Lansoprazole v.s. famotidine

I need to taper off lansoprazole ASAP per my gastroenterologist. But I'm terrified of getting rebound of acid reflux symptoms. Can anyone recommend a fast, effective tapering plan? Most tapering plans seem to take 4-10 weeks but I've been told to get off the PPIs within 2 weeks. I'm on 30mg lansoprazole/day plus 80mg famotidine/day. I don't need to taper off the famotidine.

Hi, I (28F) am 5'3 and weigh 212 pounds (fluctuating to 210 at times). I have a few conditions but the only relevant condition to what I need help with is GERD and my weight. I don't smoke, drink, or do any recreational drugs. I'm in the US. Sorry for making the background info so long, just wanted to give the full picture. The question is down below if you want to just jump to it.
In 2019 I ended up gaining a lot of weight. This was surprising to me because I was always 125 pounds. I ended up getting to over 230 pounds in 2 years. I thought it was my birth control because I had just gotten on a new one (Nexplanon) at that time. During this time I developed a bad case of GERD, and had to get on both Lansoprazole and Famotidine. As time passed, in early 2022, I would get bad stomach pain and ended up getting what ER doctors believed to be infections: colitis and on another occasion ileitis. My gastro at the time was confused because I wasn't showing signs of infection. He told me he didn't think I had any infections and set up an MRI Enterography in 2023. By 2023 I was down to 221 pounds.
In 2022, I had met with a Rheumatologist who has honestly been amazing. The Rheumatologist identified my Psoriatic Arthritis in my first visit, well before my first Psoriasis patch ever showed. Treatment has been going pretty well. During that first visit I told him about my infections earlier that year and he stated that he believed I have IBD. He says in all his time working (he is an older doctor), I'm presenting clear signs of it but they probably won't catch it any time soon as it's hard to catch. Fast forward to the MRI Enterography, they catch nothing. Everything is fine. Time passes, the pain comes back, and I get scheduled for a Colonoscopy and Endoscopy. Both came back fine, just evidence of mild chronic gastritis comes back. Eventually, that gastro decides I'm too complicated and drops me, passing me on to a nurse practitioner who is only there to refill my GERD meds.
In late 2023, the pain gets worse. Nothing touches it, and only opioids manage some of the pain until even they stop working. I get in a stat laparoscopy to see if I have endometriosis and they saw none so they send me home. Things are sort of okay until they weren't again and this time I see a new gastro. They schedule me for a Colonoscopy/Endoscopy for December. During the end of 2023 I lost 11 pounds. I went from 221 pounds to 210 pounds. I was so nauseous I couldn't eat anything. I was dizzy to the point that I couldn't drive or walk well. My stomach was in so much pain and felt "paralyzed". I just felt awful.
The colonoscopy/endoscopy showed, once again, nothing but mild chronic gastritis. On December 24th, I started Phentermine. With Phentermine, my issues went away. Everything from the nausea to the pain and paralyzed stomach went away. I stopped it for a week to see if the symptoms came back and they did. Once I started again the symptoms went away. It was like a miracle medicine. I went from taking 4 acid reflux pills to 1. My nausea went away and everything felt good. I'm just so confused...Actually, I have stopped taking Phentermine as often because I keep forgetting to take it. My nausea, dizziness, and stomach pain have all come back. I went to the ER a week ago for intense stomach and kidney pain. They did a CT scan and the kidney pain was due to a kidney stone, but they also told me that I had inflammation in my intestines that showed some kind of chronic inflammatory disease occurring. They just couldn't tell or see more details.
Here's the question: Why would Phentermine help with all of these issues? Is it the Phentermine? Just today I was eating lunch and suddenly got extremely nauseous. I remembered I hadn't taken Phentermine and took it. Within 30 minutes my nausea was completely resolved. Is it just me? Am I making it into some kind of placebo that I think cures me but doesn't actually? I'm unsure and I need someone to explain why it could or couldn't be it.
My primary and gastro are so confused by this but they're encouraging me to continue on the Phentermine as it's helping my symptoms. My primary is concerned because it isn't meant to be used long-term and wants this issue resolved. My Rheumatologist is still certain I have IBD and my gastro is still confused because nothing has come up on colonoscopies/endoscopies. Is IBD really that hard to catch? If so what other tests or bloodwork should I be doing to check for IBD?

