SKIN & BONES- WHAT TO EAT DURING PPI TAPER

Tbh much of 'weaning off' is a mental thing, I've abruptly stopped my PPI'S and symptoms haven't armed up at all.

I've also stopped depression meds abruptly several times in my life and didn't suffer unduly because of it, a strong mind won out.

Try not let it play on your mind, reading info can instill a lot of dread and unnecessary fear. Use a quick acting prep like Gaviscon Advance if you get a bad attack. Hope this helps.

The first time I went off Dexilant I did it cold turkey and in my case, that was a bad idea. The rebound reflux was unbearable and I was rushed over to the ER. They couldn't do much for me but I asked for a GI cocktail which had that numbing agent (forgot the name) and that helped with the pain and the discomfort.

But the acid had already done it's damage and it took about 4-5 weeks before my esophagus and stomach lining stopped throbbing.

So I took two Zantacs at 150 mg per day, then after a few days I lowered it to 75 mg twice a day, then to once per day then I finally got off all my anti-acid meds. During this time I ate only baby food, home made applesauce, bananas and some steamed white rice.

I went from 186 pounds all the way down to 126 pounds over a period of several months. It was one of the worst periods of my life, getting very little sleep and not being able to eat the foods I wanted.

After about 6-8 weeks of eating just soft foods I started feeling better and added fish and chicken to my diet. I also began making homemade chicken soup and began eating a lot of that. I stayed away from all dairy and gluten, no msg.....basically, everything I ate was homemade and nothing was processed.

I'm finally gaining weight and this morning I tipped the scales at 139 pounds (I'm 5 feet 8 inches tall) and I no longer look like a cancer patient. I still have about another 10 lbs to go but for the first time in as many years I'm starting to feel better.

In my specific case the PPI drug Dexilant, while it was helping me in the short term, it wasn't helping me solve the ROOT cause of my gastritis and my esophagitis, which in my case was my lifestyle choices. I drank way too much alcohol, ate too many of the wrong foods, and ate large meals instead of a bunch of smaller ones.

Years and years of abuse finally caught up with me because I was too stubborn to change what I ate.

I'm far from being fully healed, I'm probably 1 to 2 years away from being able to drink again and eat my favorite greasy foods, but at least I've started gaining weight again and feel somewhat normal again.

Wow! Thank you both. I'm joyfully looking forward to when I"m completely off the Dexilant and Zantac, which I'm in the process of getting off of (first Dex, then Zantac). Dec11 -- how long where you on them? Peabs - glad you're feeling better. How long where you on Dex and how much were you on when you went cold turkey? Today is day 6 and just 12 mg Dex (and 300 mg Zantac) and I feel good! This CAN be done!

Wasn't ever diagnosed with that LiveJoy, still haven't even been formally told it's LPR, surgeon just went with the fundoplication which hasnt resolved anything.

I had been on the drugs for 18mths