Starting my adventure to give up Nexium after 10 years..

re reducing 40 mg capsules of nexium to 20. you can order blank gelcaps on line. open the 40mg capsules of nexium and divide them between 2 gelcaps.  roughly 20mg each.

I am trying that.

having a tough time coming off nexium and it didn't help that much anyway.

 

After confirming that I did not have gastritis pain, I switched to 20 mg of Prilosec in the morning from Nexium 40 mg. At the same time, I am taking DGL before meals and Zinc-Carnosine supplement after meals. I do fine during the day. I eat dinner early around 5 - 6 pm. Since I am in school, I study late nights. Usually, around 11 pm I get hungry again and feel mild heartburn. When I wake up in the morning, I feel mild heartburn till I eat breakfast. So, it seems like I feel mild heartburn when I am hungry. Is it possible that I have low acid? Or is it normal to have heartburn when hungry in GERD?

Thanks Sunbeam. I actually got an idea from your advice, and I took half of my prilosec in the morning and half in the evening. My day on half prilosec was ok. I will update on my experience of the night on half prilosec.

Adam,

as you try to scale out of PPI. you need to watch your portion size.

try to smaller portions.
try not to get stressed.

i went vegan for that time period, lots of steamed greens.

juiced lots of carrots...

i think going vegan at the time was really helpful scaling out of PPI.

I too am trying to go off PPIs, after at least 10 years of being on them. I was told I had GERD many years ago (when I was a smoker and heavy drinker with a very bad diet--I'm 41 now) and have been on Prilosec for years. Recently, however, I'd begun having some more nasty issues, like severe stomach tightness and pain combined with anxiety/panic attacks, digestive upsets, more heartburn, and just a general feeling of malaise. I went to the ER twice in a couple months because of it. The first ER doc thought gall bladder, and the second said it was anxiety. Got an endoscopy and the doc said I had a hiatal hernia, GERD, and a small spot of Barrett's Esophagus. Not good. And all this has developed WHILE being on Prilosec! However, the GI doc said there's not much to do about it other than stay on PPIs forever. I just don't agree with that, and I'm annoyed that I was repeatedly told it was just anxiety when it was clearly the fact that my stomach is pushing up above my diaphragm and causing all sorts of problems up there!

Then I started reading up on the long term effects of PPIs and it's pretty eye-opening. For the vast majority of people, it's actually LOW stomach acid that is the problem, not too much stomach acid. It's the lower esophageal sphincter that lets the acid back up. PPIs essentially take away ALL your stomach acid, so that makes everything more difficult to digest. You also end up having trouble absorbing some nutrients like B12 and iron.

So I've decided to go off them, but man, is it dificult! Regularly, I would take a 20mg omeprazole once a day in the mornings. The past week I started taking it every other day, or even every other two days, but I think that's moving too fast. Today I bought a pill cutter and my plan is now to take a 20mg for the next few days (to help get back from the past couple of painful days--today has been unpleasant!).

Here's my plan:

Omeprazole:
20mg daily: for the next few days
10mg daily: for 3 weeks, depending on symptoms.
5mg daily: for 3 weeks, depending on symptoms
5mg every other day for 3 weeks, depending

Zantac, Tums, and Pepto Bismol as OTC backups.

I've also delved right into the world of supplements. Other things I've bought to help me through this, while weaning myself off:
-"Stomach Ease" herbal tea
-"Aloesorb" liquid
-slippery elm powder
-Aloe vera juice
-DGL
-Betaine HCL with Pepsin - will take before meals
-Digestive enzymes
-probiotics
-Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar
-candied ginger, as needed

I am also trying to modify my diet. No coffee or alcohol, or only rarely (this will be difficult!). Eat mostly lean protein, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. Limiting all sugar/white flour/processed food. Eating small meals more frequently. Getting regular exercise (I'm only about 10-20 pounds overweight, but maybe that will help). Eating more slowly (this one is really hard to do, for some reason!). I'm also going to be more vigilant about taking daily vitamins and supplements: multi, D, B-complex, fish oil, probiotics, E, calcium, and magnesium citrate.