Link to original post.
Thank you everyone who commented and sent me DMs offering advice and support. I was super emotionally spent at the time, so I didn’t respond to all of your comments and messages, but I read every single one and took them all to heart.
I want to provide an update so that anyone else who is desperately searching Reddit for answers in the wee morning hours like I was will know how everything turned out.
I’m very happy to report we are through the colic and my son is the absolute joy of my life. There are a few things I think helped us in the end:

1. The right formula and reflux meds. This was by far the biggest contributor to his improvement.

We were on Nutramigen formula and Famotidine reflux medicine when I posted but ended up having to try a few different options before we finally found what worked for us. I also was relentless with the pediatrician (who is awesome by the way) and we ended up getting a bunch of labs and an ultrasound to rule out any potentially dangerous causes of discomfort.
We switched to an amino acid based formula to see if a formula with absolutely no dairy or soy would help. We tried Neocate first and saw improvements but he was SUPER gassy on it so still quite uncomfortable. Then I made what turned out to be a happy mistake — I ran out of Neocate one day and they didn’t have any at the store, so I decided to use the can of EleCare I had in the pantry until my online order of Neocate arrived. Lo and behold, he responded positively to the switch. The gas went away almost instantly. Ended up having to return like $300 worth of Neocate!!
The Famotidine seemed to work at first but stopped working after about a week and a half. From what I’ve read in a lot of Reddit threads, that’s not uncommon. We ended up switching him to Lansoprazole and it seems to have done the trick! He still spits up A LOT (reflux meds don’t prevent that) but it’s clearly no longer painful for him. He is able to tolerate being on his back now.

1. I hate to say it, but time.

It took time for his little digestive system to develop and for his esophagus and intestines to heal from the inflammation I think my breastmilk had caused. Once he was on the right formula and reflux meds, I saw improvements very quickly but it still took a few weeks for him to get to a place where I could confidently say we were through the colic.
But during his healing journey, he started making developmental leaps so quickly!! It was amazing to watch. He went from not smiling to smiling very occasionally to smiling constantly in response to me smiling at him. Same with making sounds. No sounds to little sounds here and there to full on squealing.
I was doubtful at the end of my last post that he’d be able to develop normally or that I’d even be able to enjoy it anymore if he did. I was dead wrong. Maybe I’m just really good at compartmentalizing things, but I have no PTSD like I thought I would. As soon as he started improving and particularly when he started smiling, all my negative feelings melted away INSTANTLY and I was able to enthusiastically engage with him. Like literally at the first tiny sign of improvement I was able to find that joy and motivation to interact with him again.

1. Progressing through my own journey as a new mom. Learning better soothing techniques, learning his individual needs. I’d say this was maybe 10% of it.

I don’t think I understood newborns very well. I tried what felt like everything at the time, but I think I was also quick to get frustrated and didn’t understand that some of his behaviors were also just normal for a newborn. In my defense though, it became a lot easier to surrender myself to soothing him once he started actually responding to the soothing (once the formula and reflux meds gave his guts a chance to heal).
I also didn’t understand that if I didn’t help him get to sleep he’d end up overtired and cranky. Now that he has settled into a routine and we understand each other so much better, I can recognize what he needs before he even does and can respond proactively. I now recognize exactly why he’s cranky and can respond accordingly.
One positive side effect of me dealing with his colic alone while my husband was away at training is that the little guy and I are SO closely bonded and have such a good routine with one another. I think we trained each other 😂 (mostly he trained me). It just feels like we are very attuned to one another.
Oh one last thing that was a HUGE help: I had the nanny start helping out about a week before I went back to work. Getting breaks for even just a few hours was so rejuvenating and gave me far more capacity to be patient. It gave me and my son the space we needed to learn one another without all the frustration.
Anyway, hope this post is helpful to someone one day! Thank you all again for your tremendous support. I can’t believe I’m on the other end of this and the colic is a distant memory.

