I have been on here a couple times, so I am not new, but I am just wondering if anyone out there is starting to come up with similar theories as I am to taking all these meds and PPIs. I have had Gerd for probably about 10 years and have been on PPIs for at least 6 if I can remember correctly. Not that is makes a huge difference, but I am also very young and was diagnosed at a really early age. I am not over weight either and I eat fairly healthy!! Recently I have been switching around with a few meds, and I am starting to wonder if a lot of the symptoms here a lot of people are suffering from...digestive problems, stomach issues, abdominal pain, ears ringing/burning may be a side affect of long term use of these drugs. I truely do believe this to be the case in my situation...I have most recently (about a year or so) been suffering from all of the above more days than not. The medicine however, does work wonderfully for me most of the time and I can eat whatever I want but I try to eat very healthy. So I have a huge dilemma obviously. I'm currently seeing an herbalist and accupunturist trying to find alternative ways to cure or at least manage my symptoms. Had a recent endo and everything looked "really good" per my GI. Any inflamation from previous scope is now gone. Im having a really hard time getting off the meds and thinking about lowering my dose to 20mg/day to see if any of my stomach pains/bloating/gas dissipate. Any feedback and opinions out there would be very helpful. Thanks for reading :)
ALSO - someone mentioned in a previous post dry mouth...my doctor told me and it is a known fact that a common side affect of PPIs is dry mouth. I have it too...I wouldn't read into that too much. Just an FYI