Reflux esophagitis - how to treat, personal experience in dealing with the disease: nutrition, diet, lifestyle

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Laryngopharyngeal reflux belongs to the extraesophageal syndromes of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). In this case, there is a reflux of stomach contents (acid, pepsin, bile acids) into the larynx and pharynx. Patients most often do not have the classic symptoms of GERD, and the most prominent complaints are: pain and/or burning in the throat, sore throat, chronic cough, dysphonia (voice disturbance), dysphagia (impaired swallowing), feeling of a lump or hair in the throat, etc. n. It is believed that up to 50% of patients with laryngeal and voice disorders have reflux. Most often, these manifestations of GERD are the result of so-called nocturnal reflux, when the patient is in a horizontal position for a long time, as well as due to excessive food intake at night. A diet for reflux is necessarily recommended for all patients suffering from GERD.

General rules. Duration of the diet.

The main task of therapeutic nutrition for esophageal esophagitis is to completely eliminate damage to the mucous membrane by mechanical and chemical factors.

For esophagitis, table No. 1 is prescribed. In nutrition you must adhere to a number of rules:

• the number of meals should be 5-6 times. Portions are small. This dietary tactic for esophagitis allows the stomach to stretch unnecessarily and produce excess hydrochloric acid.
• Food should not be too hot or cold. The optimal temperature for food is 25-50 C.
• You can't eat on the go. You need to eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly.
• You should not drink water immediately after eating. It is permissible to drink only 30-40 minutes after eating.
• Dishes can be steamed, stewed, baked or boiled. You can't fry.
• Limit salt intake as much as possible.

Reviews and results

Therapeutic nutrition can be carried out for a long time because it is balanced. Anyone who has encountered the problem of GERD knows that the diet must be followed. By reviewing your diet, you can avoid the discomfort associated with this disease. Reviews from patients confirm this. A light diet relieves belching, heartburn and heaviness in the stomach.

• “...Frequent reflux caused inflammation of the esophagus. I had to strictly follow the diet and treatment prescribed by the doctor. I stuck to it strictly for 2 months (mashed steamed dishes), and then switched to baking and didn’t puree it anymore. I excluded foods that cause heartburn in me (tomato paste, lemon, pickled vegetables and, oddly enough, sweets). I immediately felt an improvement, and, of course, the pills help. If you had the will to eat like this all the time, it would be great. I lost 4 kg in 3 months”;
• “... Lately, heartburn has begun to bother me; they discovered erosions in the esophagus. I had to go to the hospital because I needed sick leave. I don’t regret it, because at home I wouldn’t be able to take my mind off everything, eat right and take pills regularly. After 2 weeks, no erosions were found. At home I continued to follow the diet, but expanded it slightly compared to the hospital. As a result, 4 months of diet. I feel very good, it seemed that I got rid of heartburn forever. But after fried cutlets with buckwheat porridge, I again felt discomfort and belched. It turns out that you need to maintain proper nutrition all the time - this is the main thing”;
• “... I have been suffering from this disease for many years, I periodically take treatment and resort to diet. For me, the trigger for exacerbation is the consumption of sour fruits (lemon, currants and even apricot and peach), also jam and honey. Once you regularly eat jam and tea for a week, heartburn and belching begin, and constipation sets in. I also noticed that you should not overeat and work in the dacha in a bent position. It turns out that I always have an exacerbation in the summer - work plus berries and fruits. But somehow I endure it, I connect the pills, how can you give up fruit during the season? We have to put up with it and endure the heartburn.”

Nutrition for acute esophagitis:

In case of exacerbation of esophagitis, diet 1A should be followed for no more than 10 days. This diet is strict and if you stick to it, the symptoms of the disease will stop fairly quickly. As soon as the discomfort and symptoms of exacerbation subside, you can move to table 1B. This table is more complete in nutrients.

Notice!

Acute esophagitis is a contraindication for spa treatment: it is better to go to a hospital.
If you have a chronic
form, then you should regularly
carry out preventive treatment
.

What is reflux - esophagitis?

