You’ve probably already experienced it, even if you don’t realize it. Stress makes GERD worse! Heck just thinking about GERD can make it worse. Its a viscious cycle. So, lets talk about some ideas for reducing stress.
EXERCISE:
- Walking: this is one of the easiest forms of exercise. It requires no special equipment beyond a good walking shoe and you don’t have to have an expensive gym membership! Walking in yhour own neighborhood is just fine. Just do it every day. A 20 minute walk each day can do wonders for your stress as well as your waistline. You’ll probably find yourself wanting to do more than 20 minutes. Try to vary the path you take each day to keep from getting bored. If you have a mp3 player or iPod, load some peppy music to it and take it along. Upbeat music helps you keep your stride at a healthy pace. For more ideas and information on the joy of walking, visit the Discover Walking website.
- Yoga: Yoga provides a nice, calming meditative exercise that increases your range of motion and concentrates on regular and deep breathing techniques. Admittedly, there are some yoga poses that someone with severe GERD would not want to attempt since they put pressure on the stomach and turn you almost upside down. But, a good instructor can help you by pointing out which moves should not be attempted and caution you in class when they come to one of those moves. If you don’t want to spend the money for a class, pick up a good yoga DVD and follow along. Many libraries have them to rent.
- Tai Chi: Tai chi uses gentle flowing movements to reduce the stress. WebMD states that it is best explained as “meditation in motion.” Many of the elderly are finding Tai Chi an excellent way to stay flexible and relaxed.
LIFE ADJUSTMENTS:
- Ask for help: Sometimes we just can’t do everything ourselves. If overload is causing you stress, ask friends and family for help. Sometimes help is just having someone to listen to your problems. Take time to look inside yourself and consider the fact that you may be the kind of personality that takes on much more than they need to. Meditation
- Healthy diet: This site talks about the foods that are known to cause issues for GERD sufferers. But, you owe it to your self to take it a step further and create balance in your diet as you do in your health and spirit. Even with GERD you can eat many healthy foods. Enjoy variety and nutrition and avoid vitamin deficiencies.
Eating With GERD 
Is there any way of predicting an ‘attack’?
I’ve been fine almost all of summer. I had one really bad half hour, but my mother had just died.
I’ve been fine until this last week … back to teaching full time….help!
I’m sorry to hear about your mother. I think the only way I would ever be able to predict an attack would be based on whether I had been eating or drinking a trigger food (or new food) or if I am under a lot of stress. Also, a lot of exercise can trigger an attack. You mentioned you were back to teaching full time. Has that increased your stress level? Are you eating unfamiliar foods while at school? Were you thinking about your mother when it happened? Since the valve in our esophagus can open randomly, its really hard to predict.
A lot of exercise can actually trigger an attack?
Yes, oddly it can trigger an attack. It happens usually if you have eaten recently or taken in a lot of fluids before strenuous exercise. You know, activity that has you bouncing around a bit. The movement of the stomach contents can cause it to splash up into the esophagus. Its much the same principle as when you lay flat and the contents puts pressure on the valve and opens it. It’s tempting to use this as an excuse not to exercise, but really all we need to do is not overeat and wait at least an hour before a lot of activity.
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