Get Off Prilosec
By Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D. Eliminate chronic acid reflux and indigestion in five easy steps.
Heartburn drugs increase the risk of pneumonia, probably because they reduce germ-killing stomach acid, reported researchers in last month’s issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. In a study of more than 300,000 patients, users of such drugs as Prilosec and Nexium faced almost double the risk of pneumonia compared with former users. And those taking another class of acid-fighting drugs, including Tagamet and Pepcid, were also at elevated risk.
This was a serious blow to the $13 billion antacid business, but a wake-up call for drug users. The good news? There’s a healthier way to stop the burn. And the first step is to understand acid’s vital role in the body.
Many people forget that stomach acid is necessary. Not only does it kill harmful bacteria, it’s also needed to digest food and assimilate nutrients. In fact, the elderly often have a problem getting enough nutrition from food because acid production dramatically decreases with age. Unfortunately, many heartburn sufferers make the mistake of turning off stomach acid to solve their problems rather than giving their bodies what they need to heal.
Most of your indigestion symptoms occur when any stomach acid refluxes (squirts) back up into your esophagus. Your esophagus is not made to resist stomach acid, and even a little bit will cause it to burn. Because of this, physicians often prescribe medications that turn off all the stomach acid. When there is no stomach acid, the burning stops, leading many antacid users to mistakenly believe that the problem was too much stomach acid.
What Happens When You Turn Off Stomach Acid?
Unfortunately, using anti-acid medications for an extended period causes two problems. First, with no stomach acid, your body is not able to optimally digest food, and you become nutritionally deficient. This makes it even harder for your stomach to make the mucous lining it needs to protect itself and can set you up for even more reflux. Second, in your body’s attempt to make stomach acid (when you take anti-acid meds), it produces huge amounts of a hormone called gastrin that stimulates stomach acid. Because of this, as soon as you stop your antacids, the stomach makes massive amounts of acid, which it cannot protect against. In essence, you become addicted to the antacids. It’s therefore no surprise that Prilosec, Nexium, Zantac and other antacids are some of the biggest money-making pharmaceuticals.
So What Can You Do?
The following program is a wonderfully effective way to resolve your reflux and indigestion.
1. Improve your digestion by taking the proper enzymes (see sidebar below), and drink sips of warm liquids instead of cold when you are eating (cold temperatures inhibit digestive enzyme function). The long-term use of digestive enzymes can also dramatically improve your overall health and well-being.
2. Avoid coffee, aspirin products, colas and alcohol until your stomach heals, and then use them in limited amounts.
3. Take measures to heal your stomach lining. Using deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) can be very effective in resolving your symptoms. (It must be the DGL form, as others can cause blood pressure problems.) Research shows that DGL is as effective as Tagamet, but it’s a lot better for you. In addition, taking the herbal remedy mastic gum (two 500-mg capsules twice a day) for two months can be effective. DGL and mastic gum can be used separately or together. Since they help to heal the stomach instead of just masking symptoms, they may take three to four weeks to work in severe cases. They can be used as long as you want, however. You can take antacids during this time if necessary.
4. In many patients, stomach infections, such as Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), can be a major cause of long-term indigestion. Most doctors treat these infections with Prilosec combined with two or three antibiotics used simultaneously. A better approach is to add an orange peel extract product (containing limonene) to your diet. Take one every other day for 20 days once your indigestion has settled down a bit with the DGL/mastic gum. It may initially aggravate reflux symptoms, but by killing the infection, it may give long-term relief after only one 10-capsule course.
5. Take cat’s claw as an anti-inflammatory and to help the body absorb nutrients.
Note: In mild or occasional cases, the DGL for a few days may be all you need. For more severe cases, use the entire program to restore healthy digestion.
How Can I Come Off my Prescription Antacids?
After you have been on this treatment regimen for one to two months and are feeling much better, ask your doctor if you can stop your prescription antacids and switch to an over-the-counter remedy (or stay on the DGL/mastic gum regimen). This will decrease your stomach acid instead of totally turning it off. By doing this, your body can slowly ease back to normal production of acid. Decrease the dose of the OTC remedy or DGL until you are able to come off it altogether. After two months, most people can stop the DGL and mastic gum. If symptoms recur down the line, simply use the DGL for a few days. If needed, you can repeat the course of DGL/mastic gum (and even the orange peel extract if the stomach infection recurs) whenever you like. Meanwhile, you’ll have broken your addiction to antacids and allowed your body to have the stomach acid it needs for proper digestion.
Natural RX for Reflux
1. A broad-spectrum plant enzyme formula�?/SPAN> 2 capsules with each meal to help digest your food properly. (Drink warm liquids with meals.) If the enzymes are irritating to your stomach, wait until your stomach feels better (after doing No. 2 and 3 below) before resuming the enzymes.
2. Deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL)—Chew 2 tablets 20 minutes before meals.
3. Mastic gum (from the Pistacia lentiscus tree)�?,000 mg twice a day for two months, then as needed.
4. Orange peel extract formula�? capsule every other day for 20 days (may initially aggravate reflux, but can give long-term relief).
5. Cat’s claw (Uncaria tomentosa)�? capsule twice a day
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