Acid Reflux
Add Strokes to the Scary List of PPI Side Effect…
Proton pump inhibitors like esomeprazole, lansoprazole or omeprazole are the most popular treatments for heartburn and reflux disease. It is estimated that 15 million Americans spend $10 billion on su…
Will Heartburn Drugs Raise Risk for Dementia?
Will powerful proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) that are widely taken my millions of people every day affect the brain? Do such drugs pose a risk for dementia? This reader asks a disturbing question? Q. …
Did Low Levels of Vitamin B12 Ruin A Life?
Most people rarely think about vitamin B12. It's not part of routine blood testing the way vitamin D is. We have been surprised that health professionals do not routinely request blood tests for vitam…
How to Prevent Heartburn with Green Tea
Many Americans take a lot of medications. Wouldn't it be wonderful to find ways to manage some common health problems with simple non-drug approaches? One reader found a way to prevent heartburn with …
Did Nexium Cause Bone Loss and Nerve Pain?
Whenever you decide to take a new medication, you should know what you will get out of it in terms of benefit and what side effects you might experience. This is especially important for drugs you wi…
Can You Trust Your Multivitamin?
It can be challenging to get all the nutrients you need from food, especially if you are taking medications. That's because many medicines can interfere with vitamin and mineral absorption. Some, like…
How to Improve Digestive Health with a Poop Tran…
How do you feel about poop? Most people prefer not to talk about it. That's why we have so many euphemisms: number two, stool, feces, manure, crap or BM for bowel movement. No wonder you probably neve…
Why Should You Order Your Own Blood Tests?
Do you know what your vitamin levels are? What about Vitamin B12 in particular? How about thyroid status? Why not order your own blood tests so you can have data on TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), …
Can You Conquer Heartburn with Coconut Water?
How do you ease heartburn? Millions of people take acid-suppressing drugs every day, but the risks from long-term use of medicines like esomeprazole, lansoprazole or omeprazole have gotten a fair amou…
How to Ease Heartburn without Harming Your Kidne…
When the first proton pump inhibitor drug, omeprazole (Prilosec), was introduced, it was greeted enthusiastically. It appeared to reduce symptoms of acid reflux and GERD (gastroesophageal reflux dise…
When Is It Best to Take Nexium?
If you are a conscientious patient, you pay attention to the instructions you may be provided on how to take your medication. Should it be taken with food or on an empty stomach? At equally spaced int…
How to Combat Heartburn with Dandelion Root Tea
Acid reflux, a condition that used to be known as "indigestion," "sour stomach" or "heartburn," is rampant. But lately the news has been full of stories about scary side effects from the PPI (proton p…
How Can You Get Off a PPI Without Withdrawal?
When proton pump inhibitor (PPI) drugs were first introduced decades ago, the perception was that these heartburn drugs had hardly any side effects. Both doctors and their patients were convinced that…
Why Are Americans Now Worried About New PPI Side…
Powerful acid suppressing drugs (proton pump inhibitors or PPIs) have been a gold mine for drug companies for decades. But a new report from Germany has a lot of people nervous about a connection betw…
Why You Need To Be Worried About the PPI Dementi…
Not Again! Just when we thought the bad news about proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) could not get any worse, an article in the journal JAMA Neurology (online, Feb. 15, 2016) suggests that these acid-supp…
Should Doctors Worry About Heartburn Drug Danger…
When powerful acid-suppressing drugs called proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) were first introduced in 1989 they were promoted as highly effective and extremely safe. Doctors embraced drugs like Prilosec,…
Do Heartburn Drugs Disturb Bacterial Balance in …
Popular heartburn medications can disrupt bacterial balance in the digestive tract. Comparing Twins: A new study of British twins compared stool samples from more than 900 pairs. When one twin took a …
Are Your Kidneys in Danger from Heartburn Drugs?
Here we go again. America's favorite heartburn drugs are in trouble because of a new study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine (online, January 11, 2016). The research suggests that regula…
Apple at Bedtime Relieves Nighttime Heartburn
Many people find that lying down to sleep can be an invitation for nighttime heartburn. When the ring of muscle that separates the esophagus from the stomach gets loose and lazy, lying flat can allo…
Heartburn Drugs Upset Bacterial Balance in the G…
Proton pump inhibitors, or PPIs for short, have become a mainstay as heartburn drugs. Once available only by prescription, powerful acid-suppressing drugs such as omeprazole (Prilosec), lansoprazole …
Is Nexium Too Risky for Older People?
