Remember the commercial for “the purple pill”?
“The purple pill. Do you take the purple pill? Maybe you’re a candidate for the purple pill? Ask your doctor if you can take the purple pill.”
It’s Nexium. Purple “crack”. I’ve been taking it for a little over a month now. 40mg, twice a day. For acid reflux or GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease). Sounds gross, doesn’t it? That’s saying I have stomach acid going up my esophagus and up my throat and irritating the heck out of my vocal chords and sometimes making my chest and upper back hurt. It’s so… annoying! My throat hurts right now, and I’m not even sure what triggered it. I know that it’s partially my own doing. Stress. I’m a wound-up person (not all the time, but a lot), but I mask it and parade around like I’m a totally put together, easy-going gal. I can be. Hey, fake it ’til you make it. 🙂
Back to my medicine cabinet. I also have Pepcid, 20 mg, twice a day. Sometimes I have a little super-extra-strength Maalox cocktail in between if I’m feeling crappy like I am now. I don’t even get heartburn! Just a weird burning sensation in my throat and in between the shoulder blades. Sometimes it feels like I have something stuck or something sharp in my throat, but it never feels like my breathing is blocked.
I know I’ve rarely talked about my little acid problem. Had a bout of this 3 or 4 years ago, and actually weaned myself off of Prevacid (another medication) through stress management and diet. (Update: my ENT doctor diagnosed me with LPR back then, laryngopharyngeal reflux disease. Go ahead, google it.) I took 30 mg of the pink and black capsule twice a day, and then down to once a day. Can’t tell you how excited I was when I stopped. I took the occasional Tums here and there.
So, of course, I totally think I can do it again. That is, wean myself. But, maybe this time won’t be as easy? I totally want to. Nexium: It’s SUPER-EXPENSIVE, like over $150 for 30 pills (that’s with insurance)! For this reason alone I want to better manage my acid. I bought a wedge pillow to sleep on; a nice $24 investment. Here are the kids testing it out. Think it’ll last long? I’ve used it for a couple of weeks now. I always end up sliding down in the middle of the night. Have to work on that.
In the meantime, I’m looking at some interesting book titles: Tell Me What to Eat If I Have Acid Reflux, Spurn the Burn, Digestive Wellness. Some of you know, I really find alternative medicine (or complementary medicine) completely fascinating, so if you know of homeopathic strategies, websites or books, pass them along. For instance, I started taking an organic multi-vitamin with an herbal stress and immune support blend, as opposed to the one-a-day multi-vitamin. I’ll report on this after a month. I’m also on the probiotics kick and digestive enzymes. The digestive enzyme pills are more for anti-inflammatory use because I have a rough time with ibuprofen which exacerbates the acid problem. And, it works!
Alright, enough medical talk with Julie. Enjoy Earth Day… I’ll be chiming in on this later! We had a nice celebration in town, and we were greeted this morning with something funny.
This might not be at all the same, but when I was pregnant, I took a prenatal yoga class, and she was always putting us in different positions and telling us what they were to help. A lot of the women had heart burn, so she had a pose that was supposed to help with that. It basically involved opening up the chest to make more room. So, maybe you can find a yoga class that will help with your heart burn (like you have time, right?).
-Erica
I take the previous version of Nexium, Prylosec. My doc said that they are almost the same, but the Nexium heals some damage. You can get Prylosec OTC, in 20 mg pills. Might be an option to discuss with the doc when you wean yourself down.
As for the wedge pillow, an alternative may be sticking bricks under the head of your bed, to raise it a bit on one end. I do that when I’m pregnant.
Ranitidine (Zantac) is the cheapest OTC med for GERD/esophagitis/ulcer… $4 for 30-day supply at Wal-Mart for the 150 mg tabs (quantity: 60). Just be careful if you’re taking digestive enzymes (combo may increase or decrease efficacy of enteric-coated digestive enzyme products; could potentially increase gastric pH).
The best advice is to avoid lying down within 3 hours after meals, the period of greatest reflux. Avoid acidic foods (tomato products, citrus fruits, spicy foods, coffee) and agents that relax your lowers esophageal sphincter and delay gastric emptying (fatty foods, peppermint, chocolate, alcohol, smoking). Avoidance of bending after meals and reduction of meal size may also be helpful.
G’luck.
P.S. Aleve (and other NSAIDs) is the devil!
Thanks for all the tips everyone! And, I love my family! Judy, I’m taking a capsule digestive enzyme recommended by my physician. I think I’m good with the laying down more than 3 hours after meals… I’m always on my feet. Diet-wise, I really like all the foods and drink that you listed. Eastman cooks Italian food really well (his spaghetti sauce is divine), and I love, love, love spicy cajun food. *sigh* Everything in moderation, right?
oh I so feel your pain! I’m heading back to my GI for my second endoscopy, since my reflux seems to be back with a vengeance. what sort of digestive enzyme do you take, and do you find it helps?
The digestive enzyme I’m taking is for my issues with inflammed tissue (costochondritis). I took it for 90 days, and I don’t know if it was partially psychosomatic, but it seemed to help. So, as recommended by my doctor, for anti-inflammatory properties I took a pill with bromelain (sp?), an enzyme found in pineapples.