Acid reflux medications

[Rich]

I saw a report on our local news tonight regarding acid reflux medications.
I know there are a number of people here taking these medications.
A new study says that people taking Prilosec, Nexium,etc are at a much higher risk for things like broken hips and so forth.
It says that these meds drain a large portion of the calcium from your body.

Rich

 

[Guest]

*nods*

I saw that, too, Rich. But, the report I saw mentioned Prevacid, instead of Prilosec ... which concerned me just a bit. I took Prevacid last December to take care of any ulcers that might've been "lurking", given the stomach/gastro issues I had (which culminated, more or less, with the removal of my gallbladder last December 30). I am on Prilosec (prescription for Aciphex) now for the other issues (acid reflux, etc.).

*sighs*

Guess another question to ask the PCP ... my goodness mercy me!



Cort:33swm."Mr MC" / "Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
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"So much more aware" ... Linkin Park ... 'Numb'

 

[sue943]

We obviously have different brand names to you, the generic name for what I take is lansoprazole. I have been taking similar drugs for many years as any stress goes straight to my stomach. Presumably if there is a risk of gastric bleeding it is better to address that for patients taking anti-coagulants than worry about other rare side effects.

The list of possibly side effects is huge, so is this something new? I notice that one possible side effect is the enlargement of breasts in men, and subsequent milk production!

 

[hensylee]

I also have GERD. when I had my heart attack in 1999, they gave me a propulcid and sent me home! (misdiagnosed) The next week that med came off the market! I never knew why. I have cimetidine that I take on occasion. Maybe we ought to switch back to the spoonful of baking soda as our forbears used, when we have a stomach ache?

I was on one of those arthritis drugs that you take once a week and word is that it can destroy the bone structure of your jaw! I was never good at taking it and didn't take it long.

The meds we take can hurt us, you know.

 

[Rich]

I'm with you Ann, I want to go back and use what my grandmother gave me.
It's a wonder we survived this long.
I remember her cold and flu remedy. It was a cup of hot tea with honey, lemon and a shot of whiskey in it. Then she wrapped me up like a mummy and put me to bed. I sweated like crazy all night, but the next day I felt pretty darn good. This was in the early days of WW2, no meds available just old fashioned remedies from a true southern belle.
Rich

 

[Granbonny]

Rich

Rich

Hubby has always told about his Grandmother's cure,,for a cold..Very hot tub as hot as you can stand....get out and a shot of blackberry wine..Cover up and sweat it out. This was in Sweden....and he said, he was well the next day.............I remember my Daddy brushing his teeth with baking soda..I think he didn't get dentures until late in his life.I think I remember too, he used it for indigestion..........I'm blessed that I don't have any acid relux.or heartburn. ....but, we (hubby and I) just eat good southern food. None of this Mexican/Italian stuff. ..mainly because we eat at home .. At our age, we don't drive at night anymore..up here in the mountains...to eat out..........it would be a 30 mile drive.and whatever happened to Castor Oil /orange jucie..that we as kids were forced to take. for everything.. Bonnie

 

[hensylee]

Mother was born in Key West. They only had railroad to get to mainland. They used aloe for everything. They made poultices, tea from it. Every family had aloe plants.

Daughter uses baking soda now and again for brushing teeth - in fact, they now have a baking soda tube in stores.

My sister had cramps really bad and mother would give her a small shot of wine. Cured.

 

[Mb]

My husband has taken this med, twice a day for over five years. He suffers awfully, if he doesn't take it. He also has issues if he eats after 6 or 7 at night. I can't imagine what it would be like if he didn't take it.

Marybeth

 

[hensylee]

ON CNN e-news this morning, I found this timely article for this thread. Go have a look:

SPICES AND HERBS MAY HELP YOU AVOID DISEASE

Imagine going to your doctor with joint pain and leaving with a prescription
for ginger.

... FULL STORY: http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/12/22/CL.herbal.remedies/index.html

 

[Christina L]

What a lot of people

What a lot of people

don't realize is that a lot of times, a problem with GERD suggests a LACK of acid in the stomach! I take betaine hydrochloride or Solaray brand HCI with pepsin. I have been told this fact by my holistic physician and have read it on the internet. We do not eat (in our society) enough raw foods which have enzymes - and as we age, we have a lack of acid in our stomachs. Sounds wild, but it is true.

