No I mean I had heartburn sometimes but who hasn't but really I didn't think it was unusually bad. Of all my symptoms the one that should have stood out was coughing. Acid splashes up and gets into your airway and you cough. There may not even be any heartburn feeling. I had that for years even as a teenager. I thought I was smart because I figured out as a teen an antacid would make my weird cough go away but I had never heard of GERD what teen has? This was well before the Internet age.

My issue is I can stop eating at 5pm or even 4pm but at night if I roll over on my stomach it pushes on it and I vomit up digest food. There's nothing like sitting bolt upright from that feeling as you aspirate into your lungs at 3am! Even lying on my side doesn't help I can feel acid pour into my throat.

PPI meds like Prevacid make me feel bad just an all around blah feeling. they are not supposed to be taken long term and I've read ppi medications may damage kidneys. I think similar to high blood pressure medicine it has some effect on kidneys and can even cause coughing due to it.

One weird quirk though is at my worst if I got sick with the flu my acid reflux went away.

So for now watch my diet, eat somewhat sensibly (almost impossible since everything is a trigger), and try not to eat too late.