Hi,
I have been diagnosed with GERD a year ago, and even now i have the simptoms few times per month (roughly for a few days every 10 days). A week ago i switched from 6mg nic to 3mg nic (mtl), and i haven't had any simptoms, and am feeling better than usual. I know that both nicotine and caffeine are not recommended for people with GERD, but was not expecting that nicotine had such a big role.
I'm looking for your opinions and similar expiriences.
I got diagnosed with GERD about 3 years ago and i have noticed that when i went down to 3mg shortly after the diagnosis, it calmed it down and was a lot more manageable. Now that ive went back up to 6mg about a year ago, it’s made it come back stronger and more frequently
You’re actually the first vaper who i know that has GERD so ive never been able to ask anyone else if it affected them. Also, caffeine affects mine pretty bad.
I have GERD and celiac disease, been diagnosed since age 8 (now 21) . I’ve smoked cigarettes since age 10, moved to vaping at age 16. Have switched back and forth, but mostly vaping the entirety of the years. I can agree with you, because I am just now noticing that whenever I use freebase nicotine (DIY) in my juices, 3-6 mg, DTL, I don’t get affected by anything, no nausea, no reflux. When I vape salt nic, however, 25-35mg DTL, I get awful reflux, nausea, and wet burps (rarely) . Glad there is someone else out there that knows how something so harmless could affect us in such inconvenient ways.
I hope that you meant to type "25-35mg MTL" not DTL because MTL can support a higher nic content only because it uses a low powered device that gives you a smaller hit at a time. If you are truly DLing 25mg, its no wonder that its affecting you that way. You're essentially making yourself nicsick.
I have GERD. I take PPI's to help reduce the amount of acid in my stomach. I've been vaping for about 6 years and never knew that nicotine can upset it. I was also a heavy drinker but I've since stopped and have been sober for a little over a month now. I have noticed that my symptoms have pretty much gone away now. I still vape 6mg and still no symptoms.
I manage acid reflux with a daily dose of omeprazole. It is generic form of Prilosec. Nothing bothers me unless I forget to dose for more than a couple of days. You can get it at any pharmacy or Walmart. Good luck.
If i have to pick between drugs and lower nic, lower nic it is 😃
You may want to give it a try. I’ve been taking it for ~20 years with no side effects. My wife’s ex actually died from GERD. He lived with it untreated for so long the acid eroded his esophagus to a thin state. He got sick one day and vomited. He then went to bed to sleep off whatever bug he had gotten. His girlfriend found him in a coma the next morning. The muscles during his vomiting actually caused a partial rupture of the damaged esophagus and the blood backed up into his lungs while he slept and caused him to aspirate. He never regained consciousness and they had to pull life support a week later. Try omeprazole for 30 days if you are living with a sour stomach. You may be surprised how it changes your quality of life.
When things are bad, i use proton pump inhibitors. But when things are ok, i don't use anything.
I pay attention to my diet and other things to prevent having episodes. So far, switching to plant based milk helped a lot, and now it looks like the halvening of nic is doing wonders too.
I've never noticed it with nicotine but I don't use 6mg, but even with cigars/hookah it has never bothered me. It sometimes gets triggered for me with minty vapes. Caffeine doesn't cause it either for me but specifically coffee does.
Eating a good diet that isn't acidic goes a long way to reduce overall acid reflux. I used to take lots of antacids, plus PPIs, but the best thing was changing my overall diet and now I rarely take antacids and no more PPIs (PPIs actually raise the amount of acid producing cells, not a good long-term solution).
I have acid reflux from time to time, and when I first started using salt nic, I would get heartburn often (or throatburn, as I always called it). And hiccups, oddly enough. When I started DIY'ing, I went back to freebase only. Since then, I've been totally fine.
Yes and that sphincter hates nicotine especially when I chewed snuff. I have had less reflux since vaping. I still have episodes and I damn near get death by reflux on a glazed donut. I love donuts.
Yep, and vaping makes it worse. I don't think it's the Nicotine though, because I used to smoke a pack a day and it didn't bother the GERD. A lot more nic in the cigs than in my vape juice. Unless it's the transmission of the nic being different in vaping and cigs that aggravates GERD? I've been weaning the nic down, but I tend to vape more when I do that. I'll try lowering it again and see what happens.
I just figured this our myself. Switched from mods with 3mg freebase to disposables with 5% nic salts. After about 6 months developed the feeling of a lump in my throat. Doc says its gerd which aligns with other symptoms. I noticed the nic salts would give me some nausea at first so I'm guessing I was OD'ing on nicotine. 10 days of omeprozel and it's getting better. I'm also switching back to a tank and freebase. I'll update after that. Thanks for all the comments, it helped confirm what I was thinking.
Here's a couple more tips that help me manage my gerd:
Cut down on caffeine too. Espresso coffee is not good for my reflux, while nescaffee instant coffe is much better. If you can, drop coffee completely or drink 1 cup daily while replacing other cups with chicory.
Use plant based milk where ever it makes sense.
Avoid fatty foods or foods that are swimming in oil. At least dry the food on couple of towels, so most of the fat comes out.
If you're vaping weed, drop it. I have no idea why, but this helped me a lot.
I’m familiar with GERD. I don’t have it. But when I have acid reflux every few months, menthol vape helps
Menthol is literally worse for heartburn lol.
"The soothing and numbing effect of menthol tends to relax the valve that separates the stomach and esophagus (known as the lower esophageal sphincter), which can cause stomach acids to drift up the esophagus more easily, aggravating heartburn."
I have GERD and one of the things that triggers it is a minty vape in the morning.