1. < Digestive Health

Getting Off of Omeprazole: Share your success stories please.

Posted by Bonnie @nightngale1998, Jun 26, 2018

Hi there: Has anyone had success in weaning off of Omeprazole? I take it for GERD. Thank you in advance!

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Nanny23 | @nanny23 | Mar 9, 2023
In reply to @mistea "Just found this thread. I have suspected LPR, according to ent, and short barretts, visually on..." + (show)
@mistea

Just found this thread. I have suspected LPR, according to ent, and short barretts, visually on endoscopy but negative for barretts on pathology after 5 months on omeprazole.
My ent recommended a plant based diet but with animal protein in small portions 2 to 3 times a week. He also recommended reflux gourmet, which has sodium alginate, to create a reflux raft above stomach contents and keep acid in stomach. I found esophageal guardian by life extension which costs less and works better for me. I take it at bedtime.
Waiting to hear from GI that I can wean off omeprazole, which I already stated doing every other day. So far so good.

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Good luck getting off emperazole. I want to try what you use at bedtime. Thanks a lot

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maxine50 | @maxine50 | Mar 31, 2023
In reply to @marlaxyz "I hesitate to write this because i am absolutely not an expert and am an experiment..." + (show)
@marlaxyz

I hesitate to write this because i am absolutely not an expert and am an experiment of one. With that said I will tell you my experience.

i was on Prilosec (prescription) for years and then there were a series of events and I stopped taking it. Surprise. NO problem. Then I had an endoscopy (for other reasons) and asked the doctor if he thought I should be taking Prilosec and he said he saw no reason. So I have not gone back to it.

What I did do was adjust my diet and stop eating citrus, tomatoes, and other items - i actually forget now because it is all in the past. I DO eat yogurt, cottage cheese, other cheese (not cheddar) peanut butter, meat, cooked (and non cruciferous) vegetables, yams, berries, bananas, other stuff. . I have a whole list somewhere if you want it, just PM me. I created the list by trial and error - if something gave me GERD, out it went.

One take away I came to was the gastroenterologists do like to prescribe Prilosec. If you have something it will probably fix it. I have other problems but Prilosec is not fixing them, still the GI doctor wanted me to take the Prilosec. . All medicines have an affect on our kidneys and livers. I have a sense Prilosec is not a bad medicine any more than any other (I went back to the original research and found it not compelling) ..it is just that all medicines have problems.

BTW - that vinegar. Yikes. NEVER or as Jackie above called it - "acid"

Best to you and good luck-

Val

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Omprazole is the generic of Prilosec and I have been taking one every morning for 3 years or more because of the severe GERD I had. I know it's long term but I don't get the severe pain as before since taking Omprazole every morning. Also, I have changed my diet and do not eat anything that will give me pain. I only eat fish or chicken, zucchini, broccoli well cooked. No pepper or chili or any other 'hot' spice. An occasional pizza, but I do believe that the Omprazole each morning has helped me considerably. No pain, No GERD. Tried Apple Cider Vinegar once and it made me want to vomit so never again.

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1 reply
baguette | @baguette | Apr 1, 2023
In reply to @maxine50 "Omprazole is the generic of Prilosec and I have been taking one every morning for 3..." + (show)
@maxine50

Omprazole is the generic of Prilosec and I have been taking one every morning for 3 years or more because of the severe GERD I had. I know it's long term but I don't get the severe pain as before since taking Omprazole every morning. Also, I have changed my diet and do not eat anything that will give me pain. I only eat fish or chicken, zucchini, broccoli well cooked. No pepper or chili or any other 'hot' spice. An occasional pizza, but I do believe that the Omprazole each morning has helped me considerably. No pain, No GERD. Tried Apple Cider Vinegar once and it made me want to vomit so never again.

