Natasha’s Personal Story: stretches for gerd
I have been experiencing GERD symptoms for the last 2 years. When it first started in 2021, I had to take PPIs for three months to suppress the acid enough to stop my cough attacks, after that almost for a year, no more symptoms of GERD for me. Although, since the start of March 2022, I suddenly started to face all the symptoms again with an addition of heartburn, indigestion, and abdominal cramps almost every single day. My disturbed sleep cycle and inability to gain normal sleeping hours every day have led to depression and anxiety, leading to ultimate damage to my overall well-being. Related to my diet, I am a pure vegetarian and I have understood the importance of not over-eating or under-eating and has maintained a proper balance of my diet, by including proper macro and micronutrients in my diet, Still, since the start of my GERD last year, I have also diagnosed with iron deficiency. Doctors in Canada, almost everyone I have tried to contact or explain my situation, has not been empathic or understanding towards it, rather I was and am always told that you are too young to have this condition and then nothing else apart from that. This condition, even if it comes and goes in my scenario is a chronic one and needs to be taken seriously by all healthcare professionals. I have from my side tried many different things that could help me with my condition, because it isn’t just taking a toll on my physical and mental health but also ruining my relations with my loved ones due to my unavailability in family matters all the time, due to fully consumed in myself. I have tried TUMS- it only helped after I had taken PPIs for one and half months, other than that it is not helping me in acute attacks situations. HALLS- I use halls in an acute situation when the chronic cough causes wheezing and hoarseness, and damage to the upper respiratory tract. It helps in that manner. CHIROPRACTOR- I have recently started taking regular interval visits to chiropractors, as I read that there is a direct correlation between GERD and POSTURE. It helps for a few days but due to my work environment, my stooped posture becomes more obvious quickly. DIETICIAN- I have not yet connected with one, but I am in the process to do so and I wish to understand my diet (vegetarian specifically) and how I could make better choices with that and manage my condition. MASSAGE THERAPIST- Tight and stressed abdominal muscles put a lot of pressure on your esophageal sphincter leading it to push the acid up to the throat, so relaxation and therapeutic treatment will surely help if it is related to that root cause. EATING EVERY 2 HOURS- I have created a timetable or chart and stuck it in my room and there I have written all that I could eat every 2 hours and I tick it off once done. STRETCHES AND BREATHING EXERCISES- this is a big one, so I came across this fact recently, that GERD could be due to HIATAL HERNIA which is a common condition, yet difficult to diagnose without doing endoscopy, so while many of you are still waiting for your endoscopy to get done, use abdominal and deep diaphragmatic breathing exercises consciously every 15 minutes of 5 reps to relax diaphragm, also perform stretches that involve yoga positions that would help stretch abdominal muscles such as cat and camel, bridging, child pose and many more. Ultimately, I have understood that there are tones of reasons and root causes why this could happen, and even though studies and research say that it long-term, chronic condition with no chances of reversing it, I believe finding the root cause can treat the condition effectively. I feel there is some healthcare professional who has related this condition as something that happens to the elderly, which could happen because your stomach is producing more acid than needed, there is always a hidden root cause to it, and the earlier one figure out what it is, sooner it could be treated. I recently came across a video showing some good stretches for GERD, will be sharing the link here for you all. I hope we could all find our reasoning and treat the condition with ease rather than suffering in silence. https://youtu.be/Ani0vr3ydXU
