heartburn

I went to the VA hospital in DesMoines; Iowa in the fall of 2010 to get a physical to make sure my health was good for a job that required a lot of physical exertion. I was given Ranitidine for GERD; and had an EKG that shown the heart was OK! The end of March 2012 I had a severe heart attack that required 3 stents with 85-95% blockages. I have read on heart related blogs and clinical records that some time the tests show normal and later the health problems show up. I also noticed over the time period that my energy level was decling and I had trouble climbing over two flights of stairs. I thougt that had someting to do with getting older!!! IF YOU FEEL FATIGUED; SHORT OF BREATH AND ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE HEART; JAW OR ARM PAIN GET MEDICAL HELP ASAP!! This saved my live but left me with congestive heart failure; Short of breath and still get fatigued easier!!

I've been thinking about the OP's question over the last day or so, and came up with an idea. The question asked by the OP is how can or do you raise the head of the bed in an RV. Here's something I came up with.

Most beds in an RV are built over the wooden box (storage area) that's attached to the floor. The plywood used on that box, where the mattress rests, is usually split in two and hinged so the foot of the mattress will lift up and giving you access to the storage under the mattress.

Why not put something, or build a simple fold down frame that can be wedged between the top of the box and bottom of the plywood, causing the foot of the bed to be raised, much like a hospital bed, only, instead of the head raising, the foot raises. Then sleep backwards in the bed. (your head where your feet go and your feet where the head goes. At least, if you slide toward down toward your feet, the wall of the camper will prevent you from sliding onto the floor. Granted, you will not be able to see the television laying opposite end of the bed, but if you flip into the direction when you finally decide to close your eyes, it's an easy solution to raise your head. Also, you can adjust the height by simply putting different sizes (height) of wedges there.

Well, like I said, it was just a thought to utilize the equipment you already have without doing any re-construction or remodeling, or spending a ton of money on a hospital bed that does everything but vibrate!

As a kid, I loved to sleep opposite end in my bed. Sometimes I still do. Actually, with the king size bed in our bed-room (house), my wife and I will often sleep sideways across the bed so we can lay on our sides and watch television. Often we fall asleep this direction. Television is on a timer and shuts itself off. It's a good night sleep.

There are so many things that can go wrong in our gastrointestinal tract. My dd had to have a procedure to see how fast her stomach emptied, never heard of that before. She has to take Dexilant nothing else seems to work. She is very burpy, and has that reflux too.

Yes, both of us had upper endoscopies and were diagnosed with hiatal hernia. That's often a genetic defect and there is lots of it in both our families. Dr prescribed Protonix (a PPI and the one that works for us) BUT the gastroenterologist ALSO told us to raise the head of our bed (impossible here, thus the wedge) and avoid eating anywhere near bedtime, also avoid spicy foods and all the other triggers. Neither of us is overweight or drinks. Hiatal hernia is a medical condition and the surgery is pretty drastic and usually a last ditch measure. My 100 lb mother had hiatal hernia and certainly never over ate or otherwise abused her health. She had to have the esophagus stretching procedure three different times. All of which is not to say that some people do not overindulge and make their own reflux problems, but it sure is not everybody.

The best thing to do is to go to the doctor and get properly diagnosed. Note that I said properly diagnosed.

I went to emergency room many times over the years for severe heartburn. Had all kinds of barium swallow xrays. But no one ever told me that I do not have a lower esophageal sphincter muscle, and that my lower esophagus was raw from the acid. Had to go to a doctor who specializes in doing upper endoscopy to find that out.

Today it is very well controled by taking prescription strength Omeprazole. Took a different med for a while until it quit working. Could have the surgery to have the esophagus, but I felt that we could do that when nothing else works.

HappyKayakers wrote:
I finally decided on a cheaper solution than buying a wedge. I was sitting in a doctor's office and they had a TV going with medical 'trivia'. I found out that Gaviscon would actually block the top opening of the stomach so all that acid couldn't work its way back up (in addition to reducing the amount of acid in the stomach). Once I found some it worked like a charm.

" The three active ingredients in Reckitt Benckiser's version are sodium alginate, a bicarbonate (either sodium or potassium in variants) and an antacid (calcium carbonate)."
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaviscon

I have to agree with this pawz, we are all different and what bothers you may not bother me.

Despite what many have erroneously posted, it's not only junk food that can cause heartburn or reflux. I could eat all the junk food in the world and it wouldn't bother me. But the tiniest bit of raw onion or vinegarette dressing puts me in agony for hours.

Junk food = absolutely fine
Raw onion = pure evil
Vinegar = pure evil

Dietary triggers are very individual. Anyone who categorically says "junk food" has no clue what they're talking about.

FWIW, my number one trigger by far is stress. And my gastroenterologist agrees that that is the top trigger for many people.

We understand that we can eat the wrong things on occasion but I ended up with heartburn eating the same old things and doing the same old things. My brother and sil and my husband got heartburn much more frequently also after we turned a certain age.

I don't think or believe it's all in the diet! I think some people are predestined to have these problems. Diet not being the complete culprit.

Some anti-inflammatory medications can eat at your stomach lining if you don't eat well before taking them. I learned this the hard way.

Ranitidine which is over the counter has done the trick for me.

Bob