Journey off of PPI drugs for heartburn, hopefully

MY JOURNEY OFF PRILOSEC

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I've made reference to my frequent heartburn problem before. For those who are unaware, I've had frequent heartburn/GERD since I was a teen-ager. I've been on proton-pump inhibitor drugs since they first became mainstream.

I've taken them every day despite knowing they aren't good for me. I always knew that they came with a risk of decreased calcium absorption, and that there's even a risk that they can INCREASE your chance of esophageal cancer when taken long term, but it wasn't until another board member pointed out to me the detriment they create for male body chemistry.

It was said to me last week that PPI drugs and acid reducers are anti-androgen and perhaps even estrogenic. That scared me enough to research it further, and I discovered that there is ample evidence to support that claim.

When it comes to my manhood, I don't play around. Nothing will motivate me to fix something faster than if you suggest to me it can mess up my sexual prowess.

Four and a half years ago, I quit smoking cigarettes cold turkey after a 14-year addiction when I had a coughing fit in the middle of sex that caused me not to be able to finish. This situation isn't much different.

I found some relief from breakthrough symptoms recently by removing dairy and wheat from my diet, but I hadn't cut the cord completely on the Prilosec, and I have times when I can't stick to that diet long-term.

Bottom line is that I'm not willing to risk my testosterone and sexual function for this drug any longer.

This article, written by an MD, provided the guidelines on how to use mastic gum, DGL, enzymes and d-limonene to fix frequent heartburn. I'm following it faithfully thus far:

Eliminating Chronic Acid Reflux And Indigestion: from an ongoing series by Dr Jacob Teitelbaum MD


I started the Heartburn Free (ROH10/1,000mg d-limonene) last week while still on Prilosec, hoping to avoid the initial reflux aggravation. Yesterday I started the mastic gum 1,000mg twice daily and the DGL, with enzymes after each meal.

I did OK yesterday. I had some mild heartburn/reflux after breakfast that subsided within an hour. I did OK until after dinner. I got a little reflux at bedtime, but a couple of mastic gum capsules and another DGL calmed it right down.

Today I attempted coffee in the morning, but I don't think my stomach is up for it yet, sans acid reducer. I had some heartburn from the coffee. It went away with my second DGL lozenge. The ROH10 has caused some mild reflux, which I fully expected.

This will not be fixed in a matter of days. I understand that. It is going to be a major undertaking to overcome the rebound acid production. My pumps have been suppressed for over a decade. I fully expect to be dedicated to treating this naturally over the next two months.

I will provide some periodic updates. In the meantime, if anyone else wants to chime in with advice or suggestions, I'm all ears. Surely I'm not the only one on this board with frequent heartburn.

I'm sure you've thought of this, but have you ever done an elimination diet to see how foods effect you? What you're eating is causing your issue. The longer you're off wheat and dairy, the better you'll be as well. How bout bringing your own food to places that can't accomodate you? Pain in the ass I know, but how bad do you want to be heartburn free.

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Originally Posted by Cdsnuts

I'm sure you've thought of this, but have you ever done an elimination diet to see how foods effect you? What you're eating is causing your issue. The longer you're off wheat and dairy, the better you'll be as well. How bout bringing your own food to places that can't accomodate you? Pain in the ass I know, but how bad do you want to be heartburn free.

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My digestion underwent improvement on a carb-free diet where I'd almost entirely eliminated dairy and consumed no wheat. But, keep in mind, that was still while on the PPI drugs. I've not tested it against a PPI-drug-free body yet.

Normally, without PPI drugs, it didn't matter how I changed my diet. Even water gave me terrible acid reflux. So, if plain water is a trigger, sans Prilosec, it's hard to say what changes I need to make that will stick.

Dietary changes are probably in my best interest, but I still have the issue of getting off PPI drugs and dealing with rebound reflux as a result of acid pumps becoming overactive, initially. That's where mastic gum and DGL come in handy.

This journey won't be an easy one no matter what. It will take a comprehensive approach to fixing.

Heartburn caused by water......damn. Sounds like you have one hell of a stubborn case.

You forgot the best aid: apple cider vinegar

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Originally Posted by Freepressright

Dietary changes are probably in my best interest, but I still have the issue of getting off PPI drugs and dealing with rebound reflux as a result of acid pumps becoming overactive, initially. That's where mastic gum and DGL come in handy.

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My stomach used to hurt all the time, it was more of an in knots than an acid problem but this may help. Have you tried eating without drinking or drinking very little? I found as I worked on chewing my stomach and intestine problems cleared up. It was just as much what I was eating as how. I cleaned it up and chewed it a little more and I felt alot better.