I found on blood work that I was not digesting protein, which is a sure sign of not enough acid in my stomach and enzymes to break down the protein. I was diagnosed with GERD and a small hiatal hernia a couple of years ago. I do not take any type of medication for the GERD and since I have started the HCI, I do not have any problems. Supposedly taking Pepcid or Propulsid longterm will really mess up your digestive system as it suppresses acid and your system will work overtime trying to make acid and enzymes that are already lacking.

I would suggest researching on the internet this subject or talking to a holistic physician about this. Western medicine doctors will not tell you about this - they will just push the pills (sorry to say, but this is true).

Christina L

 

[Susan BAV]

This is all a rough and difficult call, isn't it. My dear dad died from esophageal cancer, adenocarcinoma and not squamous cell; it was caused by chronic indigestion -- "fastest rising incidence of cancer in the US today," at last report. He chewed on Tums most of his adult life. So that wasn't the answer for him.

My husband has been taking some acupuncture treatments recently and his digestive problems are greatly improved and his heartburn is gone. The practitioner (his title is Doctor) said my husband was needing some enzymes to better digest his food. He gave us lists of acid-causing and alkaline-causing foods too and the lists really surprised me! What I think of acidic, tomatoes and such, were on the "good" alkaline list. According to the Doc, the Western diet is usually disproportionate in acidic and alkaline foods and we need to try to eat 80% alkaline to 20% acidic, instead of how we have been consuming foods, with the percentages improperly reversed.

 

[tobagotwo]

It's a good warning to take heed of, Rich. I would be careful to ensure that I'm getting plenty of calcium if I go on thos drugs. If older, have your bones checked.

Here's the lowdown on Propulsid:

IMPORTANT NEWS ALERT - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an urgent warning regarding cisapride (Propulsid) which has been found to cause cardiac arrhythmias (irregular heart rhythms). All patients taking cisapride have been advised to contact their doctors. The manufacturer of cisapride, Janssen Pharmaceutica, will remove cisapride from pharmacies by July of 2000; however, Janssen plans to make the drug available for patients with unusual, debilitating problems for whom there is no alternative therapy.

I'd be interested in seeing that list, Susan. Is it on the web somewhere? I've had problems with this since my OHS, something that seems to happen to a lot of us.

We should brainstorm this. What things do we have in common that could be causing GERD and similar issues?

- We take antibiotic doses for dental work

- Most take beta blockers after the surgery

- Something damaged by the anesthesia?

- Many are on aspirin therapy after surgery

What else can people think of?

Best wishes,

 

[Rich]

Bob,
That's a good question. I started having problems a little over a year ago.
That was close to ten years after my surgery.
I was getting a very sore spot in my throat, but the worse thing was I would get a tremendous amount of gas, no matter what I ate. This caused my heart to go crazy. I never experienced anything like it in my 68+ years.
My cardiologist was very concerned. Since I have been on the Nexium there have been no problems whatsoever. It just took quite a while to stabilize my INR because the Nexium had a very strong effect on it.
I'm not sure about all of these 'studies' we hear about every day.
Did anyone see the latest one this morning?
It was on GMA and says women who do housework have a 30% less chance of developing breast cancer. They say doing housework is much more effective than playing sports or working out !
I'll bet the women out there are just loving this one.

Rich

 

[tobagotwo]

Maybe we can find a common thread, Rich, something that could be tied to GERD. Or someone may provide an answer, such as Christina or Susan.

No doubt that last study was conducted by men. They seem to have forgotten to mention that the women should be barefoot when doing the housework, and perhaps pregnant...

There is a great propensity in the press to billboard the results of studies that might pique viewers' interest, whether the studies themselves are good science or not. As they only provide the punch line, there is usually no good way to review the source itself.

A similar situation was fomented by Psychology Today, which would constantly flood the reader with study results - frequently from "studies" consisting of six college-age males, observed or polled over a very brief span of time in a very limited fashion. The result was a lot of pseudoscientific junk, which has cluttered fact books and passalong emails with myriad misleading conclusions and spurious "facts" that will take many years to eradicate.

