Prilosec, Nexium and aching chest - low acid diet

[ruth3]

I have been taking Prilosec for the past 6-7 years. About 3 years ago I started taking it every other day with success. But, the past 4 months the Prilosec hasn't been working for me and I've had extreme reflux - aching in chest and burning in throat - often following no apparent pattern.

I've eliminated several "triggers" (chocolate, mint, sugerless gum, club soda), cut down on many others (coffee, wine), and try not to eat late in the evening. My doctor put me on 80 mil. of Nexium for 10 days and on day 8 I thought my chest was going to explode! I've always suspected that medication (Prilosec, Nexium, Zantac) may be causing the aching chest.

I truly believe that we NEED SOME STOMACH ACID to digest out food and how the use of long-term PPI medications is affecting out bodies. Could they be causing problems that we aren't aware of? I'm on a quest to find out the cause of my severe stomach acid. Also, could food alergies be a problem for most of us?

I am currently back on Prilosec every other day and am trying Tagament and Pepcid along with it - and of course, lots of RolaiRAB. Am also keeping a diary of everything I eat and am sleeping on a wedge pillow - which I THINK is working. I also had an endoscopy and everything looked good except I had stomach pollips which were benign (caused by medication!). All my doctors do is suggest new medications.

I would be interested in ideas about alkaline fooRAB, how others feel about long-term use of medications, alergies and ANY IDEAS FOR RELIEF.

 

[NYCman]

Hello,

I've been on Nexium for a little under a month, and I get that chest pain too. Where exactly is your chest pain? Mine is right in the middle. If you search images online, it appears to be right where the xiphoid process would be.

Are you overweight or underweight?

When I'm done with the 8-12 weeks on the Nexium, I am going to go back to regular food. I've been on a GERD diet for about 2.5 months and its horrible. I will be going back to regular food and if necessary just taking the Nexium along with the regular food. I've always been lightweight and had a fast metbolism. I can't believe that from the start of my life until mid-October 2008, I was able to eat ice cream, pizza, etc. But since mid-October a corabination of acid and doctors' advice has got me losing weight and eating pretty basic things.

I also think we need the stomach acid that is naturally part of our chemical make-up. It is the way that we were built and we weren't designed to take meRAB to suppress it. People on this board should know much better than me as they've been here longer, but I'm only going on my own guesses. I will try to begin eating normal again sometime towarRAB the end of October (little by little) and see what happens. Maybe I just need to set my mind to think that my natural stomach acid will breakdown the food that I naturally eat, and I will be able to will myself to normalcy. If I keep shutting down my body's natural acid by using meRAB then I'll probably need to be on the meRAB forever, as I won't have anymore acid left. And it's not like my acid is being called upon now, because I'm eating easy to digest fooRAB (GERD diet). This is why I will have to retrain my body to take on harder to digest fooRAB. In a sense I will slowly have to build my acid back up? I'm sorry for the confusing rarabling. I'm just throwing some thoughts out there.

 

[ruth3]

I get the chest ache/pain in the center or to the right of my chest. I am now experimenting with Tagament. I also tried probiotics and enzymes for a week but I think they might have made my problem worse. I'm having bad nights now even with the wedge pillow. I've never had the problem of bad reflux in the night until just a few weeks ago - even after all the years of reflux. Go figure! I'm getting a bit disperate and have made an appointment with my "gastro" doctor - of course I have to wait 3 weeks. I've also started to wonder about all the garlic I eat and lately lots and lots of fresh vegs from my garden. I had a meal of all vegs last night (about 6 kinRAB) and was up all night.

I'm not overweight - not skinny, but about right and have lost 5 pounRAB this summer. That's a bit alarming because I have a hard time losing 1 lb. Basically I eat very healthy and have given up some of my favorite fooRAB.

I too am rarabling, but welcome any advise, ideas, help!

 

[FLGirl68]

I was first dx'd with reflux/GERD when I was in my early 20's. I'm 41 now. I have tried so many different medications. Some work for a while, some work better when my weight is better and some simply don't work at all.

For me, I'm not sure what will work. I have discovered that reflux/GERD/hiatal hernia's all run in my father's family. My father died of esophageal cancer when he was 42. My uncle (his brother) said my father carried rolls of rolaiRAB around for years, complaining of heartburn and what not. His mother, my grandmother, had her gall bladder removed, had a hiatal hernia and stomach problems. All of my father's siblings have the same symptoms - some worse, some better. On my mother's side, her Aunt died of emphysema and gastric cancer. Some days I just feel doomed to have this as it so very much runs in my family. I am terrified that if I don't get my reflux under control, I will develop Barrett's. I have had acid burn out my chest and throat so many times that I couldn't speak the next day. My father died when he was 42, I am 41 and it really freaks me out. I worked for an oncologist for a while and he said esophageal cancer is NOT a hereditary/genetic cancer but it seems like way too much of a coincidence to have so many of the same problems as so many other people in my family.

I am back to really watching my diet, trying to eat smaller meals and not things that I know are serious triggers. I recently had the worst bout of reflux in the middle of the night that I have ever had and it really scares me.

But thanks for starting this post - glad to see what others think of what we're going thru!