Hi all. I need to lose weight! I could do with the support and advice. I have a hiatus hernia and reflux and I don’t know if it’s ok to fast or do 16:8 with this as the advice I got from the hospital was to eat smaller frequent meals and not miss meals
8 weeks ago I had an endoscopy that showed an inflamed oesophagus and an oesophageal ulcer. I had another endoscopy a few weeks ago and the ulcer and inflammation had healed!! I think it was due to a combination of taking Omeprazole and I’d changed my eating to a BSD Mediterranean style diet with a bit of clever guts as well. I didn’t lose much weight as I was focusing on trying to get myself well and healthier by keeping to a Mediterranean type diet without any fasting

I’m at the stage now of being off the pills – I’ve still got a hiatus hernia and the reflux, and I need to lose some weight to keep my symptoms at bay as excess weight is a big trigger. What do people advise?

Hi Ikeeptrying. I don’t think anyone on here is medically qualified, so you should be guided by your doctor’s advice. Having said that, you do seem to have had success so far with a BSD style diet – presumably that has involved cutting out the white carbs/sugar etc. And it has only been a few weeks but already seems to have helped inflammation and ulcer. Maybe you can continue with that, keeping an eye on carbs, with moderate protein and healthy fats. There is another poster on here, Birdy, who also has suffered from GERD. Birdy has embraced extended fasting (up to 36 hours), along with others, but equally a number of us find success without that, but generally aiming as you say for time-restricted eating, say two meals in a 7 or 8 hour window. Then again some do very well on three meals a day – so it is very individual, but all guided by the low carb/moderate protein/healthy fats model! I am sure others will be along with other suggestions, but all the best! If you feel you want to share, can you tell us what kind of weight discard you are hoping for?

Hello Ikeeptrying, although I haven’t had an inflamed oesophagus I too have a hiatus hernia and acid reflux and was worried about how to control it during this WOE. I was taking Lanzaprozol every day first thing in the morning before breakfast. I was determined to try 16:8 and thought that I would just take my tablet later in the day . However being out of my normal routine I kept forgetting! The first few days I did suffer with bad reflux and on those days I took a tablet before my evening meal. As the days passed I noticed that the acid was gone…..so I didn’t bother with a tablet and I haven’t taken one since! I have found though, that I need 3 meals during that 8 hour span, if I try to go to 2 meals the acid is sneaking back a little in by early evening. I eat my first meal of the day about 12.30, have a snacky meal about 4.30-5 p.m.( usually a few lettuce wraps with goats cheese) and then have my evening meal between 7-8 p.m. Strangely I don’t suffer from any reflux during my 16 hour fast perhaps it’s because I also drink a lot of mint tea which seems to keep my stomach settled. I’m sure that loosing weight and having less fat pushing on my stomach has also had something to do with it. I haven’t tried any longer fasts as I think that it might be a step too far for my hernia. But I’m just completing week 6 and have shed 17lb and am now only 6lb from my target. I would say give it a go, you won’t know until you try how your body will react and if this WOE has already helped your inflammation then taking the step to intermittent fasting and 800 calories might not be such a big one as it’s obviously good for you!. You could try 12:12 to start with and slowly extend it if you have no bad effects from acid during that time. You are still doing part of what your doctor advises, small frequent meals, just in a smaller window! Hope that helps.
Owl

Thank you *sixturkeys* and *owl* I’m out til 1pm today so I’ll do a longer reply when I get home
I’m 28 BMI – 12 st 13 lbs and need to get to about 11 stone 5 to be a healthy BMI
There’s conflict about whether to fast or not the GORD- some reports say fine others say don’t fast. I think I’ll do a 3/4 small meals then build up to some TRE as I lose weight – what do you think? 😀

Hi sorry to have disappeared. I’ve been struggling all week with a return of the reflux symptoms. Id discussed with my doctor about stopping taking the Omeprazole and he’d told me to stop taking them – cold turkey rather than a phased reduction. I was ok for about a week then BANG!! I was on the gaviscon all day, everyday and I was thinking the ulcer etc was coming back. Then I turned to mr google and found out about rebound from Omeprazole. I’m starting to get over it and I might go back to my GP for advice etc but see another dr in the practice.
I need to lose weight to help with my GORD etc but as yet I’ve only lost a couple of pounds in about 2 months of following a BSD low carb Mediterranean type plan..
How do I start to shift the weight??

Hi Ikeeptrying and Artfulowl I have had gerd now for quite a few years! My doctor thought it might have been a hiatus hernia but when they put the camera down they found nothing and nothing was inflamed. I was given both the tablets you have been proscribed and unfortunately I had side effects from both that actually only occur 1 in a thousand of people! My chemist didn’t believe me but both caused bleeding and soreness of my back passage(sorry to be gross) so I could not take them! I did a self discovery of what I could and couldn’t eat and also looked it up on the internet. Gerd is horrible and it caused me a lot of pain in my side, trapped wind in my upper left side and of course acid reflux! I was told by a friend to try a cap full of organic Apple cider vinegar in a glass of water daily and it worked! No problems anywhere else and pain free and no acid reflux it was a miracle🤗. But also I cut out foods that the internet told me would make if flare up to, citrus fruit, pizza, bread and any kind of mint gum, sweets or teas! This was all before I had even heard of the BSD! I have been on this WOE for nearly five weeks and I have only had to to drink my vinegar water once but I realised it was because I had over done it on my lime juice intake in homemade guacamole so I cut it down and hey presto no more gerd! This WOE has really helped me and I hope that it helps you guys too. Birdy 🦜💞

Hi *Birdy*
Thanks for your reply – it’s great you’ve got your GERD under control with the BSD. I tasted apple cider vinegar once and spat it out as it was like drinking acid – perhaps I should have diluted it or something. From all I’ve read in my searches on the web the best diet for GORD/GERD seems to be the BSD Mediterranean style diet. I just need to eat less so I can start losing weight – I’m still a bit nervous of what to eat, when to eat and how much to eat in case I set off my symptoms again – I guess I’ll be less worried as I get more relaxed and confident as I get more used to things. I don’t think I’ll try any kind of fasting til I’m more into the diet

I was shocked to get this diagnosis and to find I’d got an ulcer, but It’s spurred me onto sort it out with lifestyle and diet changes as I don’t want to be on pills if I can help it – although the omeprazole was a godsend at the time, I’ve read too many reports about the risks of taking PPIs long term, like this: https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/09/05/why-you-should-get-off-prescription-acid-reducing-drugs-asap.aspx Also, the rebound from stopping PPIs is so horrible you wonder what they do to your body – ps I had a funny pains around my bowels too – I put it down to my iBS pain but maybe it was the pills.
Well done on your loss.