It's important to review the nature of the study, the study population, its age, its limitations, its size, its timespan, and sometimes even its funding to determine if it's worth repeating. Otherwise, it's just a teaser, like "It can kill people, and it's something you may be eating for dinner tonight! Details at eleven..."

Best wishes,

 

[Susan BAV]

...Did anyone see the latest one this morning? It was on GMA and says women who do housework have a 30% less chance of developing breast cancer. They say doing housework is much more effective than playing sports or working out!...I'll bet the women out there are just loving this one.

Right, loving that one...And I've been hinting to my husband that a lot of my friends have cleaning help...so thank you very much for that...

Regarding the Acid/Alkaline lists, they are listed as follows from the lists my husband was given:

Common Acid Ash Foods, leaving strong acid in your internal environment...bacon, barley grain, beef, blueberries, bran/wheat and oat, bread/white and whole wheat, butter, carob, cheese, chicken, cod, corn, corned beef, crackers/soda, cranberries, currants, eggs, flour/white and whole wheat, haddock, honey, lamb, lentils/dried, lobster, milk/cow's, macaroni, oatmeal, oysters, peanut butter, peanuts, peas/dried, pike, (plums and prunes leave an alkaline ash but have an acidifying effect on the body), pork, rice/white and brown, salmon, sardines, sausage, scallops, shrimp, spaghetti, squash/winter, sunflower seeds, turkey, veal, walnuts, wheat germ, and yogurt. Neutral ash foods that have an acidifying effect include: corn oil, corn syrup, olive oil, and refined sugar.

Common Alkaline Ash Foods, helping to control acid in your internal environment... almonds, apples, apricots, avocados, bananas, beans/dried, beet greens, beets, blackberries, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chard leaves, cherries/sour, cucumbers, watermelon, dates/dried, figs/dried, grapefruit, grapes, green beans, green peas, lemons, lettuce, lima beans/ dried and green, limes, milk/goat (recommended for infants only when mother's milk is not available), millet, molasses, mushrooms, muskmelons, onions, oranges, parsnips, peaches, pears, pineapple, potatoes/sweet and white, radishes, raisins, raspberries, rhubarb (not recommended for having properties detrimental to the body), rutabagas, sauerkraut, soy beans/green, spinach/raw, strawberries, tangerines, tomatoes, and watercress.

Again, we were told that the Western diet tends to be heavy on the acidic foods, and we would be better with an 80% to 20% ratio in favor of the alkaline foods. I know in our home in recent years, we definitely have tended to eat more foods from the acidic list. The Doc also told my husband to quit eating any cheese for the time being. And hubbie is taking some oral "living plant enzymes." He's feeling a great deal better and says he hasn't even had a touch of heartburn in weeks.

So you all can chew on that and swallow it; no burps allowed!

 

[Christina L]

About four years ago I

About four years ago I

wrote a scathing letter to the Denver Post (yes I did - ha - and they published it) regarding an article stating that research had shown that women who had NEVER given birth (which I have not) and women who gave birth after age 30, were at increased risk for breast cancer.

The article was published shortly after my own mother had died at age 64 of breast cancer. My mother had FIVE children before the age of 30. Every woman I know who has had breast cancer had many children and/or gave birth to her children before 30. Yes, of course, there are childless women who have contracted breast cancer, but I do not believe for a minute their incidence of BC is any higher than other women.

Just in the past few weeks, it has come out that there was a 7% drop in women who contracted breast cancer in the year after the big brouhaha came out about birth control pills being dangerous - causing blood clots, heart attacks, and certain types of cancer - thousands of women stopped hormone replacement, hence, probably the reason for the decline in breast cancer soon after that.

I agree with Bob in a lot of respects - these studies are done by men and way back in their minds --- they really believe that woman should be barefoot and pregnant and to keep "their" castle spotless. In a warped sort of way, they twist these findings.

I am suspicious of this study - unless a woman uses no-chemical cleaners, I would think that cleaning the house a lot would have just the opposite effect - breast cancer from all the cleaning chemicals. HOWEVER, it is a known fact that exercise decreases estrogen levels, which fuel breast cancer development. I can see how cleaning the house vigorously would maybe help in that respect.

AND as for GERD after heart surgery - I think messing with the diaphragm via surgery (major messing!) causes hiatal hernias to develop, which in turn causes digestion problems (loss of acid production) and then GERD.

Christina L