heartburn/acid reflux

I'm a 30-year-old, 5'4', 145lbs woman of Indian descent.

I've been suffering from heartburn for the last month.

It started out like a persistent recurring stomach ache in the center of my stomach. The pain was like a dull ache that wouldn't go away.

I thought that it might be reaction to the changes I'd made in my diet. I'd started eating bananas which used to give me heartburn when I was a teenager but I hadn't suffered from that for a long time so I didn't worry about it when I started eating them again. I also added lots of raw seeds and nuts and I thought maybe I was reacting to them although I've never reacted to nuts or seeds before.

When I noticed the stomach aches I stopped eating bananas and seeds but the stomach pain was still happening. It started to get worse with really bad bloating and the pain travelled up my stomach to just below my breastbone. It felt like a lot of pressure and pain and I didn't know what was wrong.

I went to a doctor and she diagnosed it as heartburn after pressing around on my stomach and seeing that it was centered up my esophagus.

She said to take prilosec and avoid fatty foods but I don't want to just treat the symptoms. I want to cure the cause of problem and I don't want to take medicines like prilosec which will give me side effects and might even make the heartburn worse.

I'm active but I don't exercise everyday. I sleep 7 hours every night and wake up naturally after that time. I'm usually energetic and active. I'm a writer so I spend a lot of time at my computer working.

I do get stressed out but not in a way that I show it. I usually work through my stress and find ways to relax like massage and yoga. I've had back problems caused by stress and working on a computer and I see a chiropractor for that. That's the only healthy problem I've had for years until this acid reflux now. I don't take any medications except ibuprofen once a month for period pain.

I'm vegetarian and always have been. I eat lots of salads and vegetables and protein and complex carbohydrates. I have a bowel movement every day so I'm not constipated or suffering from diarrhea.

I try hard to be healthy so I want to deal with this acid reflux as soon as possible. I've tried to add as many details about myself as possible that can aid in prescribing dosage so I'm really sorry if I've bored you. If there's anything else you need to know then please do tell me.

Does anyone know what I should take and how?
[message edited by j_joshi on Wed, 10 Oct 2012 20:37:03 BST]
[message edited by j_joshi on Wed, 10 Oct 2012 21:19:17 BST]