GERD - Alternatives to PPIs

Hi all, I hope this day finds you well! I was sleeved on 1/5/16 and have had fantastic weight loss results. HW: 215, SW: 212, CW: 149; GW: 135. I am so pleased with my results and my new life! My only negative to date is that I developed heartburn symptoms on day 5 after surgery and they have been unrelenting since. I was placed on a PPI (generic omeprazole) by my doctor after I called complaining I could not sleep through the night due to symptoms of "dragon fire" in the middle of the night. Note: I don't usually get heartburn from eating unless I get dumb and eat something really spicy. I get heartburn due to position (horizontal) and that means most every night while trying to sleep. The end result is that I am getting acid that won't stay in my stomach if I am not upright.

So...I am not a big fan of PPIs. They have been getting a lot of bad press lately due to long term side effects and the nasty reality of rebound if you try to stop taking them. They block receptors in your stomach that trigger acid production. When you stop taking them, all of the built up trigger chemicals in your blood suddenly have open receptors in your stomach and the result: dragon fire! The long term side effects that are starting to come out regarding sustained use of these products include kidney issues, early onset dementia, and immune suppression concerns. Data on these long term issues requires further study, but none of that sounds good to me.

I switched to taking an H2 agonist (Zantac) instead, but found that I still could not get 8 hours of sleep without having symptoms. I was starting to get a bit desperate as this is not my idea of a great long-term situation, not to mention the likely damage to my esophagus or eventually my vocal chords.

Enter the natural remedy of d-Limonene for the treatment of heartburn. I am on day 10 of a 20 day trial of this supplement. It is essentially orange oil in gel cap form. You take one gel cap every OTHER night for 20 days. The actually mechanism of action for this supplement is not well understood, but it is thought to a) coat the stomach, improve appropriate acid production and c) increase motility (movement of stuff out of the stomach and into the intestines.) After 12 days, I have actually had 2 nights in a row of full 8 hours sleep. YAY!!! That is huge for me. I would tell you that the first two days, I took the stuff 2 nights in a row. When I did that, I get a lot of gurgling in my intestines and let's just say "major motility of the system"! Not diarrhea, but loud and pointed movement of the system. Note to self: take as directed - not every day!

I have been able to reduce my zantac from 300 mg at bedtime to 150 mg at bedtime only. My hope is to get off of it completely.

So..That's my story. My question to the forum is: 1) who else is suffering from some pretty serious heartburn? and 2) have any of you been successful in treating your heartburn with something other than PPIs?

Thanks!!