Feeling deflated... went to new GI doc today

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Flyerfan

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I had been following Rosebloom's thread about getting off PPI's and also have been researching other places as well. I've been on Aciphex for 8 or 9 years with no problems. I want to wean myself off them.

It's been 8 years since I've seen a GI doc so today I had an appt. with a new one. I wanted to get his opinion on coming off these drugs and acid rebound, etc. Well, first of all, his PA was very unprofessional, in my book. Every time I challenged him with a question he held his head like he was getting frustrated and sometimes did not know how to answer me. The doctor came in and he talked with me a little but I wanted him to know how I felt, where I was coming from and that I did quite a bit of research. My first and last EGD was in 2002 so he wants me to get one with a PH Bravo. I have been putting this off and I know deep down I should have one. Had a barium swallow this past January and it showed severe reflux.

Anyway, I questioned him about the PH Bravo saying, if I'm only off the PPI for a week, how accurate can this test be? He claims that acid rebound only lasts a week! I said I've heard 3 months or more. He really didn't have an answer for that one. He seemed like an OK guy but only when the patient sits silently and accepts everything he says.

I just did not come away from there feeling good. I guess I wanted him to acknowledge what I've been reading about. I just felt hopeless leaving there. So now I have to get up the nerve to get the EGD and hopefully the results are OK. Then I believe I'll go see a Naturopathic Doctor and see what they say.

Is it really possible to come off these drugs? Or are we hooked forever?!
 
All three doctors I have seen, i.e., the GI doc, the OBG doc and internist, thought I was nuts when I announced I wanted to get off Aciphex in January. I have not received any support whatsoever from the medical establishment in my efforts or desire to get off Aciphex. I don't anticipate you will receive much support either. The internist said basically "good luck with that" and gave me a new prescription for Aciphex "just in case."

I have gone through three months of rebound. I know it is rebound because my symptoms were never that severe before I got on the Aciphex. I tolerated the Aciphex very well and it worked like a charm for me. Had I not discovered I had developed osteopenia after only three years of taking Aciphex, I would still be taking it. But I want to save my bones and not suffer a fracture in ten years or so. That's why I stopped taking it in January.

I have been pretty down on the medical establishment here lately. None of my doctors bothered to discuss side effects of PPI's with me or acid rebound during the time they were happily giving me this prescription.

Rose
 
Hi Rose.
How are you doing with the rebound?

The thing that got me was that he said after a week the acid rebound is done. Everything I heard (your experience included) says it can be several months. That's why I can't see how this PH Bravo test will be accurate. Did you ever have that?

I'm pretty resolved to the fact that I have to get an Upper Endo so I have an idea of where I am now. I am just so stressed about the whole thing....not so much the test itself (I've had it before), but the results. Any kind of medical tests up my level of anxiety ten-fold.

Hope you're doing well.
 
Hi Flyerfan:

If there is one thing I will recommend is getting that upper GI. It may not provide an "answer" per se, but will rule out all sorts of serious stuff like Barrett's esophagus, cancer, etc. I am sure you don't have anything like that going on, but it will be a relief to rule out potentially serious problems. Try not to stress too much over it. I had an upper endoscopy and colonoscopy done at the same time three years ago. The worst part was the prep for the colonoscopy, but cannot remeraber anything about either procedure (due to sedation) and did not experience any side effects.

I am sure I will have them both repeated in another three years or so to keep track of how things are going.

I am now experimenting with Apple Cider Vinegar. It seems to be working as well as the Zantac. I take it three times a day (two tablespoons diluted in a glass of water through a straw). I supplement with antiaciRAB as needed (try to use the simplest antiacid I can find, preferably more calcium based than anything). I am still on my supplements (Calcium/Magnesium/vitamin D3/fish oil, B complex) and taking DGL in between meals.

My symptoms are now fairly tolerable unlike the first two months I experienced rebound. I have heartburn once a day or so. Some days I have little or none. But I don't have the horrible attacks I was experiencing at the beginning of the year. Therefore, it is tolerable.

Rebound, by the way, is not over after a week. There is literature out there that you may wish to take to your doctor so he/she becomes better informed. It is now accepted that rebound can take weeks or months even and the severity of the rebound seems to depend on how much gastrin you have in your blood when you stop the PPI. The better the acid suppression was, the higher the gastrin levels in your blood. The higher the gastrin levels, the worse the rebound. Gastrin levels take weeks to normalize, not a week.

I hate to not be an MD or clinically trained and be better informed than some M.D.'s. Please google "acid rebound after PPI use" or something of that nature and all sorts of information will pop up.

Hope you find answers and feel better soon.

Rose
 
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