Horrid Acid Rebound from PPI weaning.....please help me!!!!

Try Gaviscon . Also, I am thinking antihistamines are working for me??? Astepro. Not sure why but it helps my reflux nd throat issues. A lot.

mary, Two years ago, I tried reducing my dose of omeprazole, and had the same result as you. I did have a short period where things seemed okayish for a while, but the burning never really went away so I now take my capsules regularly.
By reducing your 40mg dose you are risking damage to your Oesophagus. Is this better than the long term risks of PPI's?

If the PPI is working for you, I would continue with it, perhaps discussing your worries with your Primary Doctor/GP, next time you have the chance.

Good luck
Phil

PS what is your motivation for reducing your dose?

I also have GERD with a hiatal hernia. When I asked my Dr. if it would be okay to go off the PPI's, he said ... try but it's very difficult when you have a hernia. I've tried a couple of times but the burning got too bad and I'm afraid I will damage my esophagus and also cause my ulcers to re-bleed. I know everybody is different and I hope you have success......just be careful. You can always taker vitamin B12 and iron supplements if you need them. After my bleeding ulcers I was extremely anemic so I took iron until it got back to normal. And I take sublingual B12 everyday just to be on the safe side. Good luck!

Hey! I am on the same boat. I took PPIs for 8 months and never had acid reflux before i took them. Now its been 3 weeks since I quit PPI and i am in burning hell everyday but I am trying to be patient as rebound might take some time to go away. Are you trying aloe juice and Licorice?

T

Hi Maryheather, Glad you had a better time of it the last 3 days. I just weaned myself off the ppi's this past spring. It took over 3 months. I did it very slowly. I was on 30 mg of prevacid twice a day. I basically cut back 10% every week or 2 until I made the switch to an h2 blocker. It's been 2 months....I'm still on an h2 blocker. I think I could be weaned off of it if I would just eat/drink better on a GERD diet. There were days that were bad though, so hang in there. Rebound can last a bit. In 3 months you should definitely know if you are going to be able to come off. You will most like see results sooner, especially since you are really watching what you eat.

Best of luck!

I think lots of doctors say there is no such thing as rebound but I disagree. There have been studies where people with no prior Gerd went on them for 8 weeks and when they discontinued they had burn for up to 3 months. If I need a PPI I'll take one but I think I can do it with diet changes and other prn drugs (h2 blockers, and antacids). I think I'll know within a few months either way. Sorry you have to have surgey. Surgery freaks me out but if it came to that one day I woukd consider that option as well. As long as meds work I would prefer that to surgery. Good luck!

Thank you for the well wishes. Surgery is definitely a last resort and a decision I've come to after many years of severe pain unresponsive to clinical therapies, a lot of consultation with a variety of health professionals, and personal research.

I absolutely agree that the posts online are great to get perspective on OTHERS' experiences... And when choosing our personal paths to health we rely on the facts of our individual case (versus entirely online opinion). I am grateful to you all for sharing your experiences because I find your perspectives very helpful! It is nice to know we are not alone!

Warmly,
CrazyBeagles

thistooshallpass said...

@sewfun- someone told me that even Zantac causes rebound. My doc told me that it "stops working" after a while so I freaked out and I don't take any medicine now. Just TUMS. Not to say that is helping in anyway. did you feel the h2 blocker ever stopped working for you?

Hi T, I have only been on the h2 blockers since April. I just weaned off the ppi 2 months ago. I was taking Prevacid generic 30mg twice a day. I do understand that there will be rebound from the h2, which is why I am already weaning off of it. I have gone from 600 mg of Zantac daily to 225 mg daily now, which is 3/4 of a 150 mg tablet twice a day. In a week or so I hope to be down to 1/2 the tablet twice a day. The rebound from the h2 blocker is about 8 days. One of the reasons I don't recommend going cold turkey is because the rebound can last up to 5 months. I would be afraid a lot of damage could be done in that time.

maryheather said...
I have been on Omep 40 mgs for 8 weeks. I've tried cutting my dose very slowly over the last week and a half. I'm down to 1 (20mgs) and 1/4 of another. The burn is already soooooo bad and I'm not sure I can take this.

MaryHeather, it too me almost 2 months to get to where you are in 1 1/2 weeks. I really think too many sites recommend stepping down too quickly. It is like setting us up to fail. Stepping down slowly keeps the rebound manageable with over the counter meds. When I stepped down, I did it about 10% at a time. If I did not have rebound after a week I would decrease another 10%. If I had rebound I would wait until the symptoms were stable with the new dose before stepping down again. My weaning went pretty smoothly as long as I stayed the slow route.

MH, if you were fine for 4 days I wouldn't up the dose just yet. That one cup of coffee could have done you in. Are you taking over the counter antacids? I would have bad days where I would have to throw every antacid I had at the HB.....tums, pepto, zantac, gaviscon. I found that I had been eating foods on the ppi that I couldn't have when I started stepping down. I had to adhere to a GERD diet to help control the rebound. Now if you can not get the HB back under control, I personally would not stay in burning hell, I would up the dose and get stable at that new dose before making another reduction. Stable means ppi only, with no over the counter antacids.

