Which PPI for GERD???

Here's some unsolicited ( ) GERD advice from me:
(i am not a doctor)

I personally think that acid reducers are good temporarily, to give your stomach and esophagus a chance to heal, but they should not be used long term (more than a couple of months). Even the drug manufacturers themselves say the meds should only be used short term.

For the long term, food combining has really worked for me. This means :
- Eating fruit alone, 2 hrs after a meal or minimum 30 min before
- Eating veggies with fats (butter, olive oil etc)
- Eating veggies with proteins/meats
- Do not combine high-carb foods with proteins
- Reduce sugar intake, and whatever you do don't combine simple sugars with fats and proteins
- Do not eat late (yeah that's a tough one for me)

A similar diet is the alkalizing diet - which works on the premise that acidifying foods cause chronic disease. And it's not what you think, the acidifying foods are determined to be grains and meat. Google should give lots of results. I think this might be similar to the SCD (specific carb diet) that Kiralynx and others follow.

(The common culprit is ALWAYS the carbs )

Of course weight loss always helps (and i still have 45 lbs. to go myself), as does wearing loose clothing around the abdomen (too much pressure will also squeeze the stomach contents up).

And SD's pepper suggestion has validity too. Peppermint also helps (sometimes I take peppermint oil capsules and it really helps settle the stomach acid).

And my last comment: if you have longtime GERD/reflux, always make sure to get an endoscopy every few years, to ensure that it doesn't turn into Barrett's Esophagus and eventually Esophageal cancer. Other complicatons include ulcers and probably other Bad Things.

Hope you find the right meds for you!

Be careful with peppermint. It is a natural relaxant and can have exactly that effect on the LES. I am including a peppermint tisane tea as a common culprit. Chamomile would be a better choise.

silver

echo wrote: I personally think that acid reducers are good temporarily, to give your stomach and esophagus a chance to heal, but they should not be used long term (more than a couple of months). Even the drug manufacturers themselves say the meds should only be used short term.

<snip>

And my last comment: if you have longtime GERD/reflux, always make sure to get an endoscopy every few years, to ensure that it doesn't turn into Barrett's Esophagus and eventually Esophageal cancer. Other complicatons include ulcers and probably other Bad Things.

Unfortunately for some of us, the medication is necessary for the long term. I've taken a PPI for about 10 years now. I've tried to stop taking it three times and was not able to. I always have a painful, acidy stomach when not taking a PPI regularly, even though I don't very often have reflux. For people like me, PPI's help to normalize the amount of acid in our stomachs.

My GI doc says an endocopy is only necessary one time approximately five years after starting PPI's. If you haven't developed Barrett's Esophagus in the first five years, you aren't going to....