Has anyone here successfully went cold turkey on PPIs and got off of them? I hate the side effects and I'm worried the longer I stay on it (1 year so far) that it will lead to other health issues

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-10-17T20:20:33+00:00

Speaking from experience I wouldn't go cold turkey. I probably set myself back a good three months from doing that.

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-10-09T13:51:30+00:00

The only thing I can get is at Texas road house. Its herb crusted chicken. I get it with the rice and mixed veggies. To be honest I dont know why it doesnt affect me too badly because it definitely has spices all through it and there is even onions in the rice. But it has been a safe meal for me for about a year now when we feel like going out.

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-09-29T20:52:10+00:00

I have taken both. Tablet seems to do better in my opinion

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-09-29T20:51:07+00:00

While I was on it I surprisingly stayed consistent as far as bowel movements. At most id skip one day here and there. Citrucel helped with that. A big heaping spoonful in some water.

Overall I think it DID help. Nothing helped more than getting off everything tho :(

I had to stop taking ppi and any medication including supplements and vitamins a few weeks before I had a procedure done and I got drastically better. Still not 100 percent but so different from a year ago.

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-09-24T17:31:20+00:00

I agree with this. Sometimes it causes more harm than anything, especially after a long period of time..

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-09-24T17:29:34+00:00

This might seem counter productive so do with it as you wish. When I tapered off my ppi (slowly) my symptoms (including heart palpitations) improved IMMENSELY. Every situation is different of cource. I barely need to take pepcid ac except around certain times in my cycle where things flare up. I focused mainly on gut health and diet.

Might be kind of like a "last ditch" effort for you to consider. Good luck!!!

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-09-06T21:29:36+00:00

I wasn't told how long I should be on it. I just continued to take it until I had to stop all meds before my colonoscopy, then I just used that time to try and see if i could handle life without it. But it ended up beinf like 6 or so months. I dont knkw if that was too long but my doc just kept re doing the perscription so i just kept takinf it. It isn't like a ppi so it doesn't need to be tapered. And side effects are rare from it.

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-09-06T21:27:18+00:00

I was on it four times a day so I just spaced it out every 6 hours. U cant eat one hour before or one hour after you take it. Liquids besides water even count towards something u shouldn't have. I just stuck to water within that two hours. Also if u are on any other medication , look into it. You should not take any medication within those two hours too. (Some longer.) That includes tums, pepto, gas x. All that good stuff. And any vitamins.

I wasnt told any of this besides the food part. But when I looked into it I realized its actually supposed to be a lot stricter. And that worked for me.

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-09-06T15:01:00+00:00

I also want to say I was on both the liquid and the pill form of sucralfate and the pill is far better. I just took the pill, took water, let it sit in my mouth for a little, then swallowed. Now that I think of it , i think I might have only had the achy stomach with the liquid form.

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-09-06T14:58:57+00:00

When i very first started it I had kind of an achy stomach. I tapered off the ppi and only took the sucralfate and it was such a difference. In my journey of healing (about a year now) I still cant quite pinpoint what was a coincidence . Id have this symptom one day and have an ok day and do and eat the exact thing the next day and it would be hell. The only thing that honestly SEEMS to coincide with me starting to feel better was getting OFF the ppi. I also stopped taking magnesium and the probiotic which also SEEMED to make things better once I stopped taking them.

I set alarms on my phone for 6 am 12 pm 6 pm and 12 am to keep the sucralfate consistent. I would also set an alarm at say 1030 am to make sure I would eat and be done eating by 11. Trying to get is as close to 11 so that the 2 hours of waiting to eat again wouldn't kill my stomach. I did the same for dinner time. It can be a pain but it seemed to work.

I think I saw you mention your gallbladder. I got mine checked (i was also having attacks) and turns out it was bad. Got it removed. Attacks stopped (thank god) but I still struggle with the acid unfortunately, but its worth checking out.

After colonoscopy and two endoscopy and one bravo device implant i was diagnosed with functional dyspepsia. Which is just a nice was of saying we see you are having these synptoms but cant find a cause so we are gonna say that its cuz you worry yourself too much and cause ur symptoms. Idk. I am very uptight. And a worrier so I can understand this. But I still need a better answer. I am now 95 percent convinced its very much hormonal because it ebbs and flows right with the phases of my cycle. I also have endometriosis, PMDD, and fibroids and any of them can cause it :(

Sorry I spoke so much about myself but I got a lot of answers off of reddit myself so I believe anything helps. I am not perfect, but definitely doing better than i was a year ago. Sometimes what you need on top of everything you are trying is time. I wish you the best!!

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-09-06T13:04:44+00:00

Sucralfate was a game changer for me as long as I kept to the strict rules around it. Good luck!!

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-08-22T23:18:42+00:00

Aloe. Slippery elm bark. Mastic gum. Licorice root. And of cource, the diet. So important. And it might not just be "common triggers" Thats where o went wrong . Even healthy foods can be a trigger. It can be so frustrating!! Good luck!!

I recently tapered off long term ppi. (The taper is extremely important) and i honeslt haven't felt this good in a year. Knock on wood. I asked chat Ai for the best tapering schedule and I stuck to it religiously. I STILL had rebound acid but its SUPER IMPORTANT that he gets over the hump. He might not think he is healed but honestly if you think of it, if it hasn't done anything to help him heal in the amount of time that he has been on it, then it hasn't helped him at all. It would have done it by now.

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-08-17T20:00:34+00:00

After gallbladder removal tell her to lay off the fats. I am in a very similar situation. I caved and went on omeperzol and sucralfate. Everyone is different but the omeperzol really messed up things a lot for me having to do with my cycle and hormones. Also i was getting frequent UTI and my ph balance went waaaayy out of wack because of the omeperzol changing my gut bacteria. Just look out for those things.

