Cy, JB or anyone else …
I’m currently taking protonix(a proton pump inhibitor) for acid reflux problems. I’ve read that these drugs (PPIs) can lower stomach acid by as much as 95%. If so, what effect does this have on my digestion specifically with respect to protein intake?
Hey, there, StrongrThanDeth! Hopefully Cy will stop by shortly. He’s our resident pharmaceutical expert nonpareil!
Have you looked into using DGL at all? It’s a special form of licorice that doesn’t raise blood pressure and is very effective with GERD. If not, please do some research on it. Protonix was not intended for long-term use. The manufacturer recommends that you take it for no longer than 16 weeks.
Reducing stomach acid so that leisions have time to heal would have to be a good thing. However, I think you’re smart to ask what the result of reducing stomach acid by 85 to 95% over a longer period of time would be. Even though OVER-production can cause its own unique set of problems, stomach acid (hydrochloric acid) does serve a necessary purpose. Older adults will actually supplement with hydrochloric acid because the body makes less as we grow older. Hydrochloric acid helps the body to break down proteins and absorb minerals. If you have a hydrochloric acid deficiency, you don?t extract all the nutrients from your food.
Definitely continue to educate yourself on your options.
Good luck to you!
First off thanks Terry your tips always are helpful…
I’ll look into this DGL, but I’ve read (on here?) that licorice can lower Test, but I’ll have to look into that. I’ve been on protonix for about two and a half years now (daily). Without it my acid gets REAL bad, to the point where it burns up my esophagus and I actually inhale it in and damage my lungs…which as you would guess isn’t only a bad thing but it’s pretty hard to work out when you can’t breathe, in fact I can hardly stay awake when this happens. Thanks for the tip!
Boy, oh, boy. I can see why you wouldn’t want to get off of your Protonix!
So you have a better idea of what DGL is, DGL stands for De-Glycyrrhizinated Licorice. Licorice contains a naturally occurring substance called glycyrrhizin. Glycyrrhizin is the bad guy. It tends to increase blood pressure and water retention. That’s why it’s removed. And DGL is a heck of a lot easier to say than “De-Glycyrrhizinated Licorice.” (grin)
Re lowering T levels, what I found was that consumption of 7 grams licorice (containing 500 mg glycyrrhizin) per day for seven days has been shown to decrease serum testosterone levels in healthy men by blocking the enzymes needed to synthesize testosterone. However, in another study, a similar amount of licorice had only a small and statistically insignificant effect on testosterone levels.
The amount you would be taking would be considerably less, though; 360mg and 760mg, three times per day were the amounts used in two different clinical trials. The later dosage was found to be as effective as the prescription drug Cimetidine.
Anyway, read the pro’s, read the con’s, and come to a decision on what’s best for you.
Another option would be to work with a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) doc. Licorice is actually a Chinese herb, but it is rarely (never?) used alone. TCM is extemely effective at improving/correcting/eliminating GERD. The trick will be to find the best herbalist possible. As with any profession, some practitioners are incompetent, the majority do a good job and a select few are truly talented.
If you have no luck finding someone, PM me, and I’ll check with a friend of mine here (a TCM doc) to see if he knows anyone in your area.
Good luck to you!!!
Holy Crap!! I had no idea that Protonix did this, my wife took it for three months. She was going to stay on it, but the insurance wouldn’t cover it. For the first time our insurance did a good thing. Good luck to you!!
Interesting thread. I take Prilosec OTC (used to have the prescription version, but insurance stopped paying for it once it went OTC).
I have acid reflux without. Evidentally, excess stomach acid is something I have inherited. If I don’t have this, eventually my throat constricts and I can have trouble swallowing food. I’ve had a few scares in restaurants before I discovered this was my problem, and Prilosec was my cure.
If I’m not mistaken, this is a pretty mild drug without extreme side-effects. I’ve never really worried about it interacting, but I have heard reports that people on this class of drug being more susceptible to stomach-introduced pathogens because of the lowered acid production. I suppose if I had too much before, then maybe this isn’t going to make me too low, but I’m just guessing.
I’m curious to find out what the answer is to the original question.
… … bump … …
It is possible that prolonged use of proton pump inhibitors might actually increase the risk of esophageal cancer. And of course, prolonged GERD increases the risk of esophageal cancer.
So if you have chronic reflux, it might be worth it to look for other ways to address it.
How is your diet? From my experience, I think diet is important. My doctor doesn’t really believe there are any effects of diet, but my GERD disappeared after 3 months on a (horribly restrictive) anti-GERD diet, whereas he has been taking Pepcid every day for four years and plans to take it for the rest of his life.
