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Antibiotics and Acid Reflux

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Posted 3/30/2011 9:31 PM (GMT 0)
Hello Everyone:

I was wondering if anyone besides me was having issues with acid reflux while taking the antibiotics?

My LLMD told me to take Florastor 1x day with my meds.  I've been taking Florastor 2x day just-in-case, but it's not working and I'm getting very worried that this acid reflux will become permanent.

I've been on antibiotics about two months now (Amoxicillian 1000 2x per day and Biaxin 500 mg 2x per day).  My symptoms have pretty much disapeared (mostly neuropathy type symptoms) but I'm afraid to stop.

Please....anyone in the same boat....did it go away....what did you take to help it?

I've heard that Kefir might help but I try to stay dairy free....so I don't know if Kefir counts as diary or not.  Plus, I'm just prone to acid reflux on any kind of meds.

I'm starting to feel miserable and upset by this.

Any advice please would be very much appreciated!

Thank you.

Carrie

Posted 3/30/2011 9:50 PM (GMT 0)
I want to add that I my llmd had me start taking Dexilant (a PPI) when I started the abx but it's not totally helping.
Posted 3/30/2011 11:53 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Carrie,

email me please. I would love to hook up and compare Lyme notes/experiences. And conference stuff. Sorry we missed each other!!

Lisa
[email protected]
Posted 3/31/2011 12:04 AM (GMT 0)
also, most people with Lyme have hypochlorhydria (low stomach acid) not hyper; high acid. Has your LLMD checked to find out? both high and low stomach acids have the same symptoms; irronically.

There's a very simple "burp" test you can do to tell.
1 tsp baking soda in 6-8 oz water. Drink it down and see how long it takes to belch. 2-3 minutes is normal, greater than 5 minutes indicates low stomach acid. This means you need to take digestive enzymes when eating. Not antacids.

good luck, this can cause a little nausea.
Posted 3/31/2011 4:17 AM (GMT 0)
I assume you are taking you abx with meals and not laying down for at least two to three hours after taking abx, right?

I lifted the head of my bed about six inches so the acid doesn't come back up into my esophagus at night. That helped me a lot when I was on abx.

If you can, try not to take any PPI's as they can have some undesirable side effects in some people, especially if taken long term. Once you try to get off of them the acid often comes back with a vengeance.

For immediate and temporary relief I take a natural chewable tablet called Nature's Plus NutraSec http://www.amazon.com/NutraSec-Chewable-Tablets-Gastro-Block-Tablet/dp/B0014JNLRK It works well for me.

I think it's wise to take digestive enzymes. They've always been helpful for me.

Probiotics are a must. Are you taking those?

Finally, I have found drinking fennel tea, spearmint tea and marshmallow root tea to be helpful for me when my acid reflux is acting up. I actually make the tea with all three tea bags together. You can do one tea and see which one helps you the most. They all work good for me. Experiment with some of these teas and see if this helps. There are other teas that you can use too but my mind is pretty out of it right now and I can't think of them. Google acid reflux and tea and see what comes up.

Hope things get better for you real soon!

Gary
Posted 3/31/2011 7:03 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Everyone:

Thanks so much for your notes. I tried just taking a zantac today instead of the heavy duty PPI. I've had this problem before. When my lyme symptoms first started, two neuros told me it was all anxiety (go figure!) and wanted me to go on antidepressant. I resisted for several months but then couldn't take it anymore and went on Prozac 40 Mg per day. That caused me TERRIBLE acid reflux and I took myself off of it. It took two months for everything to heal up.

During that time though, I started taking Protoniks because I was miserable. My gastrointerologist told me that it was too much and was "drying everything up". Anyway the Protoniks made me even more miserable! As soon as I stopped taking it and just relied on the Zantac, I felt much much better. I remembered this last night and am thinking and hoping that maybe the Dexilant is just too much medicine for me.

I am taking a product called "florastor" that my LLMD told me to take. He said not to take the refrigerated probiotics because they interfere with the antibiotics.....

I am diary free but I think I'll go and get some Kefir and have some in the middle of the day since I take my abx in the morning and at night.

At any rate, it's noon time, I'm getting ready to eat lunch, so we'll see how the day goes. So far, so good.

Thanks everyone!

Carrie
Posted 4/1/2011 1:11 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Carrie,
I use kefir regularly and I don't even take abx! I make my own, so I've learned a bit about it. If you were to make your own, you could make it out of whatever "milk" you choose to.

While on abx, you really do need to take plenty of probiotics, and if your problem is an imbalance of bacteria in the digestive system, then replenishing it will be of great value.

If you are having nausea with it, then I would suggest using ginger root.
Posted 4/1/2011 11:08 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Carrie

Sounds like you are having some success at last.

I find it amazing that it is so easy for the majority of health professionals to reach for the "pad" it's to to easy (especially with anti depressants, I have learnt to question people in authority especially when it's your life / body.

To your health!

D
Posted 4/1/2011 2:45 PM (GMT 0)
IMHO, antidepressants are way, way overprescribed. Brain chemistry is way more complex than just serotonin (which is what antidepressants act on). I've come to the conclusion that, when doctors don't know what to do for a patient, rather than being honest and telling the patient that their issues are beyond their expertise and recommending another doctor, they just reach for the rx pad and prescribe antidepressants, blaming the patient for the doctor's own failure to diagnose/treat the patient. The "happy pills" solve the doctor's problem nicely - they make the patient go away. But the "happy pills" are very often not the best or even the most effective help for the patient... Now they have another antidepressant for people to take if their first antidepressant doesn't work - Abilify...to be taken with another antidepressant if the antidepressant by itself isn't enough! When with this balogny end??? This is crazy! If the antidepressant isn't working, maybe the person is NOT depressed and actually has something else physically wrong???!!! Doctors have become way too lazy - they've become de-facto pharmaceutical reps for antidepressant companies. And medical schools are now even being found to be "in bed with" pharmaceutical companies...so now the doctors are not even getting all the medical training they need to figure out what's going on for a patient without the bias introduced by pharmaceutical companies...arrrrrrrrrgh!!!!!

I'm not against using pharmaceuticals for legitimate illness, but when doctors are not using these treatments wisely or effectively for the patient (not just to "cure" the doctor's problem of the complicated patient), then it gets me all stirred up...

Ok, stepping off my huge soap box...
Posted 4/1/2011 11:41 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Razzle...yes I totally agree with you about the "happy pills".

Today and yesterday, I've only taking Zantac and am actually starting to feel better. I think the Dexilant was making things worse. We'll see how the weekend goes. I just cannot wait to get off the abx.

I bought some Kefir at Trader Joes yesterday. It's made from Cow's milk but I know I can get coconut kefir at Whole Foods. I'm going to try it in somekind of smoothie tomorrow around lunch time.

Thanks for all your info everyone!
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