Intermittent Fasting and GERD (GastroEsophagal Reflux Disease) and/or Hiatus Hernia ((HH)

Sorry can’t comment on IF In relation to Gerd but I had gallbladder issues for 4 yrs misdiagnosed as gerd. The pain was severe (2 blue light runs with ecg’s etc) on one occasion diagnosed as a torn rotator cuff as the pain was also in my shoulder. My shoulder was just fine! For me the pain was focused mainly behind my solar plexus. Burning, cramping, worse than childbirth pain. Ultimately removal solved the problems reluctant as I was to have the surgery I’m glad I did.

Did you also know in some cases gerd is made worse by ppi? What is frequently diagnosed as too much acid (without any testing to support this assumption) is actually a lack of acid therefore digestion doesn’t work properly and slows down further. Ppi then make everything even worse. Withdrawal from longer term ppi is also an issue and needs to be managed carefully. Not always the case, particularly with structural issues like hh, but an all too common misdiagnosis nonetheless

So pleased to find this thread - thanks, Wonkeylegs, for posting it.

I have undergone a series of investigations over the last 6 months to try and establish a cause for my very similar symptoms. Whilst all test results (heart, lungs, bloods) have put me firmly in the normal range, which is good, my main symptoms (chest pain, nausea, fainting) carried on until two weeks ago when my GP suggested I try a PPI for a month to see if it made a difference. After a couple of days I was feeling fine with only slight discomfort when walking swiftly or up steep slopes. I will have a follow up with my GP at the end of the month but it seems clear where any further investigations should be focussed. Any further information gratefully received!

I've got a hiatis hernia and gastritis. The gastritis has resolved but I keep the hernia bearable by taking ranitidine, works and has less bad side effects than omeprazole, eating regularly, last meal no later than 8 pm. I did take omeprazole for a month. I couldn't not eat breakfast, I need something to eat in the morning to avoid symptoms. Plus when this all kicked off I lost a ton of weight and the gp put me on the two week cancer appointment so I really can't afford to miss meals. Gaviscon advance has been a life saver, take after every meal plus at bedtime.

I also bought an iqoro, I bought it off the Internet. My health has improved thank God, whether it's down to the iqoro or not I don't know, but I'm pleased I've got it. I also see a chartered osteopath who does some body work to help with the hernia, I have no idea what worked but I feel 100% better.

Hope this helps, it's horrible to have.

Jo123 said:

I've got a hiatis hernia and gastritis. The gastritis has resolved but I keep the hernia bearable by taking ranitidine, works and has less bad side effects than omeprazole, eating regularly, last meal no later than 8 pm. I did take omeprazole for a month. I couldn't not eat breakfast, I need something to eat in the morning to avoid symptoms. Plus when this all kicked off I lost a ton of weight and the gp put me on the two week cancer appointment so I really can't afford to miss meals. Gaviscon advance has been a life saver, take after every meal plus at bedtime.

I also bought an iqoro, I bought it off the Internet. My health has improved thank God, whether it's down to the iqoro or not I don't know, but I'm pleased I've got it. I also see a chartered osteopath who does some body work to help with the hernia, I have no idea what worked but I feel 100% better.

Hope this helps, it's horrible to have.

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Interesting to hear that you also needed to eat breakfast when taking omeprazole. I had been fasting 3-4 mornings a week but obviously now have to eat in order to take the tablets. I find it too hard to fast at the other end of the day so willing to forego the fasting until the month is up.

I hadn't heard of the iqoro device but have now looked it up - fascinating!

Jo123 said:

I've got a hiatis hernia and gastritis. The gastritis has resolved but I keep the hernia bearable by taking ranitidine, works and has less bad side effects than omeprazole, eating regularly, last meal no later than 8 pm. I did take omeprazole for a month. I couldn't not eat breakfast, I need something to eat in the morning to avoid symptoms. Plus when this all kicked off I lost a ton of weight and the gp put me on the two week cancer appointment so I really can't afford to miss meals. Gaviscon advance has been a life saver, take after every meal plus at bedtime.

I also bought an iqoro, I bought it off the Internet. My health has improved thank God, whether it's down to the iqoro or not I don't know, but I'm pleased I've got it. I also see a chartered osteopath who does some body work to help with the hernia, I have no idea what worked but I feel 100% better.

Hope this helps, it's horrible to have.

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Hi Jo123

Just wondering if you are still using the iqoro and if so, whether you feel it is helping? I'm looking for any exercises which might help me strengthen my diaphragm but would prefer to hear the comments of someone who has used the iqoro before committing to spending a lot of money for a small plastic device. The NICE review says it might help but it might not (insufficient research evidence).