Esophagitis is a common disease that affects the digestive organs

If you suffer from insufficiency of the cardiac sphincter (this is a muscular valve that closes the gap between the stomach and the esophagus), then digestive juices and part of the food enter the esophagus. In its normal position, the sphincter should be tightly closed; it should open only when food or water flows from the esophagus into the stomach. That is, when sphincter insufficiency occurs, it is constantly in an open state, and the contents of the stomach, in which hydrochloric acid is present, can be freely thrown from the esophagus into the stomach.

If hydrochloric acid constantly affects the mucous membrane of the esophagus, it will become inflamed. This disease is called reflux - esophagitis.

Symptoms of reflux esophagitis.

Symptoms of reflux - esophagitis: heartburn, which gets worse when you lean forward or when you lie down.

Also, symptoms of reflux - esophagitis are: hiccups, regurgitation, belching of air or food, pain behind the sternum or “in the pit of the stomach”, which radiates to the heart area, left shoulder and may resemble an angina attack.

To identify the cause of the pain, it is worth visiting the clinic.

The diagnosis of “reflux esophagitis” can be confirmed using special research methods: fluoroscopy, esophagogastroscopy, esophagomanometry.

What causes cardiac sphincter insufficiency to develop?

If you push hard, like to overeat, lift heavy weights, abuse alcohol, or maybe you just often lean forward.

Also, the disease reflux esophagitis can appear against the background of diseases: hiatal hernia, chronic gastritis, gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, cholelithiasis, obesity.

To prescribe the correct treatment, you need to recognize the cause of the disease.

If you have been diagnosed with cardiac sphincter insufficiency, do not lift weights more than five to six kilograms; do not wear tight belts and bandages; do not do physical exercises that involve bending forward or tensing the abdominal muscles; Monitor your daily bowel movements.

You need to sleep with the head of the bed raised, on a couple of pillows, and it is also desirable that the entire upper body is in a raised position. This body position avoids the reflux of stomach contents into the esophagus.

Nutrition for reflux - esophagitis

• You need to pay close attention to your diet. Let it be fractional - five to six times a day.
• You need to eat in small portions, the last meal should be taken no later than three to four hours before bedtime.

• You can't go to bed right after lunch. You need to sit or walk for one hour: to speed up the evacuation of food from the stomach into the intestines, which will accordingly reduce the reflux of acidic stomach contents into the esophagus.
• You can only eat foods that do not cause heartburn.
• A sick person must follow the doctor’s recommendations - which involves giving up some foods and introducing their full-fledged substitutes into the diet.
• Also, you should not overeat, you need to avoid foods that cause bloating (fresh cabbage, sauerkraut, black bread, mushrooms, green peas, beans, some types of fresh fruits and berries, chocolate, hot seasonings, alcohol, soda).
• All of these products increase intragastric and intra-abdominal pressure, which causes stomach contents to be thrown into the esophagus.
• You can track which specific vegetables, fruits, and berries caused such a reaction and limit their consumption. Or better yet, just don’t eat them fresh: you can make a compote from the fruits, you can stew or bake the vegetables.
• You can't eat late. You cannot go to bed after eating, you cannot perform activities that involve bending over (washing, cleaning, etc.) after eating. It is better to walk or sit after eating.

In case of exacerbation of reflux-esophagitis, the doctor may prescribe a more strict diet: the “esophageal” table or diet No. 1 according to Pevzner.

The diet for reflux - esophagitis allows you to consume:

• soft-boiled eggs

• sour cream,
• eat a little grated low-fat, non-sour cottage cheese,
• various types of porridges cooked in water, milk porridges
• eat pureed meat and fish soufflé,
• cook meatballs, steamed cutlets,
• soak crackers and bread in water or tea,
• baked apples, grated apples
• low fat milk;
• low-fat fish;
• yesterday's bread;
• various compotes.

You should not eat foods such as:

• all types of alcoholic drinks;
• soda;
• all types of sour juices;
• fresh cabbage, sauerkraut;
• mushrooms;
• black bread;
• legumes - green peas, beans;
• chocolate;
• seasonings, especially hot ones;
• marinade, smoked;
• fatty.

During an exacerbation of the disease, stop eating fresh vegetables and fruits - it is better to steam, boil, or bake them.