(I originally posted this a few minutes ago on medical_advice; check my post history if you want to read comments; the words are the same)
Hi, first I'm just gonna get some of this out of the way (at the very bottom is a comprehensive list of all symptoms, medications/anything I've taken for it, diets, holistic approaches, family history, and tests/labs I have had done as well as a final sort of conclusion and sidenotes. I will also include the nearest approximation for the dates that I can remember, please bear with me):
Age: 20, Male, 140lbs, White, USA, Nothing Diagnosed, No current meds/doses, drug use is edibles for chronic pain management, non-smoker, started March 2023.
(I have had bloodwork done multiple times, with no significance, though if you think it might be helpful to know something, please ask as I have so much and it would take a while to list it all out)
This is probably going to be a long one, but there is so much that I need to preface this with. Last year, I was 19 years old, healthy, agile, and slightly athletic, but then around March of last year, I began to get hit by upper abdominal discomfort. I saw a gastroenterologist, and was told it was most likely Celiac (from the second that I stepped foot in his office and told him I was in pain), so I did bloodwork which ruled it in, and had then an endoscopy that came back inconclusive and was just told to try a gluten free diet for a few months (and that if it didn't help, then I could go back to a normal diet). Since then, I have been prescribed so many different medications to try and I myself have tried so many OTC and holistic approaches as well. Around July 2023, the pain had gotten so bad that I was basically doing nothing and already stopped working my part-time job because of it.
August 1st, 2023 I went to the ER for the first time, and was just given an IV with some fluids and nausea medication, which did not make any change at all. I also had an ultrasound there that came back entirely fine and in the clear. Since then, the pain has increased tenfold, and is all in my upper abdomen, and it feels like it is directly near where my gallbladder is. They also did an ultrasound, but nothing came from it.
For added context, not a single medication, vitamin, holistic approach, anything that I have ever done or taken has helped the pain except edibles. The edibles don't take away the pain, but they make it easier to tolerate and somewhat ignore, which is more than literally anything.
Since then, I have gone back to college for my sophomore year, and I've literally just been toughing this out while waiting for doctors appointments, all of which led nowhere. I then was scheduled for a HIDA scan in November, which came back with my gallbladder's ejection fracture being around 86%. After drinking an Ensure Plus drink from them during the HIDA scan, I was practically doubled over in pain, even more so than I am currently, and was basically curled up in a ball in my Dad's car. I was told by the doctor that it was one of the best functioning gallbladder's they'd ever seen, and that it was definitely not the issue (though I was hesitant because of doing my own research about biliary hyperkinesia).
I also began speaking to a nutritionist near the beginning of the year, as I was told that it could be something with my diet or such. I'd say that my diet was okay, not great, but I've improved it since then, whilst my symptoms have worsened. She wanted to immediately get me tested for SIBO, which I did and ensured that I followed all prep instructions and test instructions perfectly. It came back negative, which she was surprised at, and then began throwing some things at the wall to see what would stick. I ditched her because she was really dead-set on SIBO
Around the beginning of 2024, I went to see a new gastroenterologist for a second opinion. She believed that I was constipated (which I was), so I was told to take some Miralax and modify my diet to increase my fiber intake, which I did, and have been doing fine since then. For reference as well, my urine is usually a clear yellowish color, which raised no alarms. After fixing the constipation and still being in the extreme pain, she ordered an ultrasound, which I went for in February 2024. It came back showing that I had a 4mm polyp, but it was deemed to be insignificant. She sent me for bloodwork, which came back fine. She wanted to do another endoscopy, in order to entirely rule out Celiac. I had the endoscopy, and it came back negative for Celiac, which was quite a relief and she noted that she did see an increase in acid reflux. After the endoscopy, I had zero pain for the next hour or two, probably because of the anesthesia still in my system.
I have seen her once more since the endoscopy so far, and she seems to be at quite a loss of what it could be. She told me to try holistic doctors, she recommended a consultation with a general surgeon, as well as a cardiologist, as one of my symptoms of having this pain is shortness of breath (which is widely noticeable, as walking more than a few feet leaves me practically panting.
Here I am now today, where I just got out of the ER for the second time after nearly seven hours. I went because the pain got so bad today, and last night, I had cold sweats, felt clammy, had chills. After this, I had realized that I was just pushing the cold sweats aside when I was not inside of my bedroom, and it has actually probably going on for the past few weeks. I currently do not have any clamminess or chills, but would not be surprised if I did when I went to bed tonight. For reference, I keep my room quite cold because it makes me sleep and feel so much better.
The ER then did some bloodwork, as well as took a urine sample. Both of which came back fine, and then I was sent to get an ultrasound there as well. Nothing showed, and I made sure to tell them multiple times before about the 4mm polyp, which was my main and literally only lead on what could be wrong with me, and was told that it was still the same size. The ultrasound tech also told me that a 4mm polyp would likely not cause any pain at all.
After the ultrasound in the ER, they sent me back to give me something in my IV to help with the pain. They gave me 1000mg of some pain medication (I missed the name, though I was told it was basically better Advil). I thought that they had missed something and not even hooked it up correctly, but there was ZERO change in the pain at all, and they then asked me if I wanted to do a CT scan, which I more than happily did. Absolutely nothing. Nothing alarming at all came from it, and from a medical standpoint, that is the absolute ideal outcome. To me, I so badly just want to find out what is wrong with me. I just got home tonight and popped two edibles just to deal the pain, but it's not a long term solution because firstly I don't want it to be, and secondly because I literally can't afford to sustain this for an extended period of time.
It does not matter if I eat or not in the day, as the pain will still be there no matter what, usually with eating making it slightly worsen for the rest of the day. Now that most of the medical stuff is out of the way (except the comprehensive list), I wanted to also slightly rant about how badly it is affecting me academically and socially.
I'm currently in college, as mentioned before, and I try to hang out with my friends as much as I can. I always try my best to be the most positive and upbeat person in the room, but honestly it's so fucking hard for me to stay composed at this point. I feel as if I'm reaching a physical breaking point because of how helpless and useless anything I try and do feels.
I have been so fucked over academically by this; I have already failed one class last semester because I missed so many classes and material that I bombed the final. I am currently re-taking that course, and am trying to do better in it, but it's so hard; I literally need to psych myself to do homework or even just sit in class. I currently am taking 4 courses, (one of which was the re-take) another of which, I am currently failing because I have missed so many classes, had so many flare-ups during exams and normal class time that I feel like my absolute hardest only gets a me a failing grade. My very first semester, I ended up with a pretty good GPA for myself, around 3.5 (but it was my first and probably easiest semester). My second semester, this pain did not affect me as much because it started to really ramp up after finals had already ended, though it was still a battle every day to do something. One of the most gut-wrenching and fucking destroying things to me is that I can't even get any accommodations from the college because I am not diagnosed with anything at all.
As soon as I hear back from my professors, as I missed both of my courses today because I was in the ER, I want to sit down with the two that are in the classes I'm struggling in (they are both writing intensive and math courses, and it takes such a big toll on me). I really want to talk person-to-person with them to just explain my situation and see if they would help me with any accommodations regarding the final exam. If they can't, I'm literally going to fail both of them, and lose thousands of dollars because of it. I've literally started considering putting higher education on hold because of this pain, though I've thought long and hard about it, and I don't think I could genuinely deal with the social consequences of literally being there alone without any of my friends (most of them are graduating quite soon).
The other scariest thing is I'm so fucking scared that I won't be able to work because of this pain; my bank account is currently starved, though my parents do support me an extremely large amount and I could never thank them enough for being my family.
Out of all of this, there was two single days. Two days that I had zero discomfort and zero pain at all, as if somebody just waved a magic wand around. These days were not back-to-back, and there has not been a good day in a long time. The first one was in early September, and the other was in early November. Both of which, I was so up to par that I hiked 8 miles each day; the next day in which, the pain had returned as if it had never left. Thank you for listening and reading if you made it this far, and I already thank you even if you don't leave a comment or have any advice. Thank you.
Here begin the lists...
List of all prescribed medications:
At one point, I was taking nearly all of these, and began to ween myself off of them into lower doses, eventually entirely cutting them out in Late August 2023, as I personally felt that I was overmedicated and it actually made my stomach feel so much worse (which it did).
Dicyclomine 10mg, 2 capsules every 6hrs as needed (Around May 31 2023 - Late August 2023)
Omeprazole 20mg, once daily (Around May 31 2023 - Mid. July 2023)
Upped to 40mg, once daily (Around Mid. July 2023 - Early August 2023)
Upped to twice daily (Early August 2023 - Late August 2023)
Sucralfate 1gm, before meals (Around Mid. July 2023 - Late August 2023)
Famotidine 40mg, at bed (Around Mid. July 2023 - Late August 2023)
The following are all 20mg, twice daily (afaik). Note that these were not taken concurrently, and only after I had stopped the other. These are prescribed by my second, and current GI doctor.
Pantoprazole (Around February 2024)
Esomeprazole (Around March 2024)
Lansoprazole (Around Late March 2024)
Amitriptyline, 10mg at bed (Around Late March 2024)
List of all OTC medications (I apologize, I do not have dates for these):
Miralax (GI Recommended it)
Pepcid (GI Recommended it)
Phazyme Ultimate Strength
Gas X
Mylanta
Ibuprofen
Alka-Seltzer
List of all diets/food restrictions I've tried/done (None of which made me feel any better):
Gluten Free (Approx. 4 months)
Low Fodmap diet (No approx. date)
No dairy (I rarely even have dairy; the most being on an occasional burger
No processed foods (Still ongoing; I can't even stomach more than a full meal anyways)
No/Lower sugary foods (Still ongoing; same reasoning as the no processed foods)
Low fat diet (Tried for two weeks; is quite difficult living on a college campus)
Short SIBO diet (2 days, Bland chicken breasts with rice) (Made me feel horrible)
List of all tests/labs I have had done:
Multiple different bloodwork labs (Across multiple dates between May 31 2023 and today) (Only ruled in Celiac disease)
Abdominal Ultrasound (1st ER Visit, August 1, 2023) (Insignificant)
Upper Endoscopy (Mid. June 2023) (Insignificant)
HIDA Scan (Early November 2023) (Insignificant, EF: 86%)
Abdominal Ultrasound (Mid February 2024) (4mm polyp detected in gallbladder)
Upper Endoscopy (March 22, 2024) (Entirely ruled out celiac disease)
Abdominal Ultrasound (April 6 2024) (Insignificant)
CT Scan (April 6 2024) (Insignificant)
List of symptoms:
Upper Abdominal Pain 24/7/365 (Since Mid. March 2023) (Worsened around August and has been continually)
The following are a result of the pain:
Extreme shortness of breath
Nausea (I believe it's associated with the pain and is also 24/7/365)
Loss of appetite (Though I have miraculously stayed around the same weight)
Occasional dizziness
Brain fog (I first thought I just had short-term memory issues, but then I saw that this is a common side effect of what I'm currently going through, and it genuinely shows; I quite literally forget what I'm talking to somebody about and then I'm too awkward to ask them to repeat something that they have seen I heard quite clearly and paid attention. I think this is one of the biggest things that is harming me academically.)
The following are more recent developments, and I don't have an exact/precise start date:
Cold sweats, both at night while trying to sleep and while in some non-climate controlled environments
More extreme brain fog
More extreme shortness of breath
Slight dizziness
Higher tempemore easily frustrated
HOLISTIC THINGS IVE TRIED (Probably not all of them, but I don't remember):
Baking Soda + Water
Ginger Water
100% Pure Peppermint Tea
Notable Family/Medical History:
A few years ago, probably around 2018, I went to a pediatric gastroenterologist because I was 16, and was diagnosed with abdominal migraines, given sumatriptan, and put on my merry way. I did not take the sumatriptan frequently, as I think I was doing the nasal spray a little bit off and the taste was horrible. This pain eventually went away, and was definitely not as severe as this.
When I was a baby, I had surgery for pyloric stenosis.
Here's some family history, but forgive me, as I don't know it all:
My mother's side has a horrible history with bad gallbladders and them needing to suffer before it was agreed to be taken out.
My mother's side also has a history of aortic aneurysms.
My father's side has a history of cancer, with my grandfather passing away in 2012 from brain cancer, and then my uncle passed recently from Stage 4 Bile Duct cancer.
My father's side has a history of cardiac issues and such (and my father had open heart surgery nearly a year ago).
Sidenotes:
Upcoming planned visits:
Being consulted by a general surgeon May 20, 2024.
Still looking for a cardiologist
Also looking for holistic doctors now
(Maybe trying chiropractor??? idk)
Literally nobody knows about how much I've been through except my family members. I never let a single ounce of any of this show because I already get sympathy from family members, and I don't know if I can also take it from friends too (though I am extremely thankful for the sympathy from my family)
Another side note is that I also think that I may have used to have hourglass syndrome, as I remember sucking in my stomach for practically all of high school (though I was literally like 130lbs). Since then, I believe that I've stopped doing that, and actively avoid doing it. (I actually learned about this doing some research in Reddit and jumped when I heard about this, but went to sit down and realized that I stopped doing it at some point.)
I also wanted to include that I am not currently sexually active, I'm a non-drinker, non-smoker, and have no allergies and am currently covered under really good insurance from my father.
Conclusion:
If you wish to read my other posts and plethora of comments, they are in my account history, and it might have a few small details I acquitted from here, most of which are related to my "very fun" Celiac journey. They also have my Celiac bloodwork from both times.
I have no mental health or mental illness history, and I currently am not under any extreme stress or anxiety because I handle it extremely well, though I fear that I may be developing health anxiety after the CT scan and ultrasound at the ER came back normal.
I literally thank you so much if you've read this far. Any input or questions are greatly, greatly appreciated, and I hope whoever is doing this is doing good for themselves :) (P.S. Thanks for reading a 3000+ word reddit post that I somehow drafted and wrote in an hour)
Some humor that I have managed to get out of this if anyone cares:
Today's ER visit (all of the staff were extremely wonderful and down to Earth)
At triage, the nurse asked me why I hadn't come sooner if it's been going since March 2023)
My father had to step out when the IV went in for my bloodwork

