No more PPI's for me

Tummytuck,

Keep us posted, i'am doing the same thing. I have had GERD for 23 years. It was so bad, i would drink a glass of water and be in agony.

Good luck!!!!!

Hoping for the best!!!!!!

Tummytuck, you are lucky.  Because I am off of the PPIs for this week, in order to get PH-tested on Tuesday.  and i have been feeling terrible.  No such luck.

Did you also have a lump in your throat?  I don't know how to get over it!!

Thanks, tummytuck. 

I just did a breath test recently to check for bacterial overgrowth (I'm assuming they mean "h. pylori"?).  I tested "slightly positive."  Nevertheless, I was told to take antibiotics 3 times a day, for 3 months!  Maybe the bacterial overgrowth is what's causing my lump?  I hope the antibiotics don't make my GERD worse!!  I heard that can happen!

Tummytuck, the bad thing is that the GI doctor didn't say anything at all of what the antibiotics would do.  SHe met with me as a colonoscopy follow-up.  She was already so booked and seemed so rushed.  She didn't let me ask any questions.  Then she left and said "just a second," and never came back.  She just got a nurse!  I'm going to still give her a chance because she is supposed to be good.  Tummytuck, I think that antibiotics make the GERD much worse.  So I guess that their goal is not to cure GERD.  So I have no idea what to do.

I will be ph-TESTED on Tuesday, tomorrow.

Riverotter,

Thanks for your concern. Believe me, I have pondered the root causes of many things in my life. I'm not a kid; I'm 53 years old and have, I truly believe, faced down all of my demons at this. I know who I am and love my life as it is. I love my job, I love my husband and I love my kids. My GERD comes from a hiatal hernia; nothing more, nothing less. 60% of people over the age of 50 have them. Some cause GERD, some don't. Mine does. At this point, the natural methods are working pretty well for me. I have accepted the fact that I will live with this the rest of my life (unless they develop a better surgery for hiatal hernias) and I am not sad about it. At my age, I could have contracted something much more debilitating.

I am well aware of how short life is and fully intend to enjoy the 30+ years I have left; GERD or not.

Tummytuck

I'm sure it is harder when you're young. I hope you figure out a way to deal with it.

Tummytuck

oh and i already stop taking PPI because eat or not this drug tell no different to me. now i take ranitidine 150mg afternoon and before bed and gaviscon from glaxosmithklain and other natural product to heal my inflammation in my LES area.and i will stop ranitidine too after 1-2weeks using it,because dr told me to stop this drug step by step from PPI-H2 blocker-antasid.i not want to be slave all of my life by this drugs.BTW anyone had this gerd/hiatal hernia just like my age or even younger then me?

Joepiter

Tummytuck said...
I wanted to tell you all about what I have done and at the same time respond to debaser's recent post and the post from the new member, questforhealing. . .


By last Thursday, I was in much pain and extremely depressed. I have been on every ppi and have been taking nexium twice a day for about 2 months. about a week ago, it just stopped working. I don't know why. I was getting the burn and all other side effects in spades. I looked in my desk drawer and saw pills and Tums and Mylanta and Gaviscon and decided that I was done with all this crap. I was going to ween myself off the ppi's (honestly, I have had this problem for nearly 4 months and it has just been getting worse and worse) and all these d * * * meds. I figured I would get some acid rebound and was prepared to deal with that. I stopped the nexium cold turkey last Thursday. Since that time, while I have had a bit of reflux, it is almost completely gone. Like debaser, I am knocking on wood because this seems too good to be true but without the ppi's I am at about 90%. Before I stopped, I was at 20%. I don't know for certain, but I think the ppi's were causing something called hypergastinemia??? Anyway, it's been 4 days and I am doing really well without the nexium; even went out for Mexican food the other evening and drank a margarita and only had to take two Tums when I got home and was just fine.



I'm done with the PPI's. For the remainder of the reflux I have (which is minimal compared to what I have had for the last 4 months), I am going to try the natural alternatives.



I'll keep you all posted.
Tummytuck [img]/community/emoticons/yeah.gif[/img]

Well, the real point about my post (if I remember correctly -- I'll try to find it in a minute) is that it was the anti-anxiety drug that made my reflux better. I had quit Prevacid about a week before going on the Klonopin, and experienced a significant increase in reflux symptoms during that time. The reduction of anxiety initially lessened the impact of GERD quite a bit. That I can say unequivocally.

Since then, I have had a bit of what my doctor and I think may be a bit of GERD rebound (bloating, very mild nausea), and am actually going back on the Prevacid to see what happens. If those things go away, I'll have isolated a problem. I intend to ditch the PPI afterwards and deal with the GERD in some other way.

Originally, I stopped the Prevacid to see if it was CAUSING my bloating/nausea. Since I'm still having those symptoms after being off the med for a month, I guess it had nothing to do with it. The bloating/nausea could have been caused by BOTH anxiety and GERD. If that's true, then it explains why my symptoms are milder after starting Klonopin. If the Klonopin and Prevacid make these symptoms go away then I think I'll have found my problem.

I hope all that makes sense. I'm kind of tired tonight.

I'm feeling much better than I used to, that's for sure, and now I'm on a quest to feel "perfect". It may be a fool's errand but we'll see...

friendlygal said...
debaser, I have bloating too but it appears to be that I have GERD and IBS. So my bloating is IBS. That's great that you feel better.


Do you know if antianxiety medications work also for people whose GERD wasn't caused by anxiety?

They're not indicated for that, but I don't know. The Clonazepam I'm on is part of a class of drugs called benzodiazepines, commonly called "minor tranquilizers". You may talk to your doctor about it. Unless you're diagnosed with Anxieity do NOT ask for Klonopin/Clonazepam. It's the strongest of the bunch. You may try a Valium or Ativan, which I believe are meant to be faster acting and taken as needed. You'd know pretty quickly if it helped you or not. Your doc may not have a problem writing a prescription for five pills or something like that, just to see.

I'm no doctor but I don't think it would help you unless it's anxiety. I mean, maybe it would a little since GERD causes anxiety! But I don't think it would get to the root of your problem.

For IBS I know a lot of GI's prescribe tricyclic antidepressants to treat IBS. I had Nortryptiline for a while but it didn't do anything for me. It was a small does intended to help with motility. I don't have IBS but they thought I might at that time. It was a trial and error thing.

I really don't know much about drugs...they frighten me for the most part!

Good luck. I haven't visted this forum in a while but I assume your test showed negative on gastroparesis? They're saying it's IBS and GERD?