When you find out which specific foods trigger your heartburn, also exclude them from your menu.

When following a diet for reflux esophagitis, take into account your individual characteristics - after all, various foods can provoke an exacerbation of the disease.

Treatment of reflux esophagitis

Taking medications to neutralize aggressive stomach acid, protect the esophageal mucosa, and increase the tone of the esophageal sphincter. A positive effect can be achieved by taking antacid (alkaline) drugs - Maalox, Megalac, phosphalugel. They have an anti-acid effect, an enveloping effect, an astringent effect, which helps to achieve an anti-inflammatory effect.

Also, take antacids at night, because... the acidity of the stomach contents increases at night, and a long stay in a horizontal position contributes to the appearance of reflux.

Now pharmacies offer a huge selection of medications to treat this disease, but do not treat yourself, consult your doctor.

But it is necessary to undergo treatment: in the absence of diet and treatment, severe complications cannot be ruled out - stomach ulcers, bleeding, narrowing of the esophagus.

Also, you need to remember that after treatment, you must follow what the doctor prescribed for you: follow a diet, try to avoid stress, do not drink strong coffee and tea, it is also advisable to quit smoking, do not relieve pain with aspirin, avoid using medicines without a doctor's prescription.

Try to get along with your illness. If you follow all the doctor’s recommendations, you can achieve stable remission, which will minimize the inconvenience that the disease causes you.

Deputy Chief Physician of the TANAR Family Clinic Natalya Borisovna Vorobyova.

List of permitted products:

Recipes

First meal

Oatmeal soup with pureed meat

Boil the meat, beat in a blender. Boil the oatmeal well and puree, dilute with water, add salt, add boiled meat, bring to a boil and at the end add a piece of butter.

Vegetarian potato soup with zucchini and carrots

Boil potatoes, carrots and zucchini and puree. Combine with vegetable broth, add salt, milk or cream and bring to a boil.

Second courses

Steamed fish soufflé

Boil lean fish fillet and blend in a blender. Mix white sauce made from flour and milk with minced meat, add lightly beaten yolk, salt and add butter. Beat the whites separately and carefully fold into the minced meat. Place the mixture in a mold and steam.

Steamed meatballs

Boil the rice and carrots and pass through a meat grinder. Add the egg and rice-carrot mixture to the ground beef. Add salt to form meatballs and steam.

List of fully or partially restricted products:

Recipes for dietary dishes for esophagitis:

Sample menu for one day:

Breakfast:

Oatmeal cooked in water with milk, red apple compote.

Lunch:

Steam omelette. Rose hip decoction

Dinner:

Chicken soup with noodles and vegetables. Pike perch fillet with boiled potatoes. Herb tea.

Afternoon snack:

Low-fat yogurt. Cookie. Weak tea.

Dinner:

Dumplings with cottage cheese. Tea with milk.

Before bedtime

You can drink a glass of warm milk.

List of prohibited products

A diet for GERD with high acidity - low levels accompany this pathology in exceptional cases - prohibits many foods. But first of all, you need to give up the following:

• Drinks – alcohol-containing, strongly brewed black teas, cocoa, coffee, any soda, drinks with mint flavor and prepared on its basis.
• The dishes are spicy in taste.
• Chocolate.
• Vegetables and fruits that can cause heartburn. The list is individual in each case.
• Dairy products with high fat content - milk (more than 2%), yoghurts, cheeses, cottage cheese, cream.
• Roasted meat products.
• Fried foods, in particular potatoes.
• Fast food.

Nutritionist comments:

Therapeutic nutrition for esophagitis allows you to get rid of unpleasant symptoms in the shortest possible time and normalize the functioning of the entire gastrointestinal tract. Neglect of diet or systematic violations of it can lead to the development of dangerous complications.

“The right choice of a sanatorium is a significant step towards maintaining and increasing health. “Gorny” is a resort complex that combines the experience and knowledge of Russian and Soviet balneology. The presence of modern medical equipment and innovative installations, the professionalism of the staff and love for their work will serve as the key to extending longevity,” - head doctor of the sanatorium Alexander Olegovich Karaulov.