A&G message to hospital
Thanks for looking after this patient in their 80s recently. Your discharge letter says “lansoprazole withheld, GP to review”. There is no mention of why this was done. there is no drop in kidney eGFR. They have been taking it for many years with no issues. There was a slight brief drop in sodium on admission bloods I see- but many things could cause this. Can you tell me why stopped please?”
Reply:
“Please commence famotidine 20mg bd”
6 weeks later….
A&G letter to hospital.
“Dear team.
Famotidine costs the NHS £38 a month so that’s 44 x the expense of lansoprazole or £457 a year. We do try to save money sometimes, in primary care at least.
Regardless of this, I issued the medication as instructed and they tried it out.
It has not worked. The family fed this back to me. The patient continues to have bouts of untreated indigestion. So far they’ve “not” had a GI bleed from aspirin and the ongoing stomach upset.
Mainly since I’ve simply reinstated lansoprazole, but just in case the reason was critical or urgent. I ask again if someone can tell me why it was withheld at the time”
No reply.
Somewhere in the last 10yrs of my GP career I have gone from trusting hospitals and their approach to be wary of sending any patients in and some of the dross we get back (if they even bother to include anything) in discharge letters is pretty diabolical.
it’s clearly yet more evidence of a broken system and saddens me. I try very much to NOT let the public know how bad/ineffective and at times even dangerous the system has become as I don’t want to drum up unnecessary fear - but the quality and accuracy of care has really nosedived in the last 10 years. It seems that some hospitals have gone from a diagnostic and holistic service, to an excluding serious things only/corner cutting/get them out ASAP/dump on GPs when able service.
The fact that some hospital trusts are going massively over budget each year, and getting bailed out by millions, whilst primary care is meanwhile being asked to count pennies and reign in budget and services just makes me even more angry. .
If I had my way Primary Care would get 12% of the NHS budget to cheaply keep more patients out of expensive hospitals and manage them properly. Just think what we could do if we were properly funded.