Supplements - First thing in the morning, I gulp down a glass of aloe juice with glutamine, and then chew 2 tabs of DGL. I would rate this combo very helpful. When my problem was severe, I would repeat this combo throughout the day on an empty stomach.
Somewhere I read that DGL increases estrogen; I’m not sure if this is established fact. It does seem to be true for me but is mostly not a problem. I did experience one unwanted symptom after I had been chewing those things all day for weeks on end; the symptom disappeared when I cut back, though. For a man with severe GERD, I would still use the DGL and just keep an eye out for symptoms of increasing estrogen/decreasing testosterone.
I’ve also taken DigestRC, a European supplement. It’s worth a try. It’s expensive, so I stopped taking it when my symptoms resolved.
Reducing or neutralizing stomach acid is the way that all drug treatments reduce GERD symptoms. But nobody seems to know what CAUSES those proton pumps to pump out all that acid. I have my own little theory that my stomach was pumping out acid to try to kill a little bacterium, H. pylori, that had burrowed in my stomach lining. H. pylori is hard to kill, often requiring several rounds of different antibiotics, and tends to return. But a compound in broccoli is supposed to kill it. I certainly found that eating lots of broccoli and other vegetables eased my symptoms. I even tried a course of raw cabbage juice, another supposed ulcer cure. And the good news is that this approach seems to have cured my GERD.
-andersons
Had myself checked for H.Pylori twice and it came up negative. My doctor says my GERD is caused by the inability of my esophogal sphincter(sp?) to close. So basically when I lay down to go to bed all the acid spills out into my throat and burns it up…I’d never heard that PPI’s put you in danger of esophogual cancer before and was told that they’re very safe, my plan was to just stay on them until I die…although you all make it sound like that might not be a good idea.
Calcium causes the lower esophageal sphinctor to contract. This helps to prevent acid from refluxing from the stomach back into the esophagus. So taking any kind of chewable calcium should be very helpful. I just empty a calcium citrate cap into a glass of water. Poof-instant relief. How long it lasts can vary though. Certainly cheap and worth trying.
StrongrThanDeth, I revisited some of the literature I had dug up 6 months ago when researching this problem for myself. The good news is that according to the limited literature itself, the risk of cancer seems to be associated with long-term acid suppression therapy in the presence of untreated H. pylori infection. So if you’re H. pylori-free, perhaps this therapy is safe for you.
However, the bad news, IMO, is that even though these studies are relatively long-term (one year), cancer risk often requires longer than this to show up; think of smoking, for example. PPIs are relatively new, so the lifetime risk is unknown. PPIs all but eliminate hydrochloric acid from entering into the esophagus when the sphincter relaxes, but they don’t stop the sphincter from relaxing. Those relaxations still dump bile, gastrin, etc., into the esophagus. Those secretions don’t cause the burning symptoms or lesions that the acid causes, but still can cause inflammation and precancerous cellular changes. So that’s why I didn’t embrace the lifetime PPI use that my doctor recommended.
[quote]Berner wrote:
Calcium causes the lower esophageal sphinctor to contract. . .I just empty a calcium citrate cap into a glass of water. Poof-instant relief.[/quote]
Berner, calcium is required in order for skeletal muscles to contract. However, I doubt that a calcium capsule can make a previously-relaxed muscle contract. It’s also interesting to note that a drug that relaxes skeletal muscles actually causes the esophageal sphincter to contract. Apparently, not much is known about what makes that sphincter work the way it does.
You probably experience heartburn relief because calcium citrate, highly alkaline, directly neutralizes stomach acid. Common antacids, cheaper forms of calcium like Tums (which is calcium carbonate, I think), work the same way.
Watson, one alternative that you could use is hydrolyzed protein, it’s used for people that don’t have enough enzymes to digest food. And maybe also some type of liquid amino acid solution to meet protein requirements. Good luck!!
I have an ex-girl and one of my best friends (2 seperate people) who both have chron’s disease. That said, I reccomended DGL from enzymatic therapy and both of them have thanked me for it numerous times. In my boy’s case he can pretty much eat whatever he wants, even though I always yell at him about it, and not have any of the pains he used to. The ex has it much worse so it does help but only to an extent.
Not to jack but does anyone know/think that chron’s is connected to mental/psychological disorders. In my experiance they seem to go hand in hand, and crhon’s research doesn’t seem to show WHY people get it.
K, looks like everyone here is in favor of DGL so I’ll go out and buy some…
Wideguy,
I’ve only ever known 1 guy who had crohns and he had some mental problems, so maybe you’re on to something…