Do you know of a natural cure for my GERD?? No antiacid or proton pump inhibitors please!!!?

Question

I have been taking proton pump inhibitors like Prevacid and Nexium for three years now. When I go off these drugs my life becomes a nightmare. The symptoms become even worse. I have tried the aplle cider vinegar cure but does not work for me. Antiacids only help for a few minutes. Im going crazy here.
My insurance doesnt cover the proton pump inhibitors and they are very expensive, besides I worry for the long term consecuences of using them.

Answer 1

There are many controversial views on natural/herbal treatments for GERD. Here are a few you might want to consider:

1. Sleep with your head-upper body somewhat elevated. The key is to elevate roughly 6-9inches if you can tolerate it. It may help reduce the symptoms.

2. Support mucous-membrane healing by chewing 250 to 500 mg of deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) before meals and bedtime

3. Avoid smoking and excessive alcohol to ease irritation that could lead to cancer of the esophagus

4. experiment with your diet to find out what triggers the discomfort; high-fat foods, spicy foods, peppermint, spearmint, chocolate, and acidic beverages are all potential culprits

5. Avoid eating prior to exercise and right before bedtime to reduce symptoms

6. Hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes are sometimes recommended by practitioners of natural medicine in the hope improved digestion will help prevent reflux.

7. Other herbs traditionally used to treat reflux and heartburn include digestive demulcents (soothing agents) such as aloe vera, slippery elm, bladderwrack, and marshmallow.

These recommendations are not comprehensive and are not intended to replace the advice of your doctor or pharmacist. Please consult a physcian or read more into each herbal recommendation for side effects etc before starting them.

Good luck and I hope you find something that will make you feel better.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

I too have GERD. I haven't found anything that works besides the Proton Pump inhibitors. Prescription ones are very pricey. I took aciphex for a year. Fortunately my insurance paid all but $20 per month. I have found now that I can buy Prilosec OTC for $25 for a 6 week supply. That's cheaper than the insurance co-pay. Works just as well if not better than what I was taking.And if it's something you have to take every day for the rest of your life, if you can afford it, what's the big deal? Lot's of people take medication for things. My wife takes Synthroid for her thyroid condition. She'll take it every day forever. If it helps the problem, why not?

Answer 4

I too have GERD, so I know what you are going through. I don't understand why your insurance doesn't cover the prescriptions, but that does suck, because I take Protonix and thankfully I have great coverage.
Anyway, have you tried to follow the dietary guidelines? I know that sounds very obvious, but some doctors are not as thorough as others. I know I was given a ton of info--mainly watch the caffeine, fat, spicy and alcohol-- the only other thing that I can think of is have you tried probiotics like acidophilus pills that add natural digestive enzymes? I think they help but I can't go more than a day without the meds.
My other suggestion is to talk to your Dr. and explain your financial situation. Many times they will be cool and give you samples. Good luck

Answer 5

Hi Labela. The key to your problem is to find and fix the CAUSE of your GERD. There are too many possible causes to adequately cover them here. However, you sound intelligent enough (and motivated) to educate yourself on this issue.

I would like to recommend an excellent book on this topic by Sherry Rogers, M.D. The book is called "No More Heartburn". It is available at Amazon.com.

This booked is packed with important insights on the causes of GERD and how to properly treat them (rather than masking the symptoms with dangerous drugs like you have been using). I highly recommend this book.

Best wishes and good luck.

P.S. By now, the drugs you have been taking will have resulted in multiple mineral deficiencies (e.g. calcium, zinc, etc.) and B12 (and possibly other) vitamin deficiencies. You should begin taking a quality multi-vitamin/mineral supplement (NOT Centrum, One-A-Day, or other 'junk-food' supplements). You should take additional mineral supplements and at least 1000 micrograms of B12 daily. I highly recommend your doctor order appropriate blood tests to evaluate your vitamin and mineral status. Don't worry ... your doc will not know what those tests are! (how sad.)

Also, these drugs cause an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine of 100% of patients using them! This condition is called Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIB0). This can be a major cause of your ongoing symptoms.

One last P.S., you need to find a REAL doctor that will help you find and fix the cause of health problems and not just poison you with symptom masking drugs. A good Naturopathic Physician, Chiropractor, Certified Clinical Nutritionist (CCN), or that rare medical doctor trained in nutrition and/or functional medicine will be very helpful for you.

Answer 6

Have you been tested for H. Pylori? Very often taking the antibiotic to cure the H. Pylori stops GERD dead in it's tracks.

Answer 7

May be go to see a Chinese herbalist, as this is functional disorder, Chinese medicine has definite benefit in enhancing innate healing power.
http://www.shen-nong.com/eng/health/peptic_ulcer_define.html