Hey everyone, I am 5 months post op and have been taking nexium. I am getting really worried about the long term use and bone density issues. I have noticed that my joints and bones are aching like never before.

I am wondering if anyone has been able to successfully stop taking ppis and how far post op they were.

Also has anyone had any experience with pepcid or zantac?

I stopped at 7 months. I had tried to stop at three but reflux came back so I took it three more months. The last month I skipped a day for a week, then skipped two days for a week, then three, and the last week I went without. Tapering it off seemed to work better than just quitting abruptly the way I had the 3rd month. I did not have reflux issues before surgery.

Since then (six more months) I have had 2 nights that acid has woken me from sleep. I just take a Pepcid and in 30 minutes I can go back to bed.

I stopped taking my PPI at 3 months and have had no issues.

Try dropping every other day and see how it goes, if OK then drop 2 out of 3 days and if still fine then drop it for a month. Be sure to keep your RX on hand so you can resume if the acid comes back.