There are many pieces to our lifestyle that could be listed under GERD and acid reflux causes,  and the good news is that most of them can be easily managed to help reduce or even eliminate completely your acid reflux symptoms.

Alcohol

I’m sorry to sound a killjoy, but if you have acid reflux disease or GERD, you must be very careful about your alcohol consumption. The neater the alcohol you drink, the more likely you are to provoke an attack of acute GERD. So, although as a lover of Malt Whiskey, it pains me to write this, ease off on the spirits. Confine yourself to the odd glass of wine, preferably with meals. That’s how the French approach alcohol, and it’s very civilized. They have less GERD than we do.

Clothing

Not all acid reflux and GERD sufferers are the same. Some can tolerate coffee or fatty foods, others can’t. Being overweight and eating large meals are certainly one of the main causes of acid reflux and GERD, and so is pregnancy (but at least that’s only a short term state).

Tight clothes can put pressure on the abdomen, so that if I were writing this book a generation ago, I would have mentioned corsets. However, I’m reliably informed (by my slim wife) that women no longer squeeze into restrictive clothing – they just ‘let it all hang out’. Any tight band across the middle, such as a belt, may induce acid reflux symptoms. I leave it to the individual woman (or man) to judge whether or not that is a factor in their GERD.

Medication

Some prescription drugs can contribute to GERD by causing the sphincter at the cardia to relax. They include the ‘tricyclics’ used to treat depression. They are usually easily spotted, because their generic name (seen in small print under the trade name) often ends in  -amine  or  -ine.  Among them are amitriptyline, amoxapine, clomipramine, imipramine, lofepramine, nortriptyline and trimipramine.

‘Anticholinergic’ or ‘atropine-like’ drugs prescribed to treat bowel spasms or irritable bowel syndrome can do their job only too well and relax the gastro esophageal sphincter, too. They include dicyclomine (also called dicycloverine), hyoscine and propantheline bromide.

Atropine sulphate tablets are given on prescription but are also available over-the-counter, mainly as Actonorm powder, which is a mixture of atropine, aluminum, calcium carbonate, magnesium, sodium bicarbonate and peppermint oil. This, too, can relax the gastro esophageal sphincter and provoke attacks of GERD symptoms.

Another group of drugs that may be one of the causes of GERD is the ‘nitrates’ prescribed to open the coronary arteries for people suffering from angina. Among them are glyceryl trinitrate and isosorbide trinitrate and mononitrate. If your chest pain becomes worse when taking these drugs, you either are having more serious heart pain than you thought, and should urgently see your doctor, or the pain is caused by GERD. Either way, you need help.

Some drugs directly irritate the esophageal mucosa. They include the aspirin-like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs used to treat chronic pain; potassium salts that are sometimes used in people taking drugs to lower blood pressure; and the bisphosphonates given for osteoporosis. If you are on treatment for any of these conditions, and think you may be taking one of these types of drug, you should discuss it with your doctor.

So if you have GERD and are taking drugs for other conditions, check with your doctor that your treatment is not actually one of the acid reflux causes and thereby worsening your GERD symptoms. There are always alternative acid reflux natural treatments to be found if they are.