Heartburn

[Don Pedro]

Could breath hold like freediving or pranayama cause heartburn? Can't get rid of it for more than month.

[Amphibious]

I get it quite a bit when I am spearfishing - more so on deeper hunts. would love more info on prevention.

[DrLindholm]

Hi
Heartburn or acid reflux and apnea / diving

First it is a common condition and in most countries you can buy omeprazol without a prescription and try treating it (In sweden its called Losec and in the USA Prilosec) there are of course different opinions about substances and sideeffects but that is my primary substance of choice when treating a patient suffering from such problems.

Diving related: since you may increase pressure in your stomach with apnea maneuvers or when you are diving you turn "upside down" you may increase the leaking of acid from the stomach into the oesophagus and some patients suffer from a hernia (that causes this leakage) that can be treated surgically.

My recomendation would be to try the prescription free medication (usually a 1-2 week test) and then if that doesnt help go to the doctor to get an examination (that might include gastroscopy performed (looking down into the stomach with a tube)

Peter

[Jason Billows]

I have found that I easily get heartburn when I'm diving in warm salt water, but never in fresh water. I found that it acted up mainly after a dive when I was breathing through a snorkel or reg for an extended period of time. My thinking was that the salt was causing the heartburn.

Mind you, the only time I've been diving in warm salt water is when I've been on vacation and eating and drinking stuff that's terrible for my body. That could have something to do with it.

Regardless, I found that drinking lots of water, both during and after my dives, really helped.

Jason

[naiad]

I used to suffer from serious heartburn, not related to diving, which I had since early childhood. I tried lots of different medications, but they either didn't work or had bad side effects. About a year ago I decided that since it was mainly a problem at night, the best thing would be not to eat anything for 4 hours before going to bed. It was difficult at first, but it worked! I have been almost free from heartburn for a long time now. If I have a late meal occasionally (parties etc) it doesn't usually cause any trouble, but I have to be strict about it most of the time. I don't get hungry any more because I eat more early in the day.

In my case it seemed to be a cumulative effect, with the heartburn causing irritation, which in turn caused more acid reflux and heartburn.

I am very happy that a problem which I had for most of my life, and thought it would never go away, has become a thing of the past. Not eating in the evening also makes for great statics and dynamics!

Lucia

[DeepThought]

There was already a thread on acid reflux, try using the search engine.

[gerard]

Originally Posted by Don Pedro

Could breath hold like freediving or pranayama cause heartburn? Can't get rid of it for more than month.

Mate,

Stop with Fire Qigong training. That's what is causing you problems.

In TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), and according to the nature of their functional activities, the internal organs known as zang-fu are divided into yin and yang. The zang organs lung, heart, liver and spleen are yin and fu organs large intestine, small intestine, gall bladder, stomach, urinary bladder and sanjiao(Triple Burner) are yang.
However, within each of the zang-fu, there are yin and yang aspects; for example, heart-yin and heart-yang, kidney-yin and kidney-yang. So when there is a relative loss of balance between yin-yang, it results in the occurrence and development of disease. That's what's happening to you, you drew excess qi to your heart, overheating it. In addition, when yang pathogenic factors cause disease, this may lead to an excess of yang fire which consumes yin (water) and gives rise to heat syndromes. When yin pathogenic factors cause disease, it may lead to a yin excess, which damages yang and gives signs of cold syndromes.

I your particular case, the lungs play an important role in the relief of heartburn. When the heart has excess qi (the cause of heartburn), deep breathing is able to lead the heart's fire to the lungs, and therefore cool the heartburn.

Summing up:

1. Don't stop any deep breathing practices, e.g. Pranayama are highly recommended.

2. In addition take Chinese or Tibetan herbs to nourish and restablish the vitality of your heart. Visit a TCM doctor so he can prescribe you an adequate formula.

3. Stop Iron Shirt training unless closely trained by a Daoist master. In addition DON'T MIX FREEDIVING (which involves breath retention) AND ANY KIND OF QIGONG TRAINING. It is extremely dangerous for your health since excess acidity causes an imbalance between yin and yang and will ultimately damage your internal organs. These two activities don't match at all. You will hurt yourself big time in the long term, or even not that far in time.

4. Start a fasting program to restablish the proper pH balance of your blood.

5. Read the book:

Multidisciplinary Approaches to Breathing Pattern Disorders, by Leon Chaitow, et. al. This book has a great deal of discussion regarding the balance between O2 and CO2 and the effects of incorrect breathing.

