1. < Digestive Health

Antidepressant for Gerd

Posted by Deb @dgbrowm2235, Feb 3 7:20pm

Hi, new here. Has anyone successfully used an antidepressant to help symptons? If so what were the ones you have tried. I went on Paxel after I was diagnosed with liver disease. Long story short, gastroligist ran test and decided to go with a fiberscan that said I had 'possible' Stage 4 cirrhosis with advanced fatty liver. I freaked out, ended up in hospital for anxiety they put me on Paxel. I then went to a hepotoligist for 2nd opinion, he didn't think I had it so suggested biopsy. That indicated mild fibrosis with mild fatty liver, I lost 75 pounds and test come back good. After about a year I thought maybe I didn't need Paxel and with Doctor weened of, it's been 8 months. I realized now, the whole time I was on Paxel I had no gerd, no gastritis and regular bathroom visits. Now. I have gerd really bad, 7 weeks and Doctor suggested I go back on Paxel. I hate the initial affects but if it really did help, I am all for it but wondered if antidepressants had helped others, thank you.

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danny5 | @danny5 | Feb 4 1:35am

sometimes the medications can be used for multiple purposes. i don't know anything about Paxel. but i use Cymbalta for depression and Neuropathy. it's multi tasking. good luck, d

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emo | @emo | Feb 5 9:28am

Hi there- So sorry to hear about your troubles. I’m not familiar with antidepressants (or “neuro-modulators” as my GI doctor prefers to refer to them because I’d the stigma) for GERD specifically, but I have functional dyspepsia (FD) and it’s prescribed off-label fairly often for that.

How I wish something would help me, but I’m extremely nervous about medications because I’m very sensitive to side effects due to underlying conditions (mast cell activation, central sensitivity). It’s my understanding for GI conditions, they’re usually used at a much lower dose than what’s used for antidepressants, so it’s possible that could minimize the side effects.

I learned from a pharmacist that amitryptaline is one of the more common antidepressants for GI. It’s an old school antidepressant, as opposed to the “newer” SSRIs and SNRIs like Cymbalta and I think Paxel is an SSRI. Other than what we’ve mentioned, Prozac is the other I hear mentioned for GI.

Unfortunately, I haven’t tried it myself so I can’t share personal experience… But as @danny5 said, it’s not uncommon to use antidepressants this way, for dual purpose or for one or the other (pain or a mood issue). There’s a decent amount of research on it for GI, but I’m not sure about GERD specifically.

A quick Google search yielded this: “For the patients in functional heartburn group, the paroxetine had relieved the symptoms in 14 patients among all the 21 patients. In total, with the guidance of MII-pH monitoring, 64.1% (25/39) of refractory GERD patients accomplished symptom relief.”

It’s a small sample size, but maybe there are other studies: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26202002/#:~:text=For%20the%20patients%20in%20functional,GERD%20patients%20accomplished%20symptom%20relief.

If you’re nervous, you can talk to your doctor about starting with an even lower dose than usual. My dad is 74 and takes Prozac. The usual dose is at minimum 20 mg; we started him on 10, and it made him wired! 5 mg and the same effect; we had to go all the way down to 2.5 mg.

I was too scared, so it was off to a referral to the GI dietician and GI psychologist to learn mind-body interventions (evidence based) for my conditions.

I’m wishing you all the best though.

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1 reply
jackielb | @jackielb | Feb 5 10:53am

It appears that Amitriptyline for my presbyesophagus at 20 mg helps with my GERD.

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1 reply
Deb | @dgbrowm2235 | Feb 5 1:41pm
In reply to @emo "Hi there- So sorry to hear about your troubles. I’m not familiar with antidepressants (or “neuro-modulators”..." + (show)
@emo

Hi there- So sorry to hear about your troubles. I’m not familiar with antidepressants (or “neuro-modulators” as my GI doctor prefers to refer to them because I’d the stigma) for GERD specifically, but I have functional dyspepsia (FD) and it’s prescribed off-label fairly often for that.

How I wish something would help me, but I’m extremely nervous about medications because I’m very sensitive to side effects due to underlying conditions (mast cell activation, central sensitivity). It’s my understanding for GI conditions, they’re usually used at a much lower dose than what’s used for antidepressants, so it’s possible that could minimize the side effects.

I learned from a pharmacist that amitryptaline is one of the more common antidepressants for GI. It’s an old school antidepressant, as opposed to the “newer” SSRIs and SNRIs like Cymbalta and I think Paxel is an SSRI. Other than what we’ve mentioned, Prozac is the other I hear mentioned for GI.

Unfortunately, I haven’t tried it myself so I can’t share personal experience… But as @danny5 said, it’s not uncommon to use antidepressants this way, for dual purpose or for one or the other (pain or a mood issue). There’s a decent amount of research on it for GI, but I’m not sure about GERD specifically.

A quick Google search yielded this: “For the patients in functional heartburn group, the paroxetine had relieved the symptoms in 14 patients among all the 21 patients. In total, with the guidance of MII-pH monitoring, 64.1% (25/39) of refractory GERD patients accomplished symptom relief.”

It’s a small sample size, but maybe there are other studies: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26202002/#:~:text=For%20the%20patients%20in%20functional,GERD%20patients%20accomplished%20symptom%20relief.

If you’re nervous, you can talk to your doctor about starting with an even lower dose than usual. My dad is 74 and takes Prozac. The usual dose is at minimum 20 mg; we started him on 10, and it made him wired! 5 mg and the same effect; we had to go all the way down to 2.5 mg.

I was too scared, so it was off to a referral to the GI dietician and GI psychologist to learn mind-body interventions (evidence based) for my conditions.

I’m wishing you all the best though.

Jump to this post

Thank you for responding and taking the time for research...I, too read that very study. The amount prescribed for me is 10 mg, I'm pretty confident it will help so have decided to give it a chance. Just in the last few days I have been taking xanax 1/8 of a pill, just to take the edge off and this morning my burning mouth has settled quite a bit. I truly believe in my case, the Gerd is anxiety induced. I am 71 years old and have lost a lot of friends in the last five years and the rest are a 45 minute drive to meet for lunch. So...I have been thinking about moving closer but it's a big decision. I never had kids and my only family/brother lives out of State in Florida as I am in Michigan. So, I need to make a decision meanwhile it's stressful. Thanks again and best of everything for you. I will certainly share how it goes.

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Deb | @dgbrowm2235 | Feb 5 1:50pm
In reply to @jackielb "It appears that Amitriptyline for my presbyesophagus at 20 mg helps with my GERD." + (show)
@jackielb

It appears that Amitriptyline for my presbyesophagus at 20 mg helps with my GERD.

Jump to this post

Thank you, yes I read that is suggested by Gastroligist. The Paxel was suggested by some woman friends that are on it so my primary ordered it at my request. I haven't seen a gastro for my gerd for several years only about the liver, lately. I made an appointment about this issue, new doctor and they made a video appointment. I guess that's the new way I would prefer a face to face but wouldn't get in as soon. Thanks again, glad you found relief.

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