Sometimes drugs that people have long taken for granted become less appropriate-possibly even dangerous-as patients grow older. Popular drugs used to treat heartburn probably should be considered in t…
PPI Use Linked to Chronic Kidney Disease
Acid-suppressing drugs called proton pump inhibitors or PPIs are considered so safe that they can now be purchased over the counter as Nexium, Prevacid and Prilosec. House brands include esomeprazole,…
Stopping PPIs Suddenly Triggers Heartburn That M…
Doctors occasionally assume that if symptoms return when a medication is stopped, the original problem is reasserting itself. That seems to indicate an ongoing need for the drug. That may be true in m…
Does Ambien Cause Acid Reflux?
When a medication causes a side effect in an area that seems completely unrelated to the problem for which it is prescribed, it can take quite a while to notice.We have heard for many years that zolpi…
Apple Cider Vinegar for Acid Reflux
Acid reflux, or gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD), can be terribly painful, and it is often a chronic problem. Millions of people take PPI (proton pump inhibitor) medications such as lansoprazol…
Getting Off PPIs Can Be a Challenge
Medications such as omeprazole (Prilosec), esomeprazole (Nexium), lansoprazole (Prevacid) and many others are termed proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). They shut down cells in the stomach that produce aci…
Chewing Gum Can Help Ease Acid Reflux
An inexpensive and simple tactic-chewing gum after meals-helped one reader overcome acid reflux problems. Q. I have had difficulty with reflux since childhood. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) such as Pr…
Can You Overdose on Ginger?
The acid-suppressing drugs known as proton pump inhibitors are intended for treating serious acid reflux known as gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD. In practice, though, medicines such as esome…
Another Scary Side Effect Linked to Heartburn Dr…
Canadian researchers have found that older people taking acid suppressing drugs such as esomeprazole, lansoprazole and omeprazole are at higher risk for kidney failure. The scientists used medication …
Persimmon Punch Can Help with PPI Withdrawal
Q. I have been taking acid-suppressing drugs like omeprazole for more than 20 years. After reading about the side effects of such drugs, I am ready to quit. I understand that this can be painful. I re…
Sauerkraut Juice Subdues Stubborn Heartburn
Q. One "old wives' tale" remedy for heartburn is sauerkraut juice. I think homemade works the best. Are there other natural remedies for heartburn? A. Homemade sauerkraut juice contains probiotic orga…
Heartburn Drugs Don’t Protect Intestines f…
Warning: This is a man bites dog story. In other words, it contradicts conventional wisdom. Physicians have long recognized that popular pain relievers like aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen can harm th…
Surprising Help for Holiday Heartburn
Did you overdo it yesterday? Come on, be honest. If you're like most people you probably overindulged in turkey, ham or duck. Did you go back for seconds of stuffing or cranberry sauce? How about dess…
Probiotics in Active-Culture Yogurt Worked to Ov…
Q. I have had severe heartburn problems for 15 years. I have tried Nexium, Prilosec and many other over-the-counter medicines. I knew that coffee triggered my heartburn, but I could not give it up. Af…
Acid-Suppressing Medicine Can Deplete the Body o…
Q. My doctor prescribed Prilosec for heartburn and I took it for about a year. After discontinuing the Prilosec I was feeling very tired. The blood work that was done showed I had very low magnesium l…
For This Reader, Almonds Help Heartburn More Tha…
Q. I read about using almonds for heartburn, and I've found it works great, better than any over-the-counter medicine I've ever tried. (I am leery of the prescription meds due to food allergies and me…
Do Acid Suppressing Drugs Protect Against Cancer…
Drugs that shut down acid production in the stomach are among the most popular pills in the pharmacy. The FDA considers them so safe that you can buy acid suppressing drugs like Prilosec (omeprazole)…
Acid Reflux Problem Solved by Snacking on Almond…
Q. I solved my acid reflux problem with an answer that had been in your column a few years ago: almonds. I had just had a bad experience with a medication called Dexilant. It made my acid reflux ten t…
Persimmon Punch Helps Tame Terrible Reflux
Q. I have a hiatal hernia and terrible problems with acid reflux. I usually take Nexium in the morning, ranitidine before dinner and I use sucralfate as an emergency if the acid reflux breaks through …
Almonds Ease Acid Reflux
Q.I have suffered with heartburn for years. The most recent prescription medicine made my reflux way worse. Then I read that almonds helped someone else with a similar problem. I tried it and it works…