing it. I experimented different things, and am now on day 11 of omeprazole and my reflux has basically gone away, even with caffeine and exercise.

At this point my journey though, I'm still dealing with throat issues. The pain in my throat and ears are gone, but I'm still dealing with general throat dryness, and occasional sensitive areas around my throat. I also have a mild amount of mucus that's present throughout the day, lot's that I end up swallowing. Obviously, it's gotten a lot better than what I initially was dealing with, but I feel as though it's taking a very long while to fully heal and desensitize.

I also went to an ENT doctor and got the scope that they put through your nose, and she said everything looked fine. I have no voices changes, though laughing and shouting don't feel the best at the moment.

Does anyone have any advice or know how long I should expect to still deal with this?

Backstory: I came down with a relatively moderate sickness around 6-7 weeks ago. It mostly consisted of a fever in the first couple of days, and then a ton of coughing and mucus for the next 5 or 6 days. Afterwards, my throat and inner ears were generally quite sore for weeks. Going out to parties and dances, and talking a lot would induce more pain and make the soreness worse.

I also found that caffeine and some other triggers like lifting were giving me noticeable reflux. I'm not sure if I ever got the reflux before, but now I was noticing it. I experimented different things, and am now on day 11 of omeprazole and my reflux has basically gone away, even with caffeine and exercise.

At this point my journey though, I'm still dealing with throat issues. The pain in my throat and ears are gone, but I'm still dealing with general throat dryness, and occasional sensitive areas around my throat. I also have a mild amount of mucus that's present throughout the day, lot's that I end up swallowing. Obviously, it's gotten a lot better than what I initially was dealing with, but I feel as though it's taking a very long while to fully heal and desensitize.

I also went to an ENT doctor and got the scope that they put through your nose, and she said everything looked fine. I have no voices changes, though laughing and shouting don't feel the best at the moment.

Does anyone have any advice or know how long I should expect to still deal with this?

I can't believe what an insane quality of life improvement this was to the original PvZ. I'm pretty neutral about the other add ons, but as someone who just wanted to relive the experience of playing the first game again, it's amazing how slow the original game really was.

This is also me writing this after dying multiple times trying to play the game on 2.5x speed

I've had reflux symptoms for around 5 months now, and I've been trying to find relief. I was an avid caffeine consumer for years and years, and suddenly I began to have reflux around the time I had an episode of gastritis that lasted a couple of months. After the gastritis, which went away after a coffee break, I still had acid reflux. I blamed caffeine and chocolate for it, and attempted to give that up. Lifting and exercising became a pain in the butt because of the reflux, and it caused a lot of stress during physical activities I enjoyed. I even had a sore throat that refused to heal. What I didn't consider, was the fat that I was consuming.

Fat apparently can be a huge player in reflux, and not something that I considered. When I analyzed what I ate, I was consuming the following high fat items nearly each and every day:

- At least 2 servings of almond butter, full fat skyr or greek yogurt, full fat kefir, pork potstickers, 3-4 eggs, chocolate, avocados, olive oil, walnuts, Omega-3 supplements, flaxseeds, among some other items.

So many of these items are healthy, but in moderation of course. Going full fat on everything, as well as going ham on all the other foods is... a lot I've learned.

After realizing this, I cut down on fat dramatically. Not to a point where it would be bad for my body, but enough to where I wasn't in some kind of extreme high-fat diet anymore. I substituted full fat for low or fat-free options, gave up the potstickers, limited the almond butter (HUGE contributor) much more, and did some other swaps, and I haven't gotten reflux!

I'm not saying this is an immediate fix for everyone, but it's definitely something I didn't realize could be very aggravating for our systems.

Hey y’all!

Around a month ago I caught a sickness that basically gave me a fever and a week long episode of coughing. After I had a sore throat and swollen hearing (weird description I know).

It’s progressively gotten better, but 4-5 weeks later, it’s still giving me issues. I can’t talk moderately loud without giving myself issues. I try and talk as little as possible because of this. I was having some reflux when working out, but the last week I’ve cut back on reflux causing things and am not sure what else could be causing this to take so long.

At this point it mainly feels dry all day. I’ve limited using my voice as much as possible, but I don’t know if I’m missing anything.

From what I’ve seen, y’all may have experience in this situation. Any recommendations? I have an event in 2 weeks I need my voice for.

I'm on a caffeine break for a while to let my system get better, and I've been dying to get that taste of coffee back. I tried using decaf for cold brew instead, and it tastes incredibly close to normal cold brew! I found that hot coffee isn't the same, but in a blind test I wouldn't be able to tell the difference with cold brew! I definitely recommend trying it if you can tolerate decaf!

About a month ago, I came down with a sickness involving a fever for a few days, and then some intense coughing for around 5 days afterwards. Once the “sick” feeling went away, my throat was super sore, and my ears felt congested (so I don’t know if that was sinus congestion or not). As the days went on, it continued to stay, and I noticed that after evenings if loud talking, it would be worse or painful after.

