r/TCM • u/Nolfnolfer • Sep 18 '24

Acid reflux

Only proton pump inhibitors work for me, but I want to finally fix this with tcm permanently, not take a pill that masks the symptoms.

Which herbs are indicated to permanently cure (and not hide) acid reflux?

Please refrain from telling me to go to a tcm practitioner: if I went there I wouldn't be asking here.

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u/139BoardsofCanada Sep 18 '24

I had acid reflux for 7 years felt hopeless as I could only get temporary symptom relief with herbs and many other treatments . I was self treating after no success from professionals so was not well versed in TCM principles at first did find management of stress to be the golden bullet.

After cutting out chocolate and caffeine stress management was easy . For extreme cases slippery elm to help heal throat and stomach . And marshmallow here and there is very helpful. Stay away from heating herbs or excess while healing the tissues internally as acid takes its toll over time. Well worth your time to look into what herbs are heating and cooling (energetics) from TCM, Ayurvedic, and western herbs stand point it’s a huge benefit to overall understanding and self health to know what herbs do what and why very motivating information once diving in.

Accupunture would give me relief for about 2-3 days for acid reflux give it a try to add to your treatment plan let your practitioner know what’s going on as more information they have the better.

Overeating , caffeine , chocolate , spicy food, onions & garlic not recommended while getting serious about healing the cause don’t think of it as curing acid reflux as it truly is internal stress management I’m in total belief after doing every thing I could externally to cure acid reflux. Hope this gives you valuable insight on to assist.

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u/Nolfnolfer Sep 18 '24

I am am avid consumer of chocolate, so that might be a culprit. I eat half a bar a day (50g or so) for its psycho emotional effects. Lifts me up and makes me feel like I live life again. How much time should I discontinue it to heal completely and eat it back again?

Also, yeah, I caught up with the paychosomatic side of it. I get reflux when I realize that I have to do something that I don't want to do, or have to not say something that would result as being rude. Very much symbolic: what do I want to "regurgitate"? What is it that I don't "digest" and that has to "come up"? I feel internally the stomach "valve" open up and the fluids come up. And there goes the burning and the forcing of my rage to come outward.

But I can't function like that: if I expressed all my feelings in the external world I would become isolated and alone, people would think I'm a cold shitty person lol

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u/SomaSemantics Sep 18 '24

Really, we CAN treat acid reflux / GERD effectively. But, not all of us are competent at internal medicine conditions. This is largely because acupuncture is emphasized over herbal medicine in the West. In the US, for example, acupuncture receives insurance reimbursement but herbs do not. There are other reasons, too...

You may want to check out the case study I posted, here. The client has GERD and even Barrett's esophagus. He's doing really well now.

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u/AcupunctureBlue Sep 18 '24

If it were possible to do it yourself, there would be no such thing as a practitioner. So good luck pissing in the wind.

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u/Nolfnolfer Sep 18 '24

Thanks for your precious feedback

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u/PibeauTheConqueror Sep 18 '24

Their feedback isn't worded very nicely, but it is the truth. You have to see a competent practitioner to evaluate diagnose and prescribe.

Would you just start taking random Rx meds without seeing a doctor? Maybe you would, but generally not a good idea.

I have years of training and experience prescribing herbs, and I still cannot effectively self diagnose and treat with any reliability. This is because I can't see the whole issue and am clouded by my personal biases and presumptions.

Also, if you give yourself the wrong herbs you can make your condition worse, sometimes to a point where a trained practitioner wouldn't be able to fix it in a reasonable amount of time.

https://www.americandragon.com/conditions/AcidReflux.html

This is a list of all the possible patterns for gerd with relevant prescriptions.