Alternatives to PPI's

lily, to address your questions, my worst symptoms are nausea, chest pain, and shortness of breath due to acid refluxing and literally 'burning up' my insides! I'm planning to talk to my GI doctor about reducing my Nexium from 40mg 2x daily, to 20mg and see if that makes any positive difference. I just think that I'm taking way too much of this PPI.

Also, I had my gallbladder removed in Dec. 2009. I was encouraged to have this surgery by my GI doctor and surgeon as they were sure it would improve my situation. It did just the opposite! I have been worse off ever since. My hida scan results were that my ejection fraction was 13% and should be 75%. HOWEVER, I was not having any problems with my gall bladder. I did NOT have any stones. I wish I had done a 'cleanse' for the gall bladder before I went ahead with surgical removal. Without a gall bladder, it is more difficult for the body to digest fats. So, lily, I hope you can avoid this surgery. Do as much research on alternatives and ask the doctors a LOT of questions.

By the way, I believe the 1/2 tsp of baking powder in 4 oz. water at bedtime does help.

Hi, Lily- I'm like you- took Prilosec for years until it stopped working and when I researched other ppis, that's when I found out how bad they are. It certainly explained why I had borderline osteoporosis and a spinal curve. The doctors I have had so far say that there's no correlation between taking ppis and bone loss. Yeah, right.
Actually since I moved further north, I have actually been enjoying this winter. And that's a first for me!
I have tried ginger tea but it kills my stomach! I've been taking a product called "Throat Coat". It's a tea that has things like organic licorice root, slippery elm bark, organic marshmallow root, fennel, sweet orange peel and some other organic ingredients that are said to provide relief from heartburn. You might be able to find it in a health food store, if you want to try it.
That recipe sounds good! So far, pasta hasn't bothered me.
Yes, it is good to find someone to chat with. It is difficult detoxing from these ppis! Lately, I've been really missing things like chips, cheese curls and candy! Wasn't a big junk-food eater but since I've left all those good foods behind (chili, fried chicken, bread, spaghetti, etc.) I find I'm craving junk food!
I would love to email each other! Be looking for a message from me! Please, send some Florida sunshine up this way! : )

Rayday,
Perhaps I should have such a test to measure stomach acid. When you had this test, were you taking an acid controller? How is this test conducted? I am 66 and so tired of the burning chest pain and nausea. The nausea is the worst when I get out of bed in the morning. Sometimes it’s so bad, I can’t even think about eating breakfast…

Justsayno, I’m glad this is working for you … I now have some faith the motivation to give it a shot by decreasing the mg. of Nexium generic I’m taking. Mine are tablets that can’t be split. I do find that every time I eat or drink anything, I have increased PAIN. Even drinking water! Did you find this to be true for you too?

Instead of the Zantac at bedtime, perhaps you should try lily’s suggestion of ½ tsp of baking soda in 4 oz. of water to see if that might do the same thing? It would certainly be healthier and cheaper. I just started this a few days ago and believe it helps.

Lily, Nexium DOES come in 20mg. I just googled it. Fortunately, I can get the ‘generic’ through canadadrugs.com and it’s made in the UK (esomeprozole) Also available in 20mg. MUCH cheaper, too. Yes, I misspoke about the backing soda (not powder and no I did NOT take backing powder). I’ve been taking the Nexium generic now for just under 2 years and increased from one 40mg to two per day last June. NO improvement whatsoever. THAT is what tells me it is NOT working. I’m so glad to hear that you don’t have the nausea, now. 7 days with no nausea would be HEAVEN for me!

I use DGL when I can think to take it 20 min. before eating. I don’t find it does anything. I also use papaya enzymes (3 chewable) after meals. I don’t know if that helps either but am afraid to stop using them.

When on PPI’s taking Vitamin D will help your bones, as well as chelated magnesium. I just had a bone density scan and my bones are in better shape since the last test in 2010 when I was NOT taking these supplements.

I’m so glad to have all of you to talk to as we are all suffering. It just feels better to know we are NOT alone and can share our misery as well as successes with one another. I will be a regular visitor here and will keep up with posts. I’m praying for ALL of us to find relief. I guess I can get through 6 months of ‘weaning’ … can’t be any worse than the suffering I have currently. It has put a huge cramp on my social life, too. Fortunately, they all sympathize and understand.

Had been doing fairly well tapering down and then completely stopping the ppi until last night and today. Much as I HATE to even think of it, I may have to go back on at least a lower dose! Arrgh!
I really had hoped I could be free of them! And not have to be concerned about the long-term effects, but the past 24 hours have been horrible! Constant heartburn, full feeling, pain in my upper stomach, and everything I eat feels like swallowing glass! The food just hits my stomach like eating glass or rocks! Ugh! Was awake most of last night sipping tea and then milk.
I don't know what else to do. Hate to go back to ppis but I know I can't live this way. Any long-term effects from taking ppis won't matter much if I can't eat and sleep while off them.
So....back to square one. Very discouraging! Maybe I will try a low dose and take plenty of vitamin D, calcium and eat papaya before meals for digestion.
So very disappointed and discouraged!
Hope others here have better luck.