Hello, I am (23F) struggling with constant acid reflux/nausea for about the last 6 years and unsure what to do.
I'm currently at a point where any and all food and drink I consume is causing acid reflux. I get a deep hot burning pain in my chest and throat, bloating, regurgitation of food/acid minutes to hours after eating, stomach and abdominal pain and it feels like I have a big lump in the back of my throat all the time. I am getting doctors appts but those are a few months apart at a time cos of the NHS backlog i guess.
I had an endoscopy in 2019 that showed the beginning of a haitus hernia and was on Lansoprazole for almost 2 years after with no real change. I mostly just lived with it after that and took lots of otc meds like gaviscon for a few more years before it became quite a lot worse. I have now been on 2 courses of Famotidine with no change and am now just waiting for my next appt in a month or so where I might get referred to the gastroenterology department.
I'm just wondering if I'm doing anything wrong or if there's anything I could be doing to ease things while I live between appointments.
Things I do to help- -Raised bed/pillows so I don't lie flat at night -Take my medication as prescribed -Eat 2 meals a day but take a long time to eat to reduce swallowing ainot chewing enough -Drink plenty of water -Try to keep an active lifestyle, gym ect -I don't drink alcohol, coffee or smoke
I used to keep a food diary to track what would trigger it but it was just everything, I haven't found a single food, meal or drink that doesn't cause profound nausea. (All meats, breads, dairy products, eggs, fruit and veg, chocolate, soda, water ect) My exercise routine is being disrupted as a lot of what a do causes me to nearly be sick. I'm waking up at night choking and coughing on stomach acid and regurgitated food which is annoying. Eating is difficult because it causes stomach pain, I feel so sick and I'm struggling to swallow food properly cos it just comes back up. I'm also waiting on a therapy appt to cover some basis there too.
I guess I'm just a little lost and frustrated on what to do as its kinda all consuming and very uncomfortable and upsetting to deal with and some relief between doctors appts would be nice.
Other things about me that might be necessary - -Currently on 80-120mg of Propranolol a day of unexplained heart palpitations. Average resting heart rate around 100 to 110bpm after meds -Poor circulation, extremities always cold -On the implant birth control. Tried to take it out after being replaced twice and gained 3.5 stone in weight in 3 months that I now can't lose, doctor things PCOS?

