Do not stop using your antacid. DO NOT STOP USING IT EVEN IF YOU FEEL OKAY!

I will admit it-I hate taking pills. This has been my downfall after the surgery. I even hate taking my multi Vitamin every day. I do it, but I hate it. I don't even know why.

Anyway, I have not had any problems with indigestion or heartburn since the surgery. So, stupid enough, I stopped taking my antacid last week. Well, I think it has been about 10 days since I took it.

Well, I am miserable. Everything hurts going down-it burns. I can hardly eat anything right now. :smile: I can drink (and that still hurts, but not like food does). Obviously it is because I haven't had my antacid. :smile: I went to the doctor today and he said I better start taking it again. If it isn't better in another 10 days, he is going to scope me. But he really felt like it was the lack of antacid causing me the pain. (and I do too...)

Take it from me, take your meds as directed!

Those of you that are stopping let us know how it goes. I really want to stop taking mine but I'm only 20 days post op (goodlife I know your less than that and you are fine right?) The few times I forgot to take mine I felt quite a bit of acid in my stomach and throat.

Wow I'm confused...

My doctor will not allow me to take Prevacid or Tums or any pills or chewable antacids. I had some burning after I drank Water especially and he said that I can take a little Mylanta. So that's what I started doing if I drank anything before bedtime and tried to lay down to go to sleep. If the burning begins, now I take a tiny teaspoon of Mylanta and can drop right off to sleep.

I don't know why water is such a problem. Makes no sense to me. But my doctor defnitely has not prescribed anything to take like that on a regular basis. I will have to ask him why not since so many of you are taking antacids all the time.

P.S. Try sleeping in a chair instead of laying down when it gets really bad. I have a long history (before the sleeve) of acid reflux from a hiatal hernia and spent many a night sleeping upright.

I am still taking mine, but this article just might make me re-think it ... I'll discuss with my doctor at the 6 month mark:

Proton pump inhibitors can lead to higher risk of bone fractures, studies show - chicagotribune.com

I wonder if this is because most people take Calcium carbonate, which is not absorbed if there is no acid in the stomach. Most of us take a PPI or other acid-reducing medication post op, so we take calcium citrate. It IS absorbed even if there is no acid in the stomach.

Many, many people have reflux or "heartburn" and take OTC acid blockers on their own, without any advice from a professional who would be able to advise them to switch their calcium to calcium citrate. Maybe that is causing more osteoporosis. Just a thought.

Well, I have been on PPI for years. Now I take Zegerid, which now I is being sold without prescription. My doctor repair my hernia when I got the sleeve and we thought the reflux would go away...well it didn't. So I am back on Zegerid and doing fine. I hope to decrease for 40mg to 20mg when I get to my desired weight.

Great Post, thanks! I have been lax about taking mine ( my surgeon recommends taking one a day for 90 days ) It's only been two days off and I am having this discomfort I just couldn't figure out :blushing: Should have put two and two together...thanks for the reminder!

I've been off mine for over a week now. sometimes my stomach is quite painful. I am going to call Dr. Aceves again and find out if it's really worth it to go through all this discomfort to get off of it. It's not only heartburn, but sometimes my stomach just aches.

Let us know what he says

I am back on it now. But when I was off of it, my esophogus would burn also. Everything kind of burned. Also, here is a TMI-I had diarrhea that was just straight stomach acid. It was extremely painful and I don't wish it upon my worst enemy. I will not be going off it any time soon!

Gosh you guys, I guess I don't get it. I haven't taken anything but a little Mylanta during the first couple of weeks because when I drank water my esophogus and middle chest area burned and sometimes my stomach did too. But the only time my stomach hurts now is when I eat one bite too many. Am I just lucky or did we have different procedures? I had a band to sleeve revision. And interestingly, I still have a very small hiatal hernia that he couldn't remove. No reflux at night. Only burns when I lie down if I've just had water. Thus the Mylanta. Now I just avoid water before bedtime.

This is what Dr. Aceves emailed back to me:

Hi Denise Not everyone has this problem but when they do.... the rebound effect lasts between one and three months so you will need to be patient

Be especially careful about your diet during this period to avoid acid damage avoid foods known to trigger reflux (acidic juices, coffee, chocolate, high-fat foods) and and drinking plenty of water.

You will substitute Nexium for Prilosec

take Prilosec ( sold over the counter ) every day for 2 weeks then take Prilosec every other day for 2 weeks and then take Prilosec every 3 days for 2 more weeks and then take Prilosec every 4 days for 2 more weeks and then take Prilosec every 5 days for 2 more weeks and then take Prilosec every 6 days for 2 more weeks then you can stop taking it

so a total of 3 months you will hopefully be able to leave the acid medication please keep track on the way you will be taking the Medication in order for this to work you will need to follow instructions closely

I am also an Aceves patient and was advised that I could probably stop the Nexium at 3 months. When I went to my PCP to have my labs ordered, he wrote another prescription just in case I need it. Discontinued the Nexium yesterday, so for now am just going to see how I feel, and then will go back on if necessary.