Generally speaking, reflux, stomach ulcers and heartburn are almost always in the wings if the body is continually over-acidic. Balanced body chemistry is essential to immune system maintenance and disease correction. A healthy body keeps large alkaline reserves to met the demands of too many acid producing foods. When these are depleted beyond a 3:1 ratio, health can be seriously threatened. So changing your diet is also a must.

The guidelines given here are a must to follow if you practice energy work:

http://members.rogers.com/stonelion/...yang_food.html


In addition read this little introduction to human health and Yin & Yang theory:

http://www.foodsnherbs.com/yin_&_yang.htm


Another article that gives you a good insight in the complexity of TCM is the following:


http://wsmcsn.s5.com/diet.htm


All the best,

[Don Pedro]

Hi Gerard,
Thanks for advise. Just talked with my yoga teacher. He reccommeded stop
doing any breath-holding exersises including freediving and pranayama for
several months at least.
But in general why do you think qigong and freediving not compatible? In this case we could suggest that pranayama with its primal goal
of breath retention is not compatible with qigong too but I know plenty of serious practitioners who doing so benefit from both of them.

BTW, what about you? Have you stopped with freediving completely?

Hope see you around.

Don pedro

[gerard]

Originally Posted by Don Pedro

Hi Gerard,
Thanks for advise. Just talked with my yoga teacher. He reccommeded stop
doing any breath-holding exersises including freediving and pranayama for
several months at least.

Good idea. It depends on the severity of the injury. I'll ask some martial artists and TCM practitioners (all with +20 of experience) to see what's their opinion.

But in general why do you think qigong and freediving not compatible?

Re-read my first post. The answer I will give again is NOT. Qigong is basically SOUL training not about how deep you can go underwater. The methods employed in Pranayama differ somehow with Daoist meditation which emphasises more in Yin & Yang and Five Elements Theory (Fire, Water, Earth, Metal and Wood) as well as opening meridians, longitudinal channels and the major energetic vessels in the body (and, of course, other esoteric stuff).


In this case we could suggest that pranayama with its primal goal
of breath retention is not compatible with qigong too but I know plenty of serious practitioners who doing so benefit from both of them.

Stick to Pranayama. Don't mix Qigong in. It's not advisable. Gee man you got hurt already, what other proof do you need?

Have you stopped with freediving completely?

I don't know.


Hope see you around.

Don pedro

I'll reply to the first part of your post when I get answers from the people I know.

Be well,

[gerard]

Don Pedro,

My friends told me that you should visit a TCM practitioner ASAP, stop everything you're doing or you'll be in serious physical health. Iron shirt without being directly coached is like uncontrolled suicide.

BTW, my friend told me that you should consider the following alternatives:

If the problem is related to the Heart then you have two options:

1. If it is really a heart issue then Tian Wang Bu Xin Wan would work

2. Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang in addition to Tian Wang Bu Xin Wan if the first formula is insufficient.

If it is not a heart-related problem then:

1. Heartburn aggravated by stress: Zuo Jin Wan (Left Metal Pill).

2. Heartburn worse with bending over or laying down: Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang (Lift the middle, boost the Qi decoction).

3. Heartburn that is aggravated by eating: Bao He Wan (Preserve Harmony Pills), Curing Pills or Bao Ji Wan (aka Pao Ji Wan or Po Ji Wan).

4. Heartburn that arrives with excessive saliva: Ping Wei San (Calm the Stomach Powder) or Er Chen Tang (Two Aged Decoction).


My friend thinks that is a issue heart since you have been drawing too much qi (causing a yang excess) inside your body overheating the heart as this is a Fire organ. However close supervision by a TCM practitioner will be needed to give a more accurate diagnosis.

He told me that the most common error in Iron Shirt is training without having cleared any emotional blockages first. Anyway I hope this problem may have opened your eyes.

Last thing: about what you asked me the other day. The answer is Yes.

Hope this helps.

[Don Pedro]

Gerard,
Thanks a lot mate! By the way could you reccomend good TCM practitioner in
our city?

don pedro

[gerard]

DonPedro,

I wish I knew a good and low profile Daoist master. Unfortunately I don't. Your best bet is contacting these people who can further refer you to the appropriate practitioner:

http://www.acupuncture.org.au/contact.cfm

You must explain your problem first as they will probably refer you to someone who has experience in Hard Qigong.

All the best and be well,