I moved very slowly because I'm just not into pain. Also, I've had esophagitis and gastritis. I know I don't want to go back there. I took the ppi for nearly 2 years. I expect to have rebound longer than 8 weeks. I am already 2 months out and still have breakthrough reflux. I can almost always attribute it to something I ate or eating too much. Most likely your rebound will not last as long since you have not been on the ppi long.

Good luck!

P.S. My GI gave me a 3 day plan for weaning from the ppi to Zantac.

maryheather said...
So, once the rebound is over will I go back to pre-ppi reflux?I could drink coffee in moderation and be fine before. I hope to drink coffee again one day. :-/ Thanks for all your help!

This is certainly my hope. My reflux was caused by gastroparesis (GP); since that is under control and the gastritis is healed I am very hopeful that once I get through rebound I will be able to eat normal again. Normal for me is a relative term though because of the GP. If memory serves me correctly others have been able to eat normal again. Do you know the root cause of your acid reflux? I don't remember if you mentioned that. When do you see your GI again?

First of all, find a new doctor. Rebounds don't exist? Every body acts differently, so if he/she thinks that your pain is fictional, find a new REAL doctor that takes your thoughts and feelings into consideration.

Other than that, you can try Gaviscon, which is a lot like Tums. I've had some success with that, but I wouldn't ever want to live on it.

A more holistic measure would be to take Apple Cider Vinegar. I've had success with that, moreso than some medications. Get the "Braggs" version, which contains "The Mother." This can be found online at Amazon.com or even GNC. *DO NOT DRINK IT STRAIGHT*. This is counter productive and can cause damage to your teeth and make you want to drown yourself. I made that mistake myself... Rather take 1-1.5 ml of Apple Cider Vinegar and mix it with a bottle of water. Then add something for taste, such as honey and/or Splenda. I've heard of people adding Baking Soda to help with the poor taste.

Acidophilus Complex is good for digestive health, too.

I hope that this helps.

Hello thistooshallpass,

I was on PPI's for almost 8 years and learned about how they lower stomach acid so your food doesn't digest properly and can cause your body to not get all of the nutrients from the foods you eat that you need. Because of this I decided to stop taking them since I was never actually diagnosed with GERD when I was put on them. When doing research I found out about the rebound and what causes it.

A little bit about what I have found is that the body produces Gastrin which signals the cells in the stomach to produce acid. From some of the documentation I have read about PPI's and H2 blockers, is they block the signals being sent which can make your stomach produce little to no acid. After being on PPI's or H2 blockers for any amount of time, the Gastrin levels in your body goes up because your body notices that your stomach does not contain enough acid to digest the food properly. One thing I'm not sure on as I have not found any evidence, is if the longer you are on medication, the more your Gastrin levels go up, so the longer rebound lasts. After reading about different studies, multiple experiences from different people, and blogs from people experiencing rebound, I have a theory that as long as a person is taking any sort of medication to block the signals to produce acid in the stomach, Gastrin levels may stay high, making it difficult to stop taking the medication.

I am sort of testing this theory out, although I know it would be different from person to person depending on the underlying causes of the acid reflux, by not taking my medication and waiting to see if the symptoms go down at all. So far I am on week 3 and have noticed a huge difference on the rebound as my body slowly returns the Gastrin levels back to normal. The first week was horable, non-stop heartburn 24/7 with the first 2 days feeling like a living hell. So far with a diet of white meats, fruits, and vegetables, I have managed to have more good days than bad as long as I eat smaller meals multiple times a day. I usually eat 5 times a day, although for some this may be difficult. I have noticed that seasonings on my food have not changed the amount of reflux have experienced.

I have also done research into different types of food that triggers reflux more than others and why. What I have found is that some foods will trigger the body to produce more acid for digestion while others trigger the body for not so much. It seems as though that processed foods as well as complex carbs tend to create more acid, which triggers more intense reflex. Foods that are more natural seem to not trigger as much acid and cause little to no reflux such as fruits and vegetables. There are some fruits that seem to do more help because they are a little acidic and do not need as much acid production. I have also been chewing my food more finely to lower the amount of time it needs to sit in the stomach which has been helping.

Based on what other's have been through, I think my experience has not been as bad, but it has been worse than other's as well. I still have some bad days but overall, I think things are getting better slowly. I will say that I do miss a lot of the processed foods I used to eat more, oreos and doughnuts, but because of the extra energy I have now and knowing that it is better for me overall, I tend to not put myself in a situation where I am hungry and those items are sitting around. It also helps that we don't have any junk food in the house and when we shop for groceries, we tend to stay away from those isles.

Not sure if it will help but I have also started taking Prebiotics, Probiotics, Mastic Gum, and DGL for my problems. I can't say if any of these have helped or not but figured it couldn't hurt since they are all natural.

I wish you the best and hope that you find something that works.