Bit of background 4/5 months ago I started getting what I describe as a cramping feeling below my chest bone didn’t think much of it went the doctors after a month told me to take esomeprazole suspected it was acid reflux. This didn’t help so I went the doctors again my symptoms changed and I didn’t really get this cramping sensation much more it developed in to a dull burning sensation in my stomach the doctor then gave me omeprazole for 1 month and afterwards i had to do a stool test for h pylori I had to wait till the ppi was out my system this came back negative.
I then went to see a gastroenterologist who suggested trying a different ppi peoples bodies respond better to other ppi’s he suggested I try lansoprazole 30mg and I immediately felt relief and barely noticed the burning until 7 days in it kind of come back. I also noticed occasionally when I lie in bed certain positions cause like a throbbing pain below my chest I guess that’s the heartburn sensation kind of strange but changing positions helps it.
I then had an ultrasound that came back all clear I tried a low fodmap diet and eating clean avoiding high acidic foods and drinks that didn’t help the only difference I noticed was I dropped a lot of weight from eating super clean and low calories.
I then had an endoscopy with a biopsy that all came back clear during that time I stopped taking the lansoprazole and my burning got way more intense so I realised they was helping but wasn’t fully fixing my symptom it was just a bandaid. After another consultation with the gastroenterologist he diagnosed with my functional dyspepsia and said just give it time and try famotidine and continue with lansoprazole, I didn’t notice any benefits taking famotidine but I am still taking lansoprazole daily and it does help but doesn’t fully get rid of the burning all be it it is dull and I notice it throughout the day.
He suggested to come back in a couple of months if it’s still happening and we can try something like amitryptyline.
This condition is confusing it’s almost like it’s made up but feels so real! I’m at ease in the sense the biopsy was clear as well as the other tests but still would like this to be gone I don’t want to be on ppi’s for ever and I’m sure with the time I’ve been on them coming off them is not going going to be easy.

Hi everyone, I’ve had what I now know to be LPR for 4 years (chronic throat clearing, confirmed reddening of larynx and inflammation)?
My issue is chronic throat clearing which I think is exclusively from nighttime reflux - I’ve tried several things like Gaviscon Advance UK over the past year, and more recently trying to improve my diet and making sure I don’t eat at least 3 hours before bed (on most days it’s 5-6). I was prescribed lansoprazole for 6 weeks in the past, and currently have famotidine and omeprazole.
However, I’m still waking up with a really sour tasting throat that feels a bit better during the day, with no obvious triggers, which makes me think my reflux in the night isn’t being adequately controlled. The problem is, I’ve bought a wedge pillow and tried 8 inch bed risers and it makes no difference to my symptoms, or quality of sleep (which feels poor, I never feel fully rested).
I read on Jamie Koufman’s website that she recommends at least a 45 degree wedge pillow because the usual inclines aren’t steep enough to help.
Question: I think most of the usual wedge pillows online are between a 20-35 degree angle. I was just wondering if anyone has found that steeper than normal incline was necessary to control their nighttime reflux? I’ve got no issue buying one, I’d just rather not waste the money since I’ll pretty much know after 1 day whether it works or not.
Thanks if anyone has any insight/advice!