Wonkylegs said:

Is there anyone here who has GERD (GastroEsophagal Reflux Disease) and/or Hiatus Hernia ((HH) who is also trying Intermittent Fasting? Has it helped or made things worse?


I have been doing IF for 16/18 hours overnight from dinner at 6ish until noon next day. I must add here that I’ve been on a small dose PPI for a very long time due to a diagnosis of ‘IBS’ a sort of non- diagnosis as I was a ‘neurotic woman’ - Consultants term not mine. The HH and GERD was discovered in a routine endoscopy for chronic cough 2 years ago. I’m keeping a food diary at the moment to see if I can find any food triggers.


Then about 5 weeks ago I had a dreadful flare of symptoms- in fact so bad we thought it was angina! I’m now on a ridiculous amount of PPIs and Gaviscon to heal the oesophagitis the acid had caused. I’d had some heartburn during the mornings with the IF before I ate st noon but it seems I’d ignored it at my peril.

So I’ve now started having 2 boiled eggs each morning and eating smaller meals but I’m still waiting to heal.


Weight loss is supposed to help but I’ve lost 6 stone on LCHF! Plus I’ve been doing IF for about 6 months.


Any thought? Suggestions? Gratefully received.

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Wow. I'm 6st lighter due to bariatric surgery and I'm bleeding from suspected GERD/IBS rather than surgery. I too hv longterm acid reflux. Been on lansoprozol for years.
If does not improve acid reflux but weight loss does.
Are you like me that the damage was due whilst you were very heavily overweight?

Healing will be up to excellent bgs and good nutrition. Seek out healing foods which are known not to kick off a flare.
I understand everyone has different triggers for acid reflux or/and IBS so your right to do your food diary.
I get acid reflux on water. I kid you not.

Many type1s hv autoimmune disorders which IBD is one but IBS is not.
Has your IBS been diagnosed correctly?

I too hv acid refluxing and I suspect affecting my asthma or whatever my breathing problem is.
Is your breathing unaffected?

I had a bad Hiatus Hernia, was on max allowed dose of Omiprazole a day for years and years (started in early 90s) then they changed it to Lansoprazole and even then, I still often got through a whole large bottle of gaviscon in a day.

Before I had my op, I would wake up in the middle of the night (bed was at an angle and had loads of pillows so my feet were always lower than my head) choking, it felt like reflux had got into one of my lungs, I would have a coughing fit for up to an hour, no white left in my eyes and my voice completely gone for a couple of hours. Usually I was coughing up a foamy like substance.

The worst heartburn and nausea was when I was on Atkins and only eating one meal a day. I found the best thing to keep my reflux at bay was eating constantly every hour or two.

Oddly for me, something like a pork pie would stop the heart burn and virtually cure the sickness for a while.

Since then I've had something called a Nissen fundoplication which has 99.9% cured the burning feeling of acid reflux, that was about 7 + years ago. It does something like turn the diaphragm into a one way valve.

It's impossible for me to now vomit, and I now have a problem where certain foods get stuck and cause a huge pain approx 2" diagonally down and left from my right nipple. Chicken is the worst to the point where although I love it, I simply cannot eat it anymore (after the op, I was told to avoid chicken for at least 6 weeks as it's known to get stuck) Turkey is fine though.

I also am constantly nauseous (was before the op, still am after), and take Cyclizine Hydrochloride to help combat it (never properly works though) and sometimes I exceed the stated dose if I feel like I'm really going to vomit (which I can't physically do anyway)

I got (and still regularly get) a weird numbness over the right hand side of my chest/breast, I mentioned this to my GP in the early 90s, and I saw her notes once where she had written "thinks he's got cancer"?????? I mention it every time I see anyone about this, and they say it's probably deferred pain.

When my food gets stuck, it feels like the food is stuck just below my breast when the reality is, it's stuck in my oesophagus. The pain is unbearable, I have to stand up, sort of do a weird stretch with my right arm stretched fully as though I'm trying to touch the ceiling, before it finally slowly moves. Even taking a sip of water doesn't help.

My nausea is also a lot worse if I'm sitting on a chair and turning to the left to talk to someone (or use a lap top thats to the left of me) . I've mentioned this for years, but no GP takes it seriously.

I'm now on Lansoprazole as and when needed.

The reality is, since having the op I can now do LCHF and when I do that diet, there's times where I just have one meal a day for days. I could never have done this before the op.

