Reflux after weening off of Prilosec?

[OnTheWayDown 13]

Just hit my last week and a half of the prilosec tablets and was told to start taking them every other day and then every 3 days. I took one two days ago, and skipped yesterday, am taking another one today (late, I usually take in the morning), I am feeling the slightest reflux right now off an on for about an hour, it is not really anything crazy and I have never experienced GERD or rarely (once a year? mild) reflux in my pre-surgery life. Is this just a natural recalibration from my body remembering to produce acid again or a sign that I might develop GERD?

I am a worrier... so there is also that. haha

[SummerTimeGirl 582]

My surgery is May 19th and the surgeon prescribed me Protonix to be taken once a day for 30 days (once I'm home from the hospital) then I'm to discontinue it. I know it has repairing properties, and I've never had issues with GERD/Reflux or anything, so I think it's just as a precautionary but not 100% sure.

[catwoman7 11,212]

3 hours ago, SummerTimeGirl said:

My surgery is May 19th and the surgeon prescribed me Protonix to be taken once a day for 30 days (once I'm home from the hospital) then I'm to discontinue it. I know it has repairing properties, and I've never had issues with GERD/Reflux or anything, so I think it's just as a precautionary but not 100% sure.

most of us are put on some kind of PPI (protonix or omeprazole) for 3-6 months after surgery so your stomach can heal properly and acid won't interfere. They had us on it for a year when I went through, but I think they've shortened it to six months given the bad press that's come out in the last few years about long-term use of PPIs (although a few months is OK...) ( I went through this six years ago before all that came out)

[catwoman7 11,212]

4 hours ago, OnTheWayDown said:

Just hit my last week and a half of the prilosec tablets and was told to start taking them every other day and then every 3 days. I took one two days ago, and skipped yesterday, am taking another one today (late, I usually take in the morning), I am feeling the slightest reflux right now off an on for about an hour, it is not really anything crazy and I have never experienced GERD or rarely (once a year? mild) reflux in my pre-surgery life. Is this just a natural recalibration from my body remembering to produce acid again or a sign that I might develop GERD?

I am a worrier... so there is also that. haha

yes -- it's common while weaning yourself off PPIs. That's why they have you do it slowly rather than cold turkey (although it can still happen even if you're weaning yourself off slowly). It usually resolves once you're weaned off, but if not, just let your clinic know. Some people have to be on for longer (or long term, even....)

[SummerTimeGirl 582]

5 minutes ago, catwoman7 said:

most of us are put on some kind of PPI (protonix or omeprazole) for 3-6 months after surgery so your stomach can heal properly and acid won't interfere. They had us on it for a year when I went through, but I think they've shortened it to six months given the bad press that's come out in the last few years about long-term use of PPIs (although a few months is OK...) ( I went through this six years ago before all that came out)

Oh really? Well I hope the 1 month only I was prescribed will be enough. I'd sure hate to have to experience reflux. Especially when it was never an issue to begin with.

[catwoman7 11,212]

Just now, SummerTimeGirl said:

Oh really? Well I hope the 1 month only I was prescribed will be enough. I'd sure hate to have to experience reflux. Especially when it was never an issue to begin with.

it might be. I think doctors are more cautious prescribing them now because of the possible side effects. I'm sure they'll extend your prescription awhile longer if you need it, but most of the healing takes place that first month, so that's probably why they only have you on that long. A lot of us are on longer than that, though. Just let them know if you start having issues when you're off them - you may need to be on longer. But then again, you may be fine after the first month.

as an aside, if you had sleeve, reflux is not-too-uncommon side effect - about 30% of sleevers have issues with it. Usually it can be treated medically, but a few people end up having to revise to bypass. But that's different than having some minor reflux as you're weaning yourself off PPI's. *Usually* that resolves.

[RickM 1,747]

Another approach to weaning off of the PPIs (in addition to, or an alternate to the simple cutting the doses or spacing them out more is to substitute doses with an H2I class drug such as Pepcid or Zantac, or their OTC generic equivalents. They are considered a friendlier class of drug and preferred for longer term use if they do the job (they usually don't last as long.) Talk to your surgeon, but taking a Pepcid on the "off" days of Prilosec will probably remove the minor symptoms that you are feeling, then you can move on to completely substituting the Pepcid for the Prilosec, and if that works, try cutting that out, too.

Just an common alternate approach that is a bit more conservative than simply cutting back the PPI dose by itself.