Asking people who have successfully gotten off PPIs

Hello I to are struggling with acid and still wanting to come of PPI medication after 6 years and still not better can you please let me know how you get on and wishing luck 

I’ll follow up to this thread once I’m further along the process.  I hope to find a strategy that works.  

i got off ppi bcoz its harmful side effects. i do not have gerd or hiatus hernia, i am stuck on this med bcoz of hyperacidity . while i was on ppi my platelate become very low. last 8 months on ppi was miserable. esophagus spasp, globus all time, i was constantly bleeding from throat, too much gum bleeding, my esophagus was completely damaged. i was living in fear so i decided to stop the ppi and took h2s instead . after 2 months i was surprised  to see that all those throat and esophagus problems are actually created by the very ppi i used to treat it. after 2 months of taking h2s. gradually my throat problem is gone, my esophagus feels 10 times better, no more throat bleeding , gum bleeding also stopped, its a lot of improvement but unfortunately my stomach hurts a lot now, even after 4 months acid does not reduced a bit, it burns all the time.

i saw lot of post of how people stop ppi and take h2blocker instead at high dose then gradually they are able to reduce doseage. i can not even drop it to 2x150mg zactac. i might have to go back on them which i don't want to but i think i have no choice

Susan have you tried food enzymes and hydrochloride acid reflux, if you go on Google and you tube you will find out that we actually don't have enough acid, it's the total opposite of what we've been told by doctors. If your acid is low it can't break down the food properly so it lingers in the stomach, making us bloated and burp some bavkbup into our esophagus, goodle food enzymes etc it will explain it all. Hope this is helpful to you. 

hi Gillan 68 

its good for you that you only have to take them when you need to but i have to take 3 150mg tab everyday and still my stomach hurts a lot . i am also experiencing some rantidine side effects . i don't know if i am doing right thing or not, i may have to go back on them again. my overall health definitely better than when i was on ppi. i would have love to continue on rantidine if i can atleast reduce my dosage to 300mg per day but right now i don't see any hope.  

The only reason I’m off the PPI’s is because of how dangerous they are, but believe me, I’m in agony every day of my life, the pain is unbearable at times. I can’t take any more than one Ranitidine a day as I feel terrible on them, but I felt worse on PPI’s. The thing that I can’t understand is why my will power is so poor, I know exactly what I have to do to cure my chronic Gastritis/heartburn/acid reflux and all those horrible pains in my upper right/left quad, pains in my lower back, middle, upper between shoulder blades, the constant nausea. The general idea, when you’ve been on PPI’s for a long time is to switch over to Ranitidine, then come off them and take Betaine hydrochloride with pepsin. The Mediterranean diet is meant to work wonders, mostly vegetables with olive  oil. I went on it for 2 weeks, this is the truth, I never had any aches or pains, my stomach was great, I’ve never felt so good in my life, but I gave into temptation and went back on to junk foods, so I’m now back at square one. I hate the fact that my will power is so bad, I desperately want to eat healthy, I’m not giving up, I’m going to keep trying until I manage it. The best foods to be eating for stomach issues are vegetables and fermented foods such as kimchi, Natto, sauerkraut, Ghee. We were never designed to eat crisps, bars of chocolates, fries, fizzy juices etc, it’s no wonder our stomachs are a mess. 

Me too have very bad will power i know eating healthy and exercising would help me so much but something always stops me specialy when im really stressed out i go for bad food then im in pain and misery or i dont want to exercise because i feel so drained and in pain so i dont it.

Can i ask what your meals were you ate Mediterranean diet?

Hi Crystal

I would take smoothies, which would consist of 5 or more fruits, combined with organic spinach and Kale as those are two of the most nutritious vegetables. If your making smoothies try not to mix too many fruits with veg as it can lead to undesirable fermentation in the gut. Always best to take fruit on its own and veg on its own, but I found that Kale and spinach seem to be ok with fruit. I would eat stir fry’s, which would be plenty of veg, I would also have quinoa rice with it, seeds such as pumpkin seeds, nuts ie cashew, Brazil nuts. If taking Brazil nuts make sure you don’t eat more than 4 a day as their exceptionaly high in selenium, which is really good for the immune system, but as their High in this mineral 4 is enough. I would put organic milled flax seed and chia seed in my smoothie and I would take organic virgin olive oil on my plate of veg with my quinoa rice. Make sure your veg is soft, ie steamed, its less work for your stomach. I can’t emphasise enough about how good I felt, didn’t need any pills, felt fantastic, no aches, no pains and my BP dropped from a usual 150/105 to 140/75, that’s a fair drop in my diastolic reading. I just wish my will power was stronger, I hate eating crap foods ie cakes, biscuits, crisps, processed foods. Tomorrow I’m going to make a real attemp to stay on a plant based diet. I had a few bad experiences with PPI’s, my calcium levels dropped, then 2 weeks later, my phosphate levels dropped, I now have a low eGFR which has led to poor kidney function since being on PPI’s, I was only on them,  on and off for 2 years. I cringe at the people on hear that say PPI’s are fine, they don’t know what their in for as illness can take a long time or short time to show its ugly head. I wish you the best of luck if you manage to stay on a plant based diet or Mediterranean style diet. I will be staying away from dairy and meat as meat takes between 7 and 8 hours for the body to digest, and unless it’s organic, grass fed then it’s pumped with antibiotics and hormones. If I do my homework properly then I can get my Iron, protein, B12 etc from foods that aren’t meat or dairy orientated. Good luck 😉👍