It’s been 3 weeks, and at this point it’s not painful, but still dry. I wake up with mucus in my throat that eventually goes away and my throat ends up with a dry feeling.

I also have experienced some LES relaxation from caffeine I was drinking, so I’m pausing on caffeine for now as well. I don’t necessarily have a ton of reflux issues, but I did notice caffeine was potentially an aggregator.

It’s definitely improved since the beginning (no pain anymore) but it’s taking a lot longer to heal than it seems like it would from what I’ve been reading. I’m going on strict vocal rest for now, but should I see a doctor at this point?

Side note: I don't have GERD or LPS officially, but I've dealt with some lingering globus sensation and occasional reflux after a gastritis episode a couple of months ago, especially when running or working out. For the last 7 or so years I've had HEAVY caffeine consumption in the form of coffee nearly every day.

A couple of days ago I gave up caffeinated coffee in order to try and relieve and strengthen my LES so I can try and go back to it without the symptoms, but I noticed that after trying decaf, it actually doesn't give me any of the symptoms...

I'm confused, because I've read on here from a ton of people that coffee in general would be a no-go, but does it differ person to person? Is there anyone here in a similar situation where decaf doesn't affect them at all?

Mild/Moderate DED (MGD and Aqueous) patient here with moderate gland tortuosity and mild gland loss. Been dealing with this for around 2 years now. I've gone through Xiidra, Meibo, Demodex things, punctual plugs, all kinds of drops, omega-3s, etc. and none seem to have helped my case more than Tryptyr so far.

I've modified a couple of aspects of my routine recently as well, such as experimenting with warm compresses. I used to do them twice a day, but I stopped because I wasn't convinced it was helping. Nowadays I may do once a week if I'm seeing caps or anything, but it doesn't seem to be causing any issues.

Current Routine:

- 2x Xiidra per day (Thinking of stopping this, not sure if it's helping)

- 2x Tryptyr per day (HUGE change for me)

- Lifestyle (8 hours sleep, getting sunlight, going outside, lifting & cardio 6x per week)

- Eyelid hygiene each night (The foaming cleanser)

- High Omega-3 diet | Limiting ultra-processed foods (We should do this anyway)

- Blink exercises (I typically do them in the sauna after working out, but I should do them more)

- Oasis Plus Tear drops whenever needed (Rarely in the evening)

At this point I rarely feel my eyes being dry at all during the day. The dryness isn't completely gone, but it is much less prevalent than it used to be, and I barely think about it at all during the day now.

I haven't used IPL or any of the in-office treatments yet, so if it progresses further, than that'll probably be an option, but I'm absolutely amazed at the results I've had in the last few months.

Hello!

I had a case of minor gastritis (pain when drinking coffee) around 2 months ago, and after a week of abstaining from caffeine, it got better and the pain went away.

Now, I’ve been dealing with minor occasional reflux and a small globus sensation at the bottom of my esophagus. It’s most obvious when I’m working out, but it appears sometime in the late morning and persists until the evening.

I’m under the belief that it’s caused by my coffee consumption, which used to be a TON, but recently it’s been much less.

I’ve decided to give it up for a bit to see if it can heal, or to see if it’s lingering issues from the gastritis. I dont have a GERD diagnosis, but I’m dealing with some symptoms. No other foods/drinks cause this it seems.

Has anyone else dealt with something similar? Do you think I can go back to having coffee without these symptoms? I’ve tried cold brew, diluting the coffee, etc. but I also haven’t tried a break from caffeine longer than 7 days

I've had dry eyes for around 2 years now, and I've been fairly successful in managing symptoms to the point where I only need to use 1 drop a day if I'm looking at screens a ton. I'm currently doing Xiidra, Tryptyr, Compress once every 3 days, Eyelid Massage, and Eyelid Hygeine.

The last appointment I had with my doctor seemed to go very well. Plenty of oils were expressing and things in general looked much better than before Tryptyr, my latest prescription. However, he mentioned that I still had some inflammation the inside of my top eyelids (Palpebral Conjuctiva). Are there any solutions to this? I feel like this would explain the high tortuosity of my meibomian glands on imaging.

I've never had IPL or RF, but he mentioned that RF could potentially be a logical pathway for me in the future if things get worse.

I want to set up a tasting or something similar where I can begin to understand the difference in notes and flavors that whiskeys can present. I feel right now that I don't understand the differences in what I'm drinking between the whiskies I have.

Do y'all have any advice on what whiskies (or types of whiskies) I should look at when trying to do something like this? I want to help my pallet understand the different flavors. Do y'all also have any advice on how to conduct something like this correctly?

Currently I have: Bulleit Rye, Eagle Rare 10y, EHT Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, & Woodford double oaked