Hey guys, So I’ve been dealing with gastritis-like symptoms for about a month now. I was prescribed lansoprazole, famotidine, and Carafate and all those have helped some but I’m still experiencing some pretty bad symptoms. I’ve been researching , and came across the condition SIBO. Although I’m not trying to diagnose myself, a lot of the symptoms of gastritis and SIBO are the same so I’m wondering if this is what is causing all of my stomach issues. Have any of you guys dealt with this? And if so, how did you get diagnosed and what was the treatment like?

How do these medications relate to akathisia and psychosis/ mental health? Is there agitation of the akathisia, psychosis, or mental health?
Clonidine ( catapres ) 0.1 mg
Trazadone ( desyrel) 75 mg
Propranolol ( inderal) 20 mg
Hydroxyzine ( Atarax ) 10 mg
Pramipexole ( mirapex ) 0.25 mg
Lansoprazole ( Prevacid) 30 mg
Famotidine ( pepcid ) 20 mg
Prozac ( fluoxetine) 40 mg
Sprintec 28 ( norgestimate and ethinyl estradiol tablets) 0.25-0.35 mg ( birth control)
Docusate sodium ( stool softener) 100 mg
B complex ( Vitamin c, thiamin, riboflavin, Niacin, vitamin b6, folate, vitamin b12, biotin, pantothenic acid )
Sleep3 ( l theanine, melatonin, nighttime herbal blend ( chamomile extract, lavender extract, lemon balm extract, valerian root extract) )
Vitamin d ( 50 mcg ( 2000 iu) ) + 25 mcg ( 1000 iu )
Magnesium ( 500 mg ) + 100 mg
Multivitamin
Niacin
Ginseng
Gingko biloba
Turmeric Curcumin
NAC ( n acetyl cysteine)

How do these medications relate to akathisia? Is there agitation of the akathisia?
Clonidine ( catapres ) 0.1 mg
Trazadone ( desyrel) 75 mg
Propranolol ( inderal) 20 mg
Hydroxyzine ( Atarax ) 10 mg
Pramipexole ( mirapex ) 0.25 mg
Lansoprazole ( Prevacid) 30 mg
Famotidine ( pepcid ) 20 mg
Prozac ( fluoxetine) 40 mg
Sprintec 28 ( norgestimate and ethinyl estradiol tablets) 0.25-0.35 mg ( birth control)
Docusate sodium ( stool softener) 100 mg
B complex ( Vitamin c, thiamin, riboflavin, Niacin, vitamin b6, folate, vitamin b12, biotin, pantothenic acid )
Sleep3 ( l theanine, melatonin, nighttime herbal blend ( chamomile extract, lavender extract, lemon balm extract, valerian root extract) )
Vitamin d ( 50 mcg ( 2000 iu) ) + 25 mcg ( 1000 iu )
Magnesium ( 500 mg ) + 100 mg
Multivitamin
Niacin
Ginseng
Gingko biloba
Turmeric Curcumin
NAC ( n acetyl cysteine)

I've been a long-time sufferer of GERD and for several years i have relied on PPI and IBS medications. However, last year I experienced persistent sternum and chest pain despite medication, which initially responded to Carafate, calcium carbonate tablets and a wedge pillow, hinting at a potential new type of GERD or gastritis bcoz unlike all the past times where i had acid oozing out of esophagus burning everything in its path this time i didnt have any peculiar acid burning markers.
Following a strict regimen of diet, potent PPI,domperidone and sucralfate (with cessation of ibs meds) alleviated the chest pain temporarily. However, upon reintroducing triggers like coffee, the pain has returned, and this time, neither sucralfate nor calcium seem to provide relief. Sometimes while the pain is ongoing pressing on the lowest point pf sternum hurts even more. Interestingly, I've noticed that the chest pain often is followed by flatulence or burping, although the nature of the pain feels different this time. In the past I noticed that not passing stool regularly increased my throat burning. now even the burning is entirely different, its not like the acidity i used to have from years ago, it feels different.
Additinally for the last few months i was waking up at nights with sweat or hot flashes like immediately few seconds after waking up i wud feel a heat wave grip my body. Drs as usual dismiss it as anxiety/depression. Since i stopped domperidone and restarted ibs meds this everyday torture has turned into a random occurence.
Despite seeking medical help, I've been met with dismissive responses, with doctors attributing my symptoms to history of hypochondria & anxiety. I dont blame them for it but even hypochondriacs get sick.... Various explanations, including postural issues, GERD, and gastritis, have been suggested, yet no one has recommended a definitive procedure to identify the root cause. At 40, I'm feeling increasingly frustrated and desperate for answers.
Any insights, experiences, or advice would be greatly appreciated.
p.s.
Ppi,etc tried: omeprazole, esomaprazole, lansoprazole, dexlansoprazole, famotidine, domperidone, phlorogucinol, trimebutine.
No meal after 7pm.