Wknight- that’s a good way of looking at it.  Millions of people are on PPIs and there is no hard evidence of the supposed dangers.  Lots of articles out there making claims about the POTENTIAL dangers of PPIs and what COULD or MIGHT happen in long-term use, but nothing concrete that shows actual causation. If one looks only at the facts...you’re right. Excellent safety profile.   Nobody is dying from their PPIs. I think lots of people are, however, scared of what the long term effects might be, which is why we see so many people trying to stop their PPIs.  At the end of the day, I guess it boils down to quality of life.  If a PPI controls acid symptoms and allows one to enjoy their life versus not taking a PPI and feeling sick and miserable all the time, then taking the PPI makes sense.  

Good luck to you and and Jaybird13, you’ll need it. You really should do your 📚 homework. 😬😃

While I agree that PPIs come with some level of risk, as with any medication, you have to weigh risk vs reward. Sounds like you’re in poor health and are blaming your ppi on all of it.  I’ve done tons of homework on this, which is why I’m going to try getting off my ppi.  Again, because of POSSIBLE risk. However, I stand by my comment that there are no credible studies that show a direct link between PPIs and kidney disease nor are there any credible studies that show a direct link to many of the “possible” effects that are considered serious.  If you could cite any studies that show a direct causation....not a correlation....please post them here. I’d love to read them.  

Considering I’m 50 and never had any health issues other than Gastritis, I think I’ve done pretty well, until the PPI’s. Never had any issues with bloods until being on them either. Anyway, as I said before please do your homework!! It’s your prerogative if you would rather live on them and not change your diet, but please don’t tell people they’ve nothing to worry about if their taking them. Hope I don’t see you on here in a couple of years complaining about a B12 deciciency, osteoarthritis, dementia, kidney disease, or stomach cancer. You do know that they thin the stomach lining? This can lead to stomach cancer. Hope you continue to be ok, as I wouldn’t wish any of these on anyone, good luck for the future. 👍🤔

Gillian - Please show where I said that people have nothing to worry about? You clearly did t read my posts very thoroughly.  Putting words in one’s mouth doesn’t seem to be your only problem. Your other problem is your condescending tone when you make claims like “PPI’s thin the stomach lining” and making reference to things like kidney disease and stomach cancer.  Stomach cancer? Lol! There hasn’t been one case of stomach cancer in humans that is linked to PPIs. You’re hilarious! You say “do your homework” as if you’ve done yours. Just because you read it on the internet doesn’t make it true.  You have to make sure the sources of your information are credible and factual. So far, you’ve thrown out a lot of hypotheticals, but no facts.  So let’s stick to facts, as the internet is already full of junk science.  I’ll start: There are absolutely ZERO studies that show causation on PPIs causing kidney disease, stomach cancer or thinning of the stomach lining.  Those are facts. Now it’s your turn.  I asked you to provide sources that back up these claims that show studies that prove causation and you haven’t.  So I’m asking you again.  Provide links to studies that show causation.  And if you can’t do that, that’s fine. But throwing around hypotheticals that fit your narrative isn’t productive.  

Edit: I want to be clear on my stance that stopping PPIs is the best option. If you read my original post, I mentioned that I’m seeing a Naturopathic Doctor to help me in my endeavors.  For some reason, you seem to think I’m advocating for lifelong PPI use and that I’m not interested in stopping PPIs, hence your “hope I don’t see you back here in a couple of years complaining about blah blah blah” comment.  So again, to be clear, that’s not at all what I’m advocating.  I’m all about trying to stop PPIs.  But I draw the line when people like you start spewing misinformation.  It’s just not helpful.