When on the LCHF diet, I need to take Lansoprazole morning and night. Without it, my sickness feeling is simply too bad to be able to function.

I also still have occasional problems with my voice going etc (but not waking up choking) , the hospital says that's because of my acid reflux and even though I don't get heartburn anymore, they say I still have re-flux.

End of last year I went yet again to the GP over my food getting stuck (been about it over 10 years) , my GP (nerver seen this GP before) referred me to the hospital to check I didn't have food pipe cancer (I didn't think I had as this had gone on for years). Hospital put a camera down me and everything looked totally fine. They said as I was in their system, I might as well go for the swallowing test but they expect it to come back clear/normal and said they suspect one of my muscles possibly isn't working as well as it should be. At the test, even swallowing water, it came up as not normal, he said it showed definite swallowing issues. Am still waiting for the followup at the hospital.

I think intermittent fasting actually pushed me into GERD. Five years ago I lost 100 pounds without intermittent fasting. After Thanksgiving last year I decided I needed to address my weight as it was creeping back up. Right after Christmas I started IF. I did IF for 3 weeks. Things went great at first. I started feeling better and even started to run a bit. Then I noticed I started burping and passing gas quite a bit which is unusual for me. Soon after that my stomach started gurgling. Not growling because of hunger but actual gurgling like water was going down a drain. I'd never heard my stomach do that before. By morning soon after the gurgling started I woke up in intense pain. My throat and chest was on literal fire. I'd had very infrequent bouts of heartburn in the past from eating acidic foods but I'd never experienced heartburn to that degree.

I drank water and it seemed to die down throughout the day. The next day I started weight lifting and working out again and IF. Big mistake. By that evening my throat, chest, and stomach were in agony. I hurt so bad I could barely sleep that night. The next day I bought regular antacids. They did nothing. I went back to the store and bought Pepcid and began taking 40mg a day. That is the only thing that worked. I now have an irritating sensation in the middle of my stomach under my breastbone I never had before.

I began to research this issue and learned as I'm sure you all know by now that even if you IF your stomach is still producing acid. If your body is already more acid than alkaline that is a huge problem. The gurgling I was hearing was the acid in my stomach. The burping and gas also was sparked by the acid. Had I known then what I know now, I would have stopped the IF when I started burping without reason. I did not know my body was more acid than alkaline. I'm now drinking a few liters of alkaline water, taking probiotics, and cutting way back on the meat to rebalance my gut.

Meat, as are carbohydrates, are very acidic. So if you already have an issue with your body being more acidic than alkaline that may not be the best choice. I too now have that sensation of not being able to eat full meals anymore because I feel super full. That sensation seems to die down and flair up again according to what I eat. Salad and fibrous foods like oatmeal seem to really help.

Anyone (diabetic or not/GERD or not) whose body is more acidic than alkaline please think twice before starting an IF. I now seem to have full blown GERD symptoms complete with constipation/diarrhea, acid throat (soothed greatly by 3 cups of licorice tea a day), and food backing up into my throat. The Pepcid keeps the food from backing up but I don't want to be on pills forever.

I would recommend anyone to buy PH strips from the pharmacy or where ever and see how acidic your body is if you don't already know before you IF. If you have even the slightest issue with being more acidic, having heartburn, Acid Refulx, or GERD please talk to your doctor before you start IF. It's not worth it. I'd rather be fat that deal with an overly acidic gut. It is pure torture. There is a fermented food diet out there that many people swear by that will help rebalance your gut. I'm going to try that and prayerfully this will all be a horrible memory soon.

interesting I had GERD but it sort of went away, every so often slightly reoccurring. Last few weeks started to try fasting and it has come back with a vengeance. On bad days when I couldn't face fasting it has gone.

I have GERD, hiatal hernia with history of ulcers twice, history of ulcerative colitis, IBS.
I’m taking Omeprazole once a day. I started low carb low calorie diet 3 weeks ago when I was diagnosed with T2. I only eat meat once or twice a week just because that’s how I grew up. I eat eggs, tuna, cheese, cottage cheese for protein, eat veggies and berries with every meal but no more then 100g per meal.
I do moderate IF I fast between 6Pm and 8 AM.
I haven’t felt this great for years. All my digestive issues are gone, no heartburn, bloating, cramps or runs.
I love veggies but I couldn’t digest many before but now I can gorge on cabbage or cauliflower without any problems. I sleep better than ever. I did try IF with skipping breakfast but my stomach didn’t like it. I believe that we’re all individual with our unique bodies so I agree with you a 100%. If a diet hurts then change needs to be implemented.