Slow digestive process from getting off PPI's

I stopped taking Nexium about a month ago after being on PPIs for most of the last 13 years.   I have made some modifications in what I eat, and am eating smaller meals.  I am taking pepcid 150mg, and use tums if I experience heartburn.  I am also drinking Aloe Vera Juice daily.  Other than occasional heartburn, I am feeling pretty good-overall much better than when I was taking Nexium.  The one problem is that food seems to "set" for hours in my chest and stomach after I eat it.  I have been very constipated.  Overall, I feel as if my digestive process is taking forever to take place.  I know that Gerd symptoms can sometimes be due to a lack of stomach acid.  This has never been a problem for me in the past, but with all the years of PPIs, who knows?   Could my problems be due to my not having enough acid in my stomach to digest my food, and could this be slowing down the whole process?  Has anyone else ever experienced this when coming off PPIs? 

Thank you for your response, guddan. The constipation actually started prior to my starting with the Aloe Vera juice. I have always been bothered with this off and on, and when I went off the Nexium, it worsened. I don't know if it is due to going off the Nexium, or if it is due to dietary changes or what. I started the Aloe Vera Juice because I had heard that It would not only help to soothe the stomach but also help alleviate the constipation in some cases. I don't know if it has caused me any problems, but it sure hasn't helped with the constipation yet.

Thank you for your response, sunbeam. Yes, I eat yogurt daily to try to help with this, and I was doing this for awhile even before discontinuing the ppi. It helped before, but seems to have stopped helping. I have taken zantac, but pepcid (also an H2 blocker) seems to help me more with the heartburn for some reason.

Like you, I feel much better off the PPI than on it. I have fibromyalgia, but I think that some of my pain has been due to the long term nexium use. In addition, I have developed osteopenia. The possibility of this happening has always worried me, because Osteoporosis runs in my family. I also have a history of anemia, and have been severely anemic several times while on Nexium. I would much rather try to modify my diet and experinment with natural remedies than take it at this point. The past couple of days, I have been using organic apple cider vinegar and baking soda. These seem to help with the sensation of food just "setting there" undigested for hours, so maybe they will help with the other problems if lack of acid is the problem.