Hello,
Interested in experiences here with PPIs.
Has anyone been able to continue or start taking a PPI like Omeprazole/Prilosec and find that there were no ramifications for their Microscopic Colitis? I know it's on a list of meds that can aggravate MC, but what if you have GERD that is resistant to H2 inhibitors like Pepcid and need the PPI? Conversely, has anyone started a PPI and found that it DID touch off their MC?
Larry
PPIs like Omeprazole/Prilosec
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Re: PPIs like Omeprazole/Prilosec
Hello Larry,
I have had only about three days worth of experience with PPIs. Hopefully someone who's used them longer will post their experiences.
About 10 years ago I had major abdominal surgery to stop massive colonic bleeding due to a genetic defect that appears to be passed down to the males in our family. The third day after the surgery, the doctors decided to see if my digestive system would restart, so I was brought my first meal in three days. I barely started eating when I choked on the ventilator tube that had been shoved down my airways, and I coughed up the tube. The doctors insisted that the tube would have to be reinserted. When I objected, they insisted that I take a PPI each day, if I didn't want the tube. So I took the PPIs for three days, until I was ready to go home.
I never had Gerd in my life, until after I got out of the hospital and stopped taking those PPIs. The first time it happened, I woke up in the wee hours of the morning with a mouthful of stomach acid, so i went to the bathroom and spit it in the lavatory. It took two days for my throat to stop burning, and in the meantime Gerd was a regular problem causing my throat to become re-inflamed every half day or so. I did some research and found out how to resolve it. But it took five or six weeks at least, before I was confident that my lower esophageal sphincter had regained enough strength that it was able to hold back the Gerd at all times. In other words it only took three days for the PPIs to weaken the muscles in my lower esophageal sphincter enough to cause me to have persistent Gerd. It took six weeks to recover from the damage done by the PPIs. Needless to say, I wouldn't touch another PPI with a 10 foot pole.
Here's how you can get rid of your Gerd:
1. Avoid all foods that are especially prone to cause Gerd, such as alcohol (especially red wine); pepper, garlic, onions, and other spicy foods; chocolate; citrus fruits and other sources of citric acid such as lemons, oranges, tomatoes, etc., carbonated soft drinks; coffee and tea; and peppermint.
2. Avoid eating after at least two or three hours before bedtime.
3. When lying in bed, never lie on your right side, because this places the top of your stomach above your lower esophageal sphincter. This places back pressure on your lower esophageal sphincter, so that if it should momentarily relax, your stomach contents will reflux into your esophagus.
4. If necessary, raise the head of your bed a few inches by placing blocks under the legs.
It took me six months of doing that before I got up the nerve to lie on my right side again. After that, I could once again lie on my right side without any Gerd problems. in my opinion (and I'm not alone in this assessment), PPIs are probably the most iatrogenic medication ever developed by the pharmaceutical industry.
Here's how PPIs make you feel that they are preventing Gerd: they neutralize the acid in your stomach, which of course prevents you from digesting food normally, and makes you more vulnerable to foodborne pathogens. You still have the reflux, in fact it becomes worse than ever, but you can no longer feel it, because the acid is neutralized, so it doesn't burn.
If you would like to see the medical research on this to verify what I've said, I can look it up and post it for you.
I hope this helps,
Tex
I have had only about three days worth of experience with PPIs. Hopefully someone who's used them longer will post their experiences.
About 10 years ago I had major abdominal surgery to stop massive colonic bleeding due to a genetic defect that appears to be passed down to the males in our family. The third day after the surgery, the doctors decided to see if my digestive system would restart, so I was brought my first meal in three days. I barely started eating when I choked on the ventilator tube that had been shoved down my airways, and I coughed up the tube. The doctors insisted that the tube would have to be reinserted. When I objected, they insisted that I take a PPI each day, if I didn't want the tube. So I took the PPIs for three days, until I was ready to go home.
I never had Gerd in my life, until after I got out of the hospital and stopped taking those PPIs. The first time it happened, I woke up in the wee hours of the morning with a mouthful of stomach acid, so i went to the bathroom and spit it in the lavatory. It took two days for my throat to stop burning, and in the meantime Gerd was a regular problem causing my throat to become re-inflamed every half day or so. I did some research and found out how to resolve it. But it took five or six weeks at least, before I was confident that my lower esophageal sphincter had regained enough strength that it was able to hold back the Gerd at all times. In other words it only took three days for the PPIs to weaken the muscles in my lower esophageal sphincter enough to cause me to have persistent Gerd. It took six weeks to recover from the damage done by the PPIs. Needless to say, I wouldn't touch another PPI with a 10 foot pole.
Here's how you can get rid of your Gerd:
1. Avoid all foods that are especially prone to cause Gerd, such as alcohol (especially red wine); pepper, garlic, onions, and other spicy foods; chocolate; citrus fruits and other sources of citric acid such as lemons, oranges, tomatoes, etc., carbonated soft drinks; coffee and tea; and peppermint.
2. Avoid eating after at least two or three hours before bedtime.
3. When lying in bed, never lie on your right side, because this places the top of your stomach above your lower esophageal sphincter. This places back pressure on your lower esophageal sphincter, so that if it should momentarily relax, your stomach contents will reflux into your esophagus.
4. If necessary, raise the head of your bed a few inches by placing blocks under the legs.
It took me six months of doing that before I got up the nerve to lie on my right side again. After that, I could once again lie on my right side without any Gerd problems. in my opinion (and I'm not alone in this assessment), PPIs are probably the most iatrogenic medication ever developed by the pharmaceutical industry.
Here's how PPIs make you feel that they are preventing Gerd: they neutralize the acid in your stomach, which of course prevents you from digesting food normally, and makes you more vulnerable to foodborne pathogens. You still have the reflux, in fact it becomes worse than ever, but you can no longer feel it, because the acid is neutralized, so it doesn't burn.
If you would like to see the medical research on this to verify what I've said, I can look it up and post it for you.
I hope this helps,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Re: PPIs like Omeprazole/Prilosec
Many thanks for your response, Tex.
In my Mom's case, none of the "typical" mitigation techniques work, and the GERD is already there (and resistant to Mylanta and Tums) so she may have no choice but to employ a PPI. I've been taking PPIs for many years, and I'm very satisfied with how much better I am feeling and my endoscopy biopsies have changed from pre-Barretts esophagus towards completely benign. No medication comes without cost in terms of some side effects. My other doctors would prefer to see me off of them, but I'm not willing to take the chance.
In any case, I appreciate your input and I'm sorry that you had such an unpleasant experience with them. Thank you again!
Larry
In my Mom's case, none of the "typical" mitigation techniques work, and the GERD is already there (and resistant to Mylanta and Tums) so she may have no choice but to employ a PPI. I've been taking PPIs for many years, and I'm very satisfied with how much better I am feeling and my endoscopy biopsies have changed from pre-Barretts esophagus towards completely benign. No medication comes without cost in terms of some side effects. My other doctors would prefer to see me off of them, but I'm not willing to take the chance.
In any case, I appreciate your input and I'm sorry that you had such an unpleasant experience with them. Thank you again!
Larry
Larry