I'm guessing the Ph in your stomach is too acid (which is not bad btw). Try eating higher Ph foods like Milk and veggies. It helps me from time to time but then again, It is not a big issue for me. Good luck!

Keep the suggestions coming. I'm going to be trying all kinds of stuff in the coming weeks to try to nail this thing down. I started with a pretty moderate case of reflux after lunch today. I took a couple of mastic gum capsules hoping that would calm it down. It really didn't. I could feel a lot of my undigested lunch coming back up the pipes.

As soon as I got home I took a couple more digestive enzymes and some ginger. It actually helped quite a bit. Things have calmed down since then, luckily.

And thanks for the reminder, Rodja. I'll go out and get some Bragg's Organic cider vinegar and see how that does me.

I have some acupuncture treatments "in the bank" with a local MD. I might ask him if there's anything it can do for me. Thank you for weighing in, everyone. I really appreciate it. This will be a fairly big ordeal and I'm hoping like hell this is my answer to get off these damn PPIs.

Raw milk btw... 2% milk has a lower pH because of what they feed the cows

I actually know someone who uses raw milk to help their stomach ulcers.

Raw milk seems to have some serious stomach benefits. Def give it a try.

Didn't know about vinegar... interesting. I drink some wine to help my stomach, but you probably can't do that with every meal. Lol

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Originally Posted by JM1000

Raw milk btw... 2% milk has a lower pH because of what they feed the cows

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You mean whole milk?

WHERE THE HELL IS THE PEP ZIN GI???

i told you to get that stuff bro

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Originally Posted by Enuke65

You mean whole milk?

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No. He means raw milk. Non pasteurized. Hard to find a lot of places and some even banned it. It's much better for you than a lot of the stuff that's out there. Like I said. It helped my friend's brother in law's stomach ulcers. Helped em majorly.

Looking at ordering some PepZinGi right now.

DAY 3 UPDATE

The predictability of this condition is anything but.

I reported having reflux after lunch and before dinner yesterday. I took some additional enzymes and ginger root capsules and it went away within an hour. I got busy in the evening and didn't have time to eat until late. My girlfriend wanted to go out.

I ended up doing something really stupid and ordering a garlic/vinegar based salad and fettuccine alfredo with chicken. On top of that, I ate it all, to the point of fullness. You'd think I'd have been seriously crippled with reflux.

I wasn't.

Strangely enough, I didn't get ANY reflux from it. I had two enzymes before and two after. Before bed I felt some mild indigestion, and after some more enzymes and ginger, had no issues the rest of the night.

Everything was good this morning until I ate a chocolate peanut butter protein bar. I can't have these things. The heartburn is killer, even after my morning dose of DGL and mastic gum. It's as if the sticky, gooey protein and peanut butter is stuck in my esophagus. I'm seriously regretting my choice in breakfast right about now.

I'll see what the rest of the day brings.

DAY 5 UPDATE

I wish I were sitting here this morning telling you of a miraculous day without heartburn, but no such luck yet.

I alluded to the unpredictability of this condition in my previous post. But over the last few days, I guess I have found a pattern to some things.

I know I can't do coffee right now. A chocolate peanut butter protein bar for breakfast set me on fire. And Greek yogurt and a granola bar had the same effect. However, several nights in a row, I've been able to eat pretty much damn near anything I want in the evening time without any heartburn or reflux. But for some reason, breakfast and lunch choices have given me reflux.

On the bright side, the ROH-10 in the Heartburn Free did not aggravate my reflux yesterday. That's a first so far. Of course I took it later in the day than I usually do. I may switch my dosing time.

Right now I'm seeing how far I can push the envelope with dietary choices. In a few days, I'll try my luck at the carb-free/no dairy thing, which seemed to greatly improve my digestion while still on Prilosec.

My goal is to grab some Doctor's Choice PepZinGi from iherb. I read 73 reviews, the majority of which were glowing. In the meantime, I'm continuing my 1,000mg/2x daily mastic gum and 3 DGL lozenges, alternating with the EOD dose of Heartburn Free by Enzymatic Therapy.

I've also been using some ginger root capsules, which cause massive heartburn initially but then it subsides into a calm stomach. Odd, I know.

I'll continue providing updates to everyone throughout this journey.

You can take the glycyrrhizin out of licorice and call it DGL (deglycyrrizinated licorice), but you can't remove it's estrogenic properties.

Lesson learned.

Licorice root is not advised at large doses for people because of its side effects on blood pressure. It is also noted for it's libido-killing properties. DGL, I've found, is no exception.

