Reducing Acid Reflux and Heartburn without medication

Sarah had been experiencing heartburn and acid reflux for over 2 years and was frustrated by not seeing any change in her symptoms despite taking daily medications (which she was aware had unwanted side effects including reducing the absorption of nutrients from her food).

Her enlightened GP recommended that she came to see me to see if there was anything nutritionally that could be done to alleviate her symptoms and reduce or eliminate her medication.

At our first consultation it was clear that Sarah was very open to making changes to her foods and eating habits (including slowing down her eating which I explained would be a contributory factor to her ongoing symptoms) but understandably after 2 years she was not entirely convinced these changes would make any difference! We agreed however that it had to be worth implementing even for 4 weeks as she did not want to continue with her meds or symptoms.

A follow up telephone consultation 2 weeks later dispelled any misgivings she may have had. Sarah had followed all of our agreed recommendations (I told her she was one of my most compliant clients!) had come off her prescribed medication (with her GP’s approval) plus over the counter tablets and had experienced no flare ups. At our face to face follow up consultation, a month from our first meeting her symptoms had disappeared, her mood and energy were better as a result and so we were able to work on a further programme of recommendations to optimise her gut health.

After a total of 3 consultations over 3 months, she feels confident that she has the knowledge and information which she is highly motivated to follow as it allows her to get on with enjoying her life without fear of debilitating symptoms of acid reflux and heartburn and no more visits to the GP for medication which only mask the symptoms but does not address or resolve them.

Functional Medicine and Nutritional Therapy training requires practitioners to not just treat the symptoms but look at the underlying cause in order to help people be free from nagging daily symptoms which so many people seem to battling with.

*Names have been changed to respect client privacy.