GERD advice?

I've been experiencing nauseous spells, feeling like food is sitting in my throats and not digesting right, a change in my bowls and occasional burning and a bad taste in my mouth. My doctor thinks is acid reflux (which I guess is gerd) so I was prescribed these pills to help but I haven't taken them yet Bc I'm worried about potential side effects :/ I'm just trying to change my diet and sleep habits for now and it's helped a little bit I'm still having symptoms so I MIGHT try the pills. Anyone have any advice for having GERD? How to ease the symptoms or make it go away naturally? Or have you ever taken pills to help it (if so what pill and did it cause side-effects or was it helpful?)