Acid Reflux and Prilosec questions.

I am weaning myself off of these type of medications (proton pump inhibitors), as my stomach became dependent on them to keep acid in check. This can happen if you are on them for a while. My doctor recommended Deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) to help stimulate the production of healthy stomach lining. It definitely tastes like licorice though, and you have to chew it. So if you don't mind the taste of licorice then ask your doctor if he or she would recommend it for you.

Weight is only one risk factor for acid reflux. Have you worked on reducing the other potential causes?

tincanonastring wrote: »

earlnabby wrote: »

Second: if you take any medication or supplements, do NOT take your prilosec at the same time. It can slow down or even prevent the absorption of the other medication/supplement. Take it a few hours before or after whatever you are taking. (I take everything at breakfast and my prilosec at dinner).

I was unaware of this and normaly take my omeprazole with my other daily meds/calcium. Will have to check it out. Thanks for the tip.

I was unaware too. I found out about it when my Dr. prescribed a few meds when I got out of the hospital, including prilosec and high potency iron, and I entered everything into CVS' drug interaction checker. They give drug to drug interactions, drug to lifestyle interactions (like alcohol and tobacco use), and drug to food interactions (like I should not have calcium at the same time as my iron).

The only other thing I needed to change was not eating yogurt for breakfast (because of the calcium interacting with iron). I had to start eating it for lunch instead, which is actually working out much better.

tincanonastring wrote: »

courtenaymichele wrote: »

I take omeprazole daily, and have taken that or nexium every day for the past 7 years. No matter what I eat or what weight I am I have severe acid reflux, so must take it. Haven't noticed any changes while on it that relate to weight or bloating. For me, I'd rather take the pill than cut out caffeine, alcohol, spicy foods, chocolate, carbonation, etc.... but to each their own!

Was also not aware of needing to take it at a different time than other meds/supplements! One thing I have noticed is that taking the omeprazole did cause me to have a B12 deficiency (a common side effect) so I do take that daily. Just might want to have your doctor check for that during routine blood testing.

I'm the same way with my symptoms. While the severity of my reflux can be exacerbated by my food choices, it's always there and I haven't been able to link any prevelance of attacks to my weight. In my case, it's tied to an underlying disease, so it will never go away.

Yeah, my AR has pretty much gone away but I still have occasional stomach pain from a hiatal hernia which will always be there (not just stomach pain. The pain can mimic a heart attack including pain radiating to my left shoulder and down my arm). Mine is a sliding hernia (the most common and least dangerous kind) and prevention is the only way to deal with it. I need to eat more frequent, smaller meals and cannot binge on hard to digest stuff, as I discovered the night I decided I wanted a big bowl of steamed broccoli. A few hours of agony and one bout of vomiting a small amount of food later, I was fine and dandy.

courtenaymichele wrote: »

tincanonastring wrote: »

courtenaymichele wrote: »

I take omeprazole daily, and have taken that or nexium every day for the past 7 years. No matter what I eat or what weight I am I have severe acid reflux, so must take it. Haven't noticed any changes while on it that relate to weight or bloating. For me, I'd rather take the pill than cut out caffeine, alcohol, spicy foods, chocolate, carbonation, etc.... but to each their own!

Was also not aware of needing to take it at a different time than other meds/supplements! One thing I have noticed is that taking the omeprazole did cause me to have a B12 deficiency (a common side effect) so I do take that daily. Just might want to have your doctor check for that during routine blood testing.

I'm the same way with my symptoms. While the severity of my reflux can be exacerbated by my food choices, it's always there and I haven't been able to link any prevelance of attacks to my weight. In my case, it's tied to an underlying disease, so it will never go away.

And one little pill is a whole lot better than the damage that acid can do to your esophagus and stomach!

Yup. If I had taken my omeprazole like a good girl, I probably would have avoided a 4 day stint in the hospital which included 4 units of blood, 1 unit of IV iron, an endoscopy, a colonoscopy, and a final bill of $38,000 since I had no insurance.

I used to take Prilosec, but take Nexium OTC now. Nexium seems to work a little better and has little, if any, noticeable side effects for me. I've suffered from acid reflux since I was a teenager. There are many causes of it. Being overweight is one. Also, another major factor is stress so losing weight might not help at all. I've never had difficulty with my weight while on it. I do not believe it is listed as a side effect for either PPI.

If your doctor prescribed it, I would take it. Leaving acid reflux untreated can cause cancer of the esophagus. There are no proven "natural remedies." However, changing diet can help such as avoiding trigger foods like tomato sauce, fried food, chocolate, etc. Did your doctor prescribe a special diet? There are other life style changes that can help such as exercising (to reduce stress), sleeping on your left side with your head raised, wearing looser fitting clothing especially around the abdomen area and waiting a few hours after eating before laying down.

WickedPineapple wrote: »

Strangely enough, my acid reflux started after losing the majority of my weight. I used to get it from really dark coffee or a specific type of beer only, then all of a sudden I was getting it all throughout the day. I haven't been able to link it to any specific food or drink; however, I think it might be related to consistent higher total fat consumption for several days in a row. So I'm trying to lower my fat intake a little bit to see if it helps. I also took OTC prilosec and it seems to have helped quite a bit, but I still get it occasionally, it's just not as severe.

Higher fat is a very common cause of AR. You may be on to something there.