Coming off of PPI's after 2 years.. acid rebound tips?

Digestive health
1

Hey guys,

I've been on 40mg of pantoprazole for 2 years now and after seeing my consultant yesterday he has said it would be best for me to come off of them now, which I agree with as my reflux is now basically non existent.

I tried to come off of pantoprazole about 8 months ago and dropped to 20mg to wean myself off but I had such severe acid rebound that I had to go back on them as I couldn't deal with it and was so scared it was going to stay like that as when my reflux started it was horrendous.

I was wondering if anyone had any tips on dealing with it? Today is my first day on 20mg and I'm already feeling a little nauseous and have a build up of mucus in my throat.. I know it's only going to get worse from here!

Any advice would help, I have 2 weeks to come off of them as in 4 weeks I'm going to be tested for H.pylori again and need to have been off pantoprazole for 2 weeks.

Thank you! Abbie

2

I have never had to come off of PPIs after such a long period, but I here is what I would do.

Minimize foods which cause the stomach to create acid.  Basically any foods containing hestimine trigger acid production.  That is because hestimine binds with H2 receptors, which then results in the stomach creating acid.  Foods high in hestimine are fatty meats, and all the following:

BAD:

Alcohol

Pickled or canned foods – sauerkrauts

Matured cheeses

Smoked meat products – salami, ham, sausages….

Shellfish

Beans and pulses – chickpeas, soy beans, peanuts

Nuts – walnuts, cashew nuts

Chocolates and other cocoa based products

Vinegar

Ready meals

Salty snacks, sweets with preservatives and artificial colourings

GOOD:

Low histamine level foods:

Fresh meat (cooled, frozen or fresh)

Freshly caught fish

Chicken (skinned and fresh)

Egg yolk

Fresh fruits – with the exception of strawberries, most fresh fruits are considered to have a low histamine level (also see histamine liberators below)

Fresh vegetables – with the exception of tomatoes

Grains – rice noodles, yeast free rye bread, rice crisp bread, oats, puffed rice crackers, millet flour, pasta (spelt and corn based) (NOTICE: Although grains don't contain much hestimine, yeast can have A LOT!  Avoid grain based foods which use yeast, such as most breads using highly processed flour and yeast).

Fresh pasteurised milk and milk products

Milk substitutes – coconut milk, rice milk

Cream cheese, butter (without the histamine generating rancidity)

Most cooking oils – check suitability before use

Most leafy herbs – check suitability before use

Most non-citric fruit juices

Herbal teas – with the exception of those listed below

3

Thanks so much for the advice but I already eat/drink foods that are only friendly for acid and reflux so I don't consume anything in the bad list already! I'm hoping this means that I'm not going to react too badly to coming off of them!

Thank you

4

Hi Abbie

Like you, I am coming off of PPIs after some years (30 mg lanzaprosole)  .....I came straight down onto 15mg last week but today wemt back up to 30mg as the acid reflux was bad yesterday.   I figure I have gone down too suddenly....and maybe need to alternate 30mg with 15mg for a few weeks.   I have decided that I need to supplement using glycerated licorice and magnesium carbonate.   Any advice you have for me that would be great,  and I will feed any info I get back to you. (I am constantly reading up on 'cures' etc.....trouble is there is so much conflicting info out there it is very confusing)

5

I'm 4 days in now on 20mg instead of 40 and I'm not as bad as the last time I tried. The only thing I feel is I'm getting a bit of heart burn and a little more nausea than usual but I'm always nauseous for some reason so I'm not that bothered.

Sorry to hear yours is so bad, the only advice I can give is to push through it because it is just temporary and it will settle down. If I find anything that helps me I'll let you know!

6

Hi, i have acid reflux since  3 years ago  and i am  taking pariet 20mg every althernate day. I am now  trying to reduce the dosage to 2 tablet a week. I am also looking for natural remedies like  chewing gum ( to generate natural saliva to reduce reflux) / Banana ..... i would say not perfectly cure , but can reduce the symtoms. 

7

Abbie,

How have you been doing? Did you give up or were you successful? I, too, have been on 40 mg Pantoprazole for 2 years and have decided to ween myself off. I took a half pill for a few weeks before I finally took the plunge and stopped taking them. It's been 6 days with no PPI and today I think I'm starting to feel the rebound coming on.

PPIs for long term use are bad news and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get off them. Maybe we could share our experiences and get through this?