male 60+ have had throat burning reflux episodes. am fit and active, non smoker. had an endoscopy within the year which found no issues. was on PepcidAC alone for years, then began on Nexium for 2 yrs ago + PepcidAC 1 tab each night. I was no longer having any throat burning episodes but after 2 yrs developed chronic cough, particularly triggered by eating. tested for allergies – negative. seemed to be due to silent reflux. noted that mornings (~6am) I am nearly cough-free even after 2 cups of coffee (considered a trigger drink) …generally don’t eat breakfast. the only reason I could imagine for being cough-free is that I had not eaten in about 11 hrs…. this led to experiments: 1) large bowl of chili at 6pm after normal lunch 12pm – caused major coughing. 2) small bowl of chili at 6pm after normal lunch 12pm – caused minor coughing. 3) small bowl of chili at 7am – caused no coughing. Meaning, for me, the time for digestion is key. I need 8+ hours between meals to avoid silent reflux/gerd. This doesn’t un-do the need to avoid eating before bed (horizontal v vertical body position remains important). I am therefore adjusting my behavior/lifestyle to reality that mealtime is critical, and I may be entirely doing without dinners depending on the lunch time… which will definitely have a side benefit of helping keep off the paunch. In summary: for me the silent reflux is caused more by when I eat rather than what I eat.
About GERD