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I am trying to do that, second time. Last August I took 2.5 weeks lowering the dose, skipping days. I think I rushed the process. Ended up with IBS symptoms, which eventually tamed with the FODMAP elimination diet. But still had GI problems, and worsening chest pains, so perhaps I got rebound GERD. Scoped a second time in February, dilated, put back on a different PPI. Took full dose for two weeks and am now trying to wean off them more slowly than the first time in conjunction with using Gaviscon Advance, alkaline water, melatonin, and Dr. Aviv's no acid diet. Some people swear by Dr. Koufman's advice, you can google her blogs (and a Reddit user detailed her answers to his $500 consult so others didn't have to pay out). Still having problems, e.g., I was doing a plank, which I have done for several months without incident, and suffered a reflux attack. Am going to add chewing sugarless gum to stimulate saliva, and again cut back on amount of food I eat per meal. I am a member of the acid watchers warrior group on Facebook, and people there say it takes at least 3 months to heal. Good luck on your journey. Don't be impatient. I would be interested in hearing success stories from others.

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maxine50 | @maxine50 | Apr 1, 2023

I would like to know what foods exactly are on the FODMAP diet and what does it do for one?

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joannedvr | @joannedvr | Apr 1, 2023

It took me a year to wean myself off. My doctor recommended alternating between vitamin E with Prilosec, but never take them on the same day. I started with one day a week, vitamin E and no Prilosec. Did this two months or so. Once my acid reflux was tolerable on my off days, then I would add another day of vitamin E. It took a year and didn’t think I could do it, especially for being on it for 4+ years. I have occasional flare ups and will take Prilosec for a few days. Good luck!

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3 replies
joannedvr | @joannedvr | Apr 1, 2023
In reply to @joannedvr "It took me a year to wean myself off. My doctor recommended alternating between vitamin E..." + (show)
@joannedvr

It took me a year to wean myself off. My doctor recommended alternating between vitamin E with Prilosec, but never take them on the same day. I started with one day a week, vitamin E and no Prilosec. Did this two months or so. Once my acid reflux was tolerable on my off days, then I would add another day of vitamin E. It took a year and didn’t think I could do it, especially for being on it for 4+ years. I have occasional flare ups and will take Prilosec for a few days. Good luck!

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My friend is trying a silver fern supplement. They have a few for digestive issues and acid reflux. They have a regime to wean you off Prilosec

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ripley | @ripley | Apr 2, 2023
In reply to @joannedvr "It took me a year to wean myself off. My doctor recommended alternating between vitamin E..." + (show)
@joannedvr

It took me a year to wean myself off. My doctor recommended alternating between vitamin E with Prilosec, but never take them on the same day. I started with one day a week, vitamin E and no Prilosec. Did this two months or so. Once my acid reflux was tolerable on my off days, then I would add another day of vitamin E. It took a year and didn’t think I could do it, especially for being on it for 4+ years. I have occasional flare ups and will take Prilosec for a few days. Good luck!

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Several questions. What dose of Vitamin E were you taking? Did your doctor explain why Vitamin E would help on the days you didn't take Prilosec? Eventually, were you taking Vitamin E every day when you completely got off Prilosec and do you continue taking Vitamin E daily now? Thanks.

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1 reply
mikaylar | @mikaylar | Apr 2, 2023
In reply to @ripley "Several questions. What dose of Vitamin E were you taking? Did your doctor explain why Vitamin..." + (show)
@ripley

Several questions. What dose of Vitamin E were you taking? Did your doctor explain why Vitamin E would help on the days you didn't take Prilosec? Eventually, were you taking Vitamin E every day when you completely got off Prilosec and do you continue taking Vitamin E daily now? Thanks.

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Yikes, I didn't even realize Omeprazole was addictive!

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1 reply
t98 | @t98 | Apr 3, 2023
In reply to @mikaylar "Yikes, I didn't even realize Omeprazole was addictive!" + (show)
@mikaylar

Yikes, I didn't even realize Omeprazole was addictive!

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it's not addictive but you need to reduce it slowly otherwise it causes an acid surge (in other words more acid than usual).

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mikaylar | @mikaylar | Apr 3, 2023

Thanks for telling me what the doctor should have.

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