Acid Reflux & Aspirin

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Freddie

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Years ago I had server acid reflux and was put on a prescription for about 2 weeks and never had an experience again until now.

So here's the deal, I started 81mg of aspirin about a month ago. 2 weeks ago I started having acid reflux - it would come and go throughout the day and it wasn't a big concern. Now it's consistent. That closing feeling at the back of the throat feeling, between the shoulder blades are sore and Zentact doesn't help.

Could the aspirin be the cause of all of this? I've read conflicting articles.

Does anyone have any insight on this? (I'm pretty miserable right now)

Thanks in advance
 
I never had a problem with this until I started on Aspirin post surgery.
I have tried 3 different types of low dose Aspirin.
Uncoated this is what I was first on and once the problem started I thought try something else.
I tried the enteric coated and this was better, however some things still caused problems especially alcohol.
I then tried "Cartia" which appears to have a different coating, they call it Duentric, I can't say what the difference is however I rarely have problems these days.
 
I was put on prilosec after my surgery because of all the pills I had to take and especially the aspirin but it isn't good to take that all the time. I stopped taking that and now I get heartburn occasionally, definetly more often than when I wasn't taking aspirin. Usually one pepto bismal chewable works, sometimes I need two. Tums and rolaids are worthless though.
 
Consult your doctor first, but have you checked into taking Krill oil instead of aspirin? Aspirin is prescribed to thin the blood and prevent clots, there are several countries in the UK that do not undertake the practice of prescribing aspirin to thin the blood, and they prescribe fish oil instead. Many studies over there have exposed daily aspirin use as being damaging to the gastro-intestional tract causing long term consequences.

I will spare you the heap of "drug companies warping the healthcare system" speech, however, drugs like Zantac, Prilosec, Omeprozole, and the others are NOT the long term answer for acid reflux! These drugs deprive your body of valuable nutrients as they prevent the absorption of many vitamins we need to live and fight off sickness. Drugs like Prilosec, zantac, and the other anti-stomach acid stuff were not designed initially to be taken for long periods of time just because of this. If you have persistent GURD or reflux, you need to find out why and get it resolved. There are alternatives to aspirin as well.

Best of luck
 
hi, i have ibs so was worried when i was given aspirin,i take the encoated 81mg and seem to do ok with it,interesting one about some counties not giving it? yorkshire does lol,havnt heard of that one and lived in england all my life
 
Consult your doctor first, but have you checked into taking Krill oil instead of aspirin? Aspirin is prescribed to thin the blood and prevent clots, there are several countries in the UK that do not undertake the practice of prescribing aspirin to thin the blood, and they prescribe fish oil instead. Many studies over there have exposed daily aspirin use as being damaging to the gastro-intestional tract causing long term consequences.

I will spare you the heap of "drug companies warping the healthcare system" speech, however, drugs like Zantac, Prilosec, Omeprozole, and the others are NOT the long term answer for acid reflux! These drugs deprive your body of valuable nutrients as they prevent the absorption of many vitamins we need to live and fight off sickness. Drugs like Prilosec, zantac, and the other anti-stomach acid stuff were not designed initially to be taken for long periods of time just because of this. If you have persistent GURD or reflux, you need to find out why and get it resolved. There are alternatives to aspirin as well.

Best of luck

Interesting thread.

I'd be interested in knowing more about long term use of (enteric) Aspirin and Prilosec/Omeprazole.
Are there any internet links with such information? or other sources?

I'd also be interested in knowing what other options are available.
 
Old home remedy in the south is take a spoonful of vinegar every day. Don't ask me if this works, because I would have to be hurting bad to try it since even the smell of vinegar is horrible.

Mileena
 
I too would be interested in other options (besides vinegar - sorry Mileena).

I'm still suffering, but not as bad. Put a call in to my cardio on Monday and still haven't heard back and I've stop taking the aspirin.
 
Freddie, fortunately your arteries are good and you are on Coumadin for ACT so the Aspirin isn't totally necessary.
The first thing to do is review your diet. You know what I am going to say:
NO softdrinks
NO caffeine
NO spicy foods
NO fried foods
NO cigarettes
NO booze
Yes, it sounds totally boring, but I've had gut problems in the past and really don't want a repeat, especially
now that I am taking Coumadin.
Yesterday at dinner I enjoyed a small piece of lean steak, brown rice, and broccoli. Nothing else.
Oatmeal cookies are a great snack item with low guilt.

Also, STRESS is a huge contributor to stomach issues.
Have you started yoga yet?
 
I'm not sure about the long term effects of aspirin/prilosec is but prilosec shouldn't be taken for more than a couple months because it blocks certain vitamins from being absorbed. My doctor told me I could take it ever other day if I really needed it but he preferred I stopped. I took it for about 4 months. I'm down to just a baby aspirin, sotalol, atenolol, zoloft, and ativan. I am weaning of the ativan and take very very low doses of all of the pills I take so I don't really have problems with heartburn much anymore and if I do a chewable pepto bismol works wonders.
 
No my doctor told me but was not too specific of the particular vitamins being blocked. And when I had blood tests everything seemed fine on that front so I'm not sure. I'll see if I can find anything.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton-pump_inhibitor

B-12, but this article has some other interesting facts such as they proton pump inhibitors can do something to calcium channel and cause arrythmias!!! And you know what I stopped having PVCs constantly after I stopped taking them!!! Wow, thanks for asking that question. I still have the PVCs but it isn't constant, such for a couple minutes here and there not all day long like I used to whine about before.
 
Freddie, fortunately your arteries are good and you are on Coumadin for ACT so the Aspirin isn't totally necessary.
The first thing to do is review your diet. You know what I am going to say:
NO softdrinks
NO caffeine
NO spicy foods
NO fried foods
NO cigarettes
NO booze
Yes, it sounds totally boring, but I've had gut problems in the past and really don't want a repeat, especially
now that I am taking Coumadin.
Yesterday at dinner I enjoyed a small piece of lean steak, brown rice, and broccoli. Nothing else.
Oatmeal cookies are a great snack item with low guilt.

Also, STRESS is a huge contributor to stomach issues.
Have you started yoga yet?

I'm on long term Omeprazole and I also worry about what it's doing to me. Every time I stop taking it, after a couple days, my GERD starts to act up. I'm pretty good with your list, Bina, except for the morning coffee (1/2 caff.), wine, spicy foods and STRESS. Hmmmm, I wonder if cutting out the coffee, halving the wine and taking my Omeprazole every 2 or 3 days would make a difference? One thing I DO know: vinegar is HIGHLY acidic, Mileena, so I don't recommend any one try that approach. But in thinking about it, I put a ton of it on my salad almost evry night. Maybe that's the culprit. I'm not sure I have the discipline to go through a process of elimination.

Freddie, in your case, given the timing of your problems, it does seem like the aspirin is a big contributor to your GERD. Have you tried taking it with Yogurt or some other foods? I know that apirin on an empty stomach can be especially harsh.
 
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The main thing with taking them for a while is the problem with absorbing vitamins, maybe you should read into taking something else like Nexium. My father in-law has barettes (sp?) esophagus and has been taking Nexium for 10 years now. I used to take Prevacid for about two years. I don't know what kind of problems you'd face from those but it may be worth looking into. Otherwise maybe you can pass up the prilosec every other day if possible and make sure to take vitamins.
 
It is my understanding that Nexium is also a Proton-Pump Inhibitor and is not available in Generic form (i.e. is Much More Expen$ive). It appears that many Doctors and even Pharmacists are not aware of the Long Term effects of PPI's.
 

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