Bonnie, I have taken several of the PPI drugs you are concerned about for more than 10 years along with carefully controlling my diet and life style. Of course I am also concerned about the possible long term effects. But I am also concerned with the herd end now problems of trying to live with acid reflux and the possible esophageal damage resulting without the medication. I have not tried any supplements as an alternative. I don’t Have the patience to experiment with these options—various combinations and dosages. So I am gambling on continuing to take the PPI at the lowest possible dosage that works for me and watching my diet. Maybe surgery will have to be my eventual solution. But one day at a time. Good luck to you whatever you decide.

I have had severe acid reflux for many years probably close to 40. I have taken every PPI i the word and non work for me. due to the acid reflux I have developed erosive gastritis, and esophagitis and a motility disorder. the top 2 muscles in my esophagus no longer work only the bottom one so swallowing food has been a chore. food gets stuck in my throat a lot and i have to bring it back up to get relief of severe chest pain. about 2 weeks ago i gave up on any drugs. I have gone on and ALL alkaline diet very strict, NOTHING acidic, and i juice celery and drink a good glass of it daily and also making fresh ginger tea and taking a strong probiotic 100 billion. drinking at least 4 bottles of water sometimes up to 6. I am using a concentrated mineral drop (40 drops a day) in my water. It seems to be work. after about day 10 i notice a lot of the burning is gone in my belly. and in the morning i dong have such a brown tongue and less acid has come up at night. i do have my bed seriously elevated with the 6 inch blocks plus a sedge pillow so over a foot of elevation. I also gave up LECTINS any food with lectins and that is when i started to see a bigger difference. lectins are know to cause leaky gut and other G I issues and i believe it to be true.so im praying in time what i am doing will help me heal and get over this. the docs said any kind of surgery will make me worse and its a horrible idea and they refuse to do it (3 surgeons) so this is my only hope. Oh also i drink ALOE GEL not the juice but the GEL its much thicker. just a shot in the morning and the evening and nothing afterwards for at least 30 min. it has to be the gel. at night i also use a heating pad with a damp cloth to its moist heat on my neck and moving it doing on my belly and it seems to soothe everything and bring blood flow to the area. also if i take 1/4 teaspoon of backing (aluminum free) in 4 ounces of water each morning and evening and it kills the acid immediately. so this is what i am doing and it does really seem to be starting to work after 2 weeks now. hope this help someone who suffers for the same things as i do. i does work but takes time but im healing something i have had at least 30 to 35 years so it wont happen overnight. i have just begun walking and doing some step aerobic because stress relief is part of the big answer. stress can do severe damage to the entire body i know it is what happened to me.

Other than Dr. Internet, what is The scientific basis for your comment about “the most acidic foods on earth”?

I also drink lot's of water all day. I also drink 1-2 cups of low acid coffee each morning. It's healthwise coffee with a PH of 6.18
I'll find out how my diet is doing in 3yrs when i get another EGD.

I have had acid reflux for 20+ years. I was taking a proton pump inhibitor for the first year or two and then became allergic to it: itching, and rash. Then the same thing happened with all the h2 acid blockers. I have managed all these years just taking Gaviscon (the tablets although gastroenterologists say the liquid form is more effective) and sometimes; very occasionally a liquid antacid . I have been scoped over the years and there is no damage to my stomach lining . I actually am happy that I can't take these medications. The thinking has changed now and I've read that you shouldn't be on ppi's longterm.
For the most part I avoid the foods that for me trigger reflux. No spicy hot foods, tomato sauces, alcohol. (Love pesto sauce but it doesn't love me!). I am so used to having acid reflux and non-ulcer dyspepsia that I hardly notice it anymore.

@bonnieh218 I have Barrett's Esophagus so I do have to take a PPI. I take 20mg of omeprazole in the morning. I hate having to take it, I know it has negative long-term effects but without it I risk esophageal cancer so at this point I think it's the lesser of the two evils.
I would try to see if I could control with diet if that is possible though. I don't have an endo appointment until September so I will definitely speak to him about that, or if there other PPIs that have a lesser long-term effect.
JK

well thats good you found some with no aluminum. if they are finding no issues in your belly what kind of symptoms are you having that made you have the endo's ?? maybe a little tweak in your diet and adding some aloe juice and ginger tea and maybe every the celery juice might do the trick for you. it sure has helped me a ton. first time in 40 years i have not been on any meds for my gastric issues. im 64. you know now that i think about it its not the antacids that have aluminum its the baking soda but you can buy aluminum free.

i went to 5 surgeons and none of them would do any kind of surgery they said i would only get worse.

Thank you for the list. For me the most difficult thing to refuse is coffee. The biggest compromise I made for myself is low acid coffee. Surprisingly there are a lot of decent brands. Now I drink Tieman's Fusion.

I have a hiatal hernia plus gastroparesis. I take 40mg of lansopresol before breakfast. I have tried diets and OTC heartburn meds with no luck. If I even forget the med one morning, I know by evening that I did. It’s a quality of life issue for me to stay on the drug.