Hi, Linda Sue, I thought I had tapered down gradually as I was on 3/4 the first week,1/2 the following 2 weeks, then 1/2 every other day for 2 weeks, then the same dose every third day for 2 weeks. Didn't really have much of a problem that wasn't alleviated by alternative remedies until a week after I stopped completely. It's not so much the acidity of the milk as it is the fact it causes your stomach to produce more acid to digest it. For me, milk was the only thing I could drink/eat that didn't kill my stomach for 3days. Plus, I had been eating very healthy foods. So maybe for me the answer is to lower my dose of ppi and take supplements, plus continue to eat vitamin-rich foods.
I saw my GI doctor today and will be getting an endoscopy as soon as possible. Other than that I am doing better on a lower dose of prevacid.
Thank you for the encouragement!:)

Linda Sue, If it is any sort of consolation I jumped pretty quickly from 40mgs nexium to 20mgs Prilosec. The first 6 days I felt pretty good and was pleased with myself. Then I had some terrible regression. I have now been on the Prilosec for 2 weeks. Some days are good and some are bad. I get very frustrated with myself. I do not eat any of the triggers and I am eating healthy food. In the last couple of months I have lost 12lbs. I eat no junk (which I miss terribly). But still I don't feel very well. I was hoping to cut my dosage again but I don't as yet feel I can. It seems to take a long time to reduce these PPI's and it is very frustrating. It is one step forward and 2 back. I also take the dgl and find them helpful. For nausea I grate raw ginger and pour boiling water on it and let it steep until it is quite strong. Then strain it, put it into a jar then I can take a spoonful whenever I want. Also there is a tea in the grocery store made by 'YOGI' it's called 'Stomach Ease'. That seems to help a little. There is a product on the market called 'Acid Ease' which I have just ordered. I will let you know if that helps. From what I have read it takes a lot of patience with these PPI's, months in fact up to a year. It is very depressing not to have a life but hopefully eventually we will be able to pick up the threads again.
Good luck and keep on posting as I do think it helps to talk to other people that are going through this.

Good morning all. I haven't been posting lately because I have been beating the pain by eating apples after meals , it realy does work provided I don't drink too much wine , when that happens ( like right now ) I eat too much late at night and end up with an attack starting around 0130 and lasting for a couple of hours . Tonight though I am lucky it is only very mild so I took a Somac and virtually stopped it in it's tracks ( thank God for that , I don't like this pain ) .I was only recently prescribed Somac and it wasn't until after seven or eight days using it that I read about the apple business and decided no more Somac for me but tonight I couldn't find any bloody apples so I'm glad I didn't throw my Somac away . This means of course I haven't got a problem getting off PPI's as Imlilly was talking about so I will be making the apples are always on hand. Thank you for taking the time to read my ramble ,now I will probably rest soon , hello and good night.

Phineas are you trying to get off your PPI? Which one are you on? Yes apples seem to work well for these acid attacks. What else do you use to combat the attacks? Where are you located in the US?

Have you been taking the PPI's for a long time? It is quite difficult to get off them as I am experiencing it first hand. I was taking Nexium 40mgs for a long time but started to experience the same symptoms that I started with years ago so though it time to get off. Not so easy though as many people can attest to. My doctor said 'just stop' that led to what I now know is acid rebound which makes sense. So I am going very slowly and have reduced my PPI to 20mgs of Prilosec. I am going to take that for a few weeks then hopefully reduce again to 15mgs of something. I have never heard of Joe bartons remedy have you googled it. Let us know if you find it - thanks and good luck. Keep on posting. Where in Australia are you?

looking forward to hearing from you. You sound to be doing well. Enjoy the trip.

Hi Linda Sue, You haven't posted in a while how are you. Have you made an progress reducing your PPI yet. Are you feeling any better? I am still doing lots of research on how people have gotten off these PPI's. I am still struggling with the 20mgs of Prilosec from 40mgs of Nexium and can hardly wait to reduce again and hopefully one day feel well.
lily

To each of the members posting here in this forum - great job of sharing and supporting one another. 

If you ever need assistance just give a shout out to one of your mods.

Thanks for posting as many people are reading your comments which is a wonderful way of helping everyone.

Kindly,

Kitt

Thank you Kitt for your kind words. Any input from you on how to handle these awful symptoms would be appreciated I am sure.
Linda Sue, yes you have to be really really careful of what you eat during this long drawn out awful process. My husband can also eat anything so it does make things difficult I must agree.
I have gone from the 40mgs or Nexium to 20mgs of Prilosec and I did that fairly quickly but not without repercussions. However, I have stuck with it but would like to reduce further but not yet. I also suffer with the nausea which to me is the worst part because it makes me dizzy and off balance. Some days I am pretty good and can function quite well but I never know and can't make any real plans for anything because I don't know how I am going to feel. It is no wonder people go back to their PPI's or run to the doctors. Their answer to the problem is 'get an endoscopy'. I was reading about that too and the consensus is they are overused. I hope you soon start to have a good day now and again. Keep on posting with your journey as it is good to connect with other people trying to do the same thing. Have you tried those orthodic gel inserts in your shoes? My sister had the planta faciitis for a long time but she found the gel inserts helped her. lily