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PPI Stepdown, pt 3

It’s been about 5 days since my last dose of esomeprazole. I got myself a care package of aloe juice, alkaline water, stomach tea (with similar ingredients to the Ibrogast formula that is too pricey) and the Target brand of Pepcid (famotidine 10mg + antacids).

The day I got the supplements, I didn’t use anything at all and made it through the night. The next day was rougher, with more breakthrough GERD and I took the Pepcid before bed. The day after that, fine.

So it’s been very uneven as far as the breakthroughs are concerned, but overall, I’m doing pretty well without the PPI. I think I’m done. I am so relieved!

I take Tums for minor flares, aloe for worse ones and occasional Pepcid at night. I’ve taken a tums before bed a couple of times when I feel that there *might* be a GERD incident. So far, so good.

I’ll update again if there is any change, but I think this is probably where I’ll be from now on. I think I’ll always have some sort of GERD flaring up, simply because of the shape of VSG making the stomach basically a turkey baster that pushes acid up to the esophagus. No particular foods have any effect, nor does alcohol, it’s all very random. I’m hoping the volume of my Lil Tummy™ goes back to about a cup, but if it doesn’t, no big deal. I think the overall inflammation is getting better.

So, I’m living proof that you CAN get off of PPIs. From start to end it took me about 6 weeks. Perhaps 8. With the quarantine of Covid-19, my sense of time is a bit distorted. I think it’s about 8 all together. It was not too bad for the most part, I did lose some sleep here and there, but I have to say, it’s been easier overall than it has ever been in the past to stop the PPI. I think it’s because I did the stepdown slowly this time. The first step was a month or so, then the second and getting off was quicker. I actually feel that the half tab at night made things worse than just not taking it.

I hope this roadmap might help others who want to be off of PPIs before they find out they have kidney damage or other issues.

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PPI Stepdown pt 2.5

I went out yesterday and got some things to try for the ongoing PPI stepdown. I picked up:
– aloe juice
– more probiotics (I’ve added these to my daily supplements.)
– alkaline water
– Gaia Gas and Bloating tea with similar herbs as Ibrogast (caraway, fennel, chamomile, star anise, licorice, peppermint)
– Target brand Pepcid Complete (calcium, magnesium and 10mg famotidine)

The Lil Tummy was pretty well behaved yesterday, but I got a little GERD-y in the late afternoon, so I took a Pepcid chew. Worked immediately and I felt fine. I did not drink any wine last night to get a good read on what Lil Tummy was up to. You’re not supposed to drink alcohol with oral famotidine, but there are not as many restrictions for the antacid/famotidine chews. I took another one before bed, since I’d had two nights in a row of horrible GERD.

IT WORKED!!

I slept well and had zero GERD all night. I hope that this will continue to work for me. I’d like to NOT take it daily in any case, because famotidine has its own list of fucking side effects and interactions that I’d like to avoid. But it’s a good start at living a GERD free existence. Even if I have it sometimes, I really don’t want to take any drugs daily other than my supplements.

Here’s to hoping that I’ll be drug free SOON!

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PPI Stepdown pt 2

OMG. Terrible. I’ve been taking only one half a 20mg esomeprazole at bedtime for a week. Now I have breakthrough GERD randomly all day. For the last two nights, a couple of hours after I go to bed, I’m awakened by my stomach trying to crawl out my throat. I feel strangled and have a coughing fit. This is GERD at its worst. I have to go sit up on the sofa and eat TUMS until it stops, which is usually an hour or so.

I’ve got ranitidine and famotidine (these are H2 blockers) on hand and I’m heading to CVS and Sprouts for a variety of other products to try. Eating a handful of TUMS just ain’t cutting it.

My ability to eat has also been compromised. I can eat about 1/3 less than before I dropped the PPI. While annoying to get the foamies (what we call it when our VSG tummies get too full), I do need to lose about 10#, so THAT I’ll tolerate. I’m back to about 1/2-2/3 cup capacity with this GERD irritation. I got the foamies and was pretty sick after eating a small couscous stuffed pepper last night, so I’ll have to be very careful.

But basically, I am miserable 24 hrs a day right now. As I knew would happen w/out PPIs. ::sob::

I’ve added probiotics to my supplement regimen and I’m looking for something called Iberogast (STW-5) liquid to try as well. (Amazon is pricey, I’ll check Sprouts.) I am aware of aloe juice and will get some.

I hope I can live through this and Lil Tummy will self regulate. If nothing works, I’ll be forced to go back on PPIs. I can’t live like this indefinitely – I *do* need to sleep and eat!

Despite all this bullshit, I’m still hopeful I can get off PPIs. I really think if Lil Tummy has time to adjust, it’ll be OK. I’ve never in my life had any sort of stomach issue, so I hope I can get that back. I’ll post more as I implement various things.