Since beginning DGL, my sex drive has gradually been waning. I gave this as a reason to another user in recent weeks for never trying DGL. Turns out my hunch was correct.

My libido is in the toilet. My interest in sex has dwindled down to something I almost can't feel. Getting a hard-on requires extra foreplay and concentration. In other words, more fucking work than I'm used to and it's definitely cramping my style. So, that said, no more DGL for me.

I'll be using just the mastic gum and ROH-10/Heartburn Free until I order some Doctor's Choice PepZinGi, which appears promising.

I decided to get off of PPIs because of their threat of devastating my manhood with anti-androgenic bullshit. I'm not seeing a whole lot of good in trading one drug for a compound that makes my reason for quitting worse.

Word to the wise, people -- if you're considering DGL to calm your rebound acidity getting off PPI drugs, choose another compound if you like having a sex drive.

On the heartburn front, I'm seeing some small progress. It seems like each passing day, I am seeing very small amounts of improvement. I'm still nowhere near the point I want myself, and I admit that I'm not doing the best job at avoiding triggers. But I certainly have identified many of them.

Wheat products are like battery acid. With my stomach pumps working overtime due to rebound acidity, any wheat product seems to set me ablaze. Chocolate is out of the question. Oats? Forget it, ain't happening.

Basically, if I try to eat gluten/wheat and dairy free, I do OK.

I made a half-assed attempt once before at getting off PPIs and the rebound acidity was crippling. It isn't quite that bad this time, thankfully. I have to believe I'm on the right track, but again, I'm prepared for months worth of work.

One day at a time!

I just submitted my order for Doctor's Choice PepZinGi, per the recommendation of one of the board members here at Swole Source and after reading about 100 glowing reviews. It can't get here soon enough.

As my last post spelled out, I ceased DGL because it crushed my sex drive. Sadly, excluding it has also greatly exacerbated my reflux. It was working more than I realized.

What a catch 22. Stay on Prilosec and suffer the threat of sexual dysfunction, gyno and other estrogenic sides or take something all natural and open yourself up to the same shit.

I'll keep everyone posted on the PepZinGi once I start it.

All the natural remedies in the world won't help as much as drastically cleaning up your diet will. You could also be suffering heartburn in part because I know you've used methylated PH's a lot and when I used anavar it gave me heartburn that didnt go away for a while after I stopped.


Plus, if you clean up your diet you will be healthier in other ways and get leaner!

I've spent this week trying to identify what I know I *can't* have. So far, it looks like wheat products all set me ablaze. I can't have chocolate or oats. I had chicken breast and rice for lunch yesterday and came back to work feeling like a drank battery acid.

Salad seems to irritate it as well. I think I'm at the point right now where the rebound acidity is totally out of control. No matter what I do, eating or drinking anything at this point will aggravate it, sadly. But I do agree with you. Changing the diet to contain as little wheat and dairy as possible is the long-term goal for sure.

It makes sense that methylated PHs would cause heartburn exacerbation. Anything that slows liver function could have a detrimental effect as heartburn goes.

I have done three full methyl cycles in the past -- once I used Havoc and twice I used Ultradrol. Last methylated cycle ended one year ago.

I've been suffering frequent heartburn since I was a teenager. I was medicated with H2 blockers (Pepcid, Zantac) until age 18 or 19 when PPIs came to market and I was on Prevacid, then Prilosec, the Zegerid and then back to Prilosec.

Research shows that upon quitting a PPI drug, your acid pumps go bonkers for several months, producing far more acid than before treatment. That's the dark side of PPIs that your doctor doesn't tell you about. Even a 4-week course of treatment creates rebound acidity.

I won't be able to get a true picture of my condition's severity for months, I'm sure. Until then it's experimentation and elimination.

Absolutely on fire yesterday with terrible reflux.

Greek yogurt for breakfast lit the fuse and I couldn't escape it all day. I had to be in early at work yesterday so I had no time to make anything. Reflux became aggravated greatly by the dose of ROH10 in the Heartburn Free. I couldn't shake it the rest of the day no matter what I ate. I tried TUMS, only to experience some temporary relief. Baking soda provided some temporary relief later on.

Cutting out the DGL definitely exacerbated the reflux. Waiting on the PepZinGi to get here. It should be here tomorrow.

How have things been going with the the attempt to ditch PPI's?
I have taken prevacid (PPI) for many years and have recently tried to get off it. I have been taking Ulcetrol by Now Foods for the last 3 weeks and the results have been fair at best.