PPI of reflux esophagitis - Don't wanna stay on them (tips on weaning off)

Hey! First post on this forum.

For the last seven months or so, I've been dealing with everything from chest pains to sore throat and back pain, irritable stomach, burning pain in armpit etc (I can pinpoint the day and moment my life became hell, and I had never in my life had as much as a single episode of heartburn etc prior)

For a long time, I had no idea what it could be, and I was worried about cancer. After a ton of research into anxiety etc I came cross LPR/GERD and after a peptest and an endoscopy, that seems to be where I'm at.

My endoscopy revealed one 3 mm small spot of redness at the base of my esophagus, reflux esophagitis as the doctor called it. It doesn't seem to severe, as it was only that small spot (for now) and no Barrett's (thank god). He prescribed me a PPI called "Somac Enterotab 40 mg, Pantoprazol" and told med to take 1 a day for four weeks and as needed beyond that.

Now, I have never used a PPI before in my life, and I have no desire to. After reading about all the adverse effects they can have, not to mention the horrible rebound when discontinuing them, I view it as a drug from hell. To me it seems it will only make things worse, and I have no desire to stay on them for a long time.

The thing is, since I hade a positice scope for esophagitis, I need to do something about that, because that can escale to become something worse. Normally I would go the all-natural route, but I'm concerned that will not allow my esophagitis to heal properly.

My tentative plan is to take the PPI for four weeks (the doctor said that should be enough time for my esophagus to heal), but I'm concerned about rebound when going off them.

Does anyone have any experience of taking PPI for a short term and them getting off them? Any tips for weaning off? Any help here would be appreciated.



My symptoms now for those wondering:

-Sore throat for 7 months 24/7
-Pains in chest every day for the last to months, intermittent the five preceding months
-Bain in back for a month consecutively a few months back
-Slight burning feeling on left and right side of upper stomach
-Frequent throat clearing
-Dull pain behind chest bone, comes and goes
-Post nasal drip

All this time I have had nothing that I would call heart BURN or throat BURN. It is always a feeling of irritiation, more like sandpaper in my throat that acid, and a dull ache in chest, as well as a tearing pain. All this made me doubtful I had GERD or LPR, since I really don't have voice problems either, and eating does not seem to "trigger" it, meaning that I can't differentiate from pain casued by food reaction or by some random reflux event. Very atypical symptoms.

Anyone who have had a similar experience and have any tips, stories to share about any of this that might help, please chime in.

Thanks

Maluno:

Just as Pat says, not everyone experiences rebound - I took Protonix for many years and had absolutely no rebound when I stopped taking it. You also need to look into adjusting your diet and some lifestyle changes that may help you, as Pat has mentioned.

Post Edited (SharonZ) : 8/24/2016 5:38:51 AM (GMT-6)