I have tried stopping cold turkey in the past, but not any time recently. When these episodes hit me with the chest pains, they don't seem to be related to me changing my Nexium dose. I'm very consistent with taking it each morning. But great question. Last year, I did try to taper off of it, and the interesting thing is that I don't get reflux, nothing comes up, but my stomach just hurts. I started it when I was overweight and eating poorly, but I'm in good shape now and eating properly. After doing some research, I think it is due to my stomach lining being essentially gone at this point. The lining to protect my stomach is built up by acid, and after having little to no acid for so many years, it has withered away (is my understanding). I tried taking L-Arginine for a while before tapering, but no luck. I also took apple cider vinegar, which controlled the pain to a degree, but after being off for over 6 weeks with continued pain, I ended up just getting back on it. A few weeks later, I had an endoscopy, and my gastro said my esoph and stomach looked great, except for a polyp that was removed from my stomach (he said was normal). I'm fine with the fact that I'm probably stuck with an acid reducer at this point, except my concerns over long term usage and some links to Lupus with Nexium, which my doctor says are non-existant, but plenty of papers indicate otherwise.

I have another appointment with my gastro next month to at least attempt to use a different product, to see if it makes any difference.