The main symptom would be that I've had a low grade cough my entire life, which was also the main issue when sleeping. I'd also always have a mildly sore throat I was constantly having to clear. More recently, even mild triggers (one or two alcoholic drinks, not eating until late in the day) would give me some pretty horrible heartburn for hours, which is what made me see a doctor about GERD. She directed me to an OTC medicine (Zantac) and I've been taking it once or twice a day for a few weeks. I'm at the pt now where I only take it if I'm going to eat a trigger (alcohol, caffeine, spicy food). My mom has actually had GERD and taken Zantac for about a decade, so I probably should've thought of this earlier.

H2 blockers lower your stomach's response to histamine. I believe antihistamine allergy medicines are H1 blockers: they work slightly differently but have roughly the same mechanism of action.