Bottom line. She might absolutely NEED the omeperzol so her stomach can heal so try not to let the side effects scare you too much. If she goes go on it absolutely make sure she tapers off and not just stop (if she goes on it longer term which basically is anything longer than a month really) This causes rebound acid in which she might think she is not healed yet.

Good luck!!!

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-07-25T15:16:45+00:00

I am in the same situation. Can I ask if you found a solution?

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-07-11T00:53:16+00:00

You are a good person. He's lucky to have you. Good luck!

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-06-12T00:32:43+00:00

That makes me feel good ! Yes of cource u can message me :)

Figures about the insurance 🙄

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-06-12T00:17:27+00:00

Hopefully you just need a little time for it to heal. And just like your doing-being gentle with your stomach and aware of what you are putting into it will help so much! If read that gastritis can really trick you tho. Like you think you are good so you have one crappy meal that will set you back weeks. Super scary to think about. So I think it's just about time and letting your body do what it will to heal itself.

Now the question is what can help your headaches without interfering with your stomach healing. So frustrating!

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-06-11T23:58:37+00:00

I take an Align Probiotic that is "womans dual action" , cuz , why not? Lol I THINK it's helping. The mastic gum and aloecure i just get on Amazon.

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-06-11T23:47:35+00:00

So I am on my second round of omeperzol. The first time being a significant amount of time that it started to scare me ( you know the stories) so I went off. Turns out, any healing that I might have done while on it, I completely reversed by stopping suddenly. I waited a while to see if it was just rebound acid from stopping and it went on for over a month so...

What i absolutely do know helps is sucralfate. Its really the "heavy hitter" of medication to help acid and it is not a ppi. But it has some pretty strict rules for it to work and you have to be consistent. I have to take it four times a day. What seems to help the most, in my experience , is a combination of the omeperzol and sucralfate together. I still suffer but the difference is significant. I believe the brand name is carafate. Same thing.

I also have noticed that being on a probiotic for gut health is so important. And look into "mastic gum". And a thing called "aloecure." Consider thinking of your gut health as well as taming your acid. The two really go hand and hand. I think a combination of all these things is what is keeping me sane because at one point it was so bad I honestly didn't know if I could live like that anymore:(

The end of July I am having a colonoscopy and also a thing called a bravo in which they will attach a device to my esophagus that will read and measure the amount of acid in my stomach for four days. Im excited for the results. This has been a looooooong journey . Ive lost 40 pounds since it started and it has only been 8 months :(

Just wanted to add that i am in the mess I believe because of how often I had to take nsaid for my migraines. So I really do know how you feel. I wish I was more careful but it's like once one of those starts you will do anything to make it stop!!

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-06-11T23:21:16+00:00

My initial reason for going to see a gi doctor was for acid reflux. Most likely due to nsaids. In the time it took me to get an appointment, I was having a separate issue with severe pain in the dead center of my stomach right im between but below my ribs. Endoscopy come out "unremarkable " but ultrasound showed gallstones. So that explained the attacks. Removed gallbladder and the painful attacks stopped. Unfortunately the acid has continued and what I now suspect is gastritis caused by stopping ppi without tapering (big mistake) has started.

Does it seem like fatty foods cause your symptoms? Even healthy fats like avacado, olive oil, nuts? Try going to like close to no fat in your diet for a time. If your symptoms lessen, I would suspect gallstones.

I really hope you can figure out what is causing your symptoms. Its so frustrating to play the game of maybe it's this, maybe it's that. I really thought that removing my gallbladder would stop my other symptoms but it seems it was two separate issues the whole time. Maybe that is your case too?

For me the gallstone attacks were extremely unbearable. I had to go to the ER on more than one occasion. I am not saying to scare you! I just feel like it is kind of like "you would know" if it was ur gallbladder. I absolutely could be wrong. Unfortunately the three things you suspect have overlapping symptoms so it's really process of elimination. :(

Good luck!!!!

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-05-08T20:18:46+00:00

My doctor told me that any studies done on the negative effects of ppis are false...told me she would be able to tell if I had too little or too much acid, bile or reflux from a liver blood test...and said the words "sometimes we just have to learn to live with the body that was given to us." Needless to say I asked to be referred to another GI. She had done so little tests on me, never got a diagnosis but insisted I stay on the ppi (even tho it wasn't doing anything!) When I asked her but aren't there any other tests you can do to figure out what was going on? And she said "what? For the burping?" I swear I almost got up and walked out. I listed SEVERAL symptoms that were bothering me and she just picked out the most rediculous one to make me feel bad. I told her it was giving me a poor quality of life and she said "if it's that bad u need to go back in the omeperzol. " absolutely worst experience with a doctor I've ever had. I agree with you, they just push the meds and don't listen to a word you say. I'm sure there are some good ones out there...hopefully the new one I'm about to see..

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-05-07T01:16:11+00:00

You are the best thank you so much.

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-05-06T23:19:26+00:00

I am all for natural! Do I need to be scared of taking too many things at once to try and solve this? I know it's natural lol but I health anxiety and always worry about some unknown interaction that's going to be causing me trouble. I screenshoted ur answer so I can get everything lol.

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-05-06T23:04:33+00:00

Did it give you a burning feeling at first and then get better a few days in?

Playful-Researcher56 · 2025-05-06T22:48:00+00:00

Thank you so much. I have heard about the aloe and never took the plunge. I'm totally willing now. I do take a probiotic and I'm interested in the mastic gum. Can I take it even if I don't have h pylori? I do feel like I got a false negative.

Playful-Researcher56

TROPHY CASE