A doctor is an appropriate place to start. Bad GERD can burn off your nerve endings in your esophagus and \ or cause esophageal cancer.
However, mine put me on a GERD medicine when the underlying problem was what I mentioned before.
A different specialist put me on Miralax and I took myself off of the GERD medicine and went on a PH diet until it calmed down. GERD meds suppress acid production and when one goes off of it your acid production goes insane.
I'm just saying to not take what your doctor says as the gospel. Go back and forth until it is fixed.