I also bought a wedge pillow for my bed a couple weeks ago and it seems to be helping.

Today was my second day without omeprazole--I guess I thought this wouldn't be that bad, but it's been bad. Hours after eating tonight, I got that stomach tightness, which I've gathered is the hiatus pushing up above the diaphragm, lots of belching, and pretty major heartburn. It can take a perfectly pleasant evening and just ruin it.

My doctors don't seem to be concerned, and they don't really offer any help, other than more tests, and to stay on PPIs forever. I know I need to be careful with the Barrett's Esophagus, so I definitely need to go off the omeprazole more slowly. My chiropractor has a couple times done the hiatal hernia manipulation on me, and also hit the ileocecal valve. I try both of those when I have an attack now. I'm about to start seeing a nutritionist/chiropractor recommended by my current chiropractor, and see if he agrees with my plan.

Sorry to be too long, but I've been struggling with this for months too and finally feel like I'm getting somewhere in my plan, and found this site, and someone going through something similar, so thought I'd jump in!

Adam,

I am going to start small with the HCL, to see if that's my issue or not. I also thought about the Manuka honey and the mastic gum but thought I'd try the other thongs first.

So if you are currently on 20mg of Prilosec, what is your schedule for going off it?

Hey Adam,

I just went from 40 mg Nexium to 40 mg Prilosec:  so far, so good.  Today is my second day.  I am feeling the same as before:  good, but my stomach isn't perfect.  I decided to stop holding out for perfect.  I eat carefully comfortably, still sticking closely to the Koufman diet.

Moonbalm welcome!  Boy, you've tried a lot a supplements, but why not?  I think the probiotics in my daily yogurt enabled some additional healing.  I've also been taking aloe vera tabs, but don't feel they have helped.

Do you have a research-based source for your statement on low acid?  I get curious about things like this.  I read the book by the MD who said 90% of us have low acid, but he said many things in the book that just weren't believeable to me.  Doesn't really matter that much to me personally because I am convinced that my gastritis and Barrett's were caused by too much acid.  I do believe there are people out there with too little acid, but they are in the minority.  Nope, I don't have a research-based source for that thought, just my impression.  It certainly doesn't hurt to try adding an acid like vinegar to see if it helps.

Post Edited (sunbeam48) : 2/13/2012 6:51:15 PM (GMT-7)

I'm not assuming I will ever get off PPI's, though I will try. Right now, I am just happy to lower my doseage with NO ill effects at all.

Thanks for your thoughts, Adam. There are so many choices, I welcome the experience of others. If my local health store has DGL, I will get some probably today. MudMagnetMum knows quite a bit about naturalistic healing, and I believe she also takes DGL. There are lots of individual stories here, but if something helps two people, that is more likely to work for me. What is Zin carnosine? I haven't heard of that. If you know of a helpful link, I would love that the most.

I do plan to reduce my Prilosec, but not sooner than a month from now. I will take this journey very slowly.

Hi Adam,
Have you ruled out OTC products?  Gaviscon can be very effective.

It is an antacid, which I believe can be safely combined with your ppi. Check with a pharmacist to be sure, I have no real expertise in this. Warnings on the lable of my bottle include cautions for people with kidney disease, or a diet restricting sodium or magnesium. My GI doc said some of his patients have gotten off ppis using this product.

OTC referred to anything you can buy "over the counter", without a prescription.

Post Edited (sunbeam48) : 2/20/2012 10:48:57 AM (GMT-7)

I'm sorry to hear about your current situation, but I am glad you posted. I've been wondering how you were doing. I went down to 20 Mg prilosec this week. In addition to the Koufman diet, I'm eating yogurt, rooibos tea, and licorice tea daily, and taking a pepto bismol tab at bedtime. So far, so good.