I've been a long-time sufferer of GERD and for several years i have relied on PPI and IBS medications. However, last year I experienced persistent sternum and chest pain despite medication, which initially responded to Carafate, calcium carbonate tablets and a wedge pillow, hinting at a potential new type of GERD or gastritis bcoz unlike all the past times where i had acid oozing out of esophagus burning everything in its path this time i didnt have any peculiar acid burning markers.
Following a strict regimen of diet, potent PPI,domperidone and sucralfate (with cessation of ibs meds) alleviated the chest pain temporarily. However, upon reintroducing triggers like coffee, the pain has returned, and this time, neither sucralfate nor calcium seem to provide relief. Sometimes while the pain is ongoing pressing on the lowest point pf sternum hurts even more. Interestingly, I've noticed that the chest pain often is followed by flatulence or burping, although the nature of the pain feels different this time. In the past I noticed that not passing stool regularly increased my throat burning. now even the burning is entirely different, its not like the acidity i used to have from years ago, it feels different.
Additinally for the last few months i was waking up at nights with sweat or hot flashes like immediately few seconds after waking up i wud feel a heat wave grip my body. Drs as usual dismiss it as anxiety/depression. Since i stopped domperidone and restarted ibs meds this everyday torture has turned into a random occurence.
Despite seeking medical help, I've been met with dismissive responses, with doctors attributing my symptoms to history of hypochondria & anxiety. I dont blame them for it but even hypochondriacs get sick.... Various explanations, including postural issues, GERD, and gastritis, have been suggested, yet no one has recommended a definitive procedure to identify the root cause. At 40, I'm feeling increasingly frustrated and desperate for answers.
Any insights, experiences, or advice would be greatly appreciated.
p.s.
Ppi,etc tried: omeprazole, esomaprazole, lansoprazole, dexlansoprazole, famotidine, domperidone, phlorogucinol, trimebutine.
No meal after 7pm.

Im in a huge flare up. I had a course of steroids which helped but I need something more. I’ve been struggling with my breathing since the sodium cromoglycate inhaler was discontinued.
My GP is giving me nothing, they said I’m already on an H1 blocker and can’t have another, I reacted to ketotifen so that’s out, ranititine and montelukast aren’t available, and they said it can’t take famotidine while on Lansoprazole. I have famotidine in the house as I plan to come off Lansoprazole but it’s proving difficult. I also have fexofenadine but they said I can’t take that with cetirizine. Currently on promethazine PM, sodium cromo AM+PM, and cetirizine AM. I can’t see my specialist for almost 2 months. Any advice or experiences would be appreciated, I feel alone but with some choices

Heartburn, reflux, and Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) are prevalent issues in the US with many OTC and prescription medications available to improve symptoms, which can include acid regurgitation and a burning throat/chest feeling, lots of burping, or even just a mucous filled cough after eating (known as Silent Reflux or LPR), etc. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 Choosing a product can be daunting because there are so many options, so I thought I’d share some advice.
The first line of defense for heartburn is an avoidance of triggers. Think anything spicy or acidic like fats (fatty acids), citrus (citric acids), carbonated beverages (carbonic acid) tomato, alcohol, coffee, chocolate, and smoking tobacco. It’s best to eat more smaller meals instead or fewer large ones and don’t lay down for at least 2 hours after eating. Sleeping with your upper body slightly elevated and weight loss can also help. Some medications can also increase acid, yet these are often unavoidable. 🤪
The next best thing to avoidance for occasional heartburn is to use an antacid. Antacids work immediately to directly neutralize acid. Some examples are calcium carbonate (Tums), magnesium hydroxide (Milk of Magnesia), and aluminum hydroxide, sodium bicarbonate (Alka-Seltzer), bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto), and combo products (Mylanta, Rolaids), Gaviscon, etc). These products are not meant to be used on a daily basis, and they won’t fix the cause of the heartburn. Also be aware that calcium and aluminum based products can increase constipation while magnesium based products can increase diarrhea. These products can also have other side effects, and some are not recommended for different diseases (kidney, liver, high blood pressure, etc). They also affect the absorption of other medications, so it’s best to separate use by 2-4 hours.
If you find that your heartburn is more frequently occurring, it may be time to try a Histamine-2 Receptor Antagonist (H2RA). (You can continue to use antacids as needed.)This is just a fancy name for drugs that block histamine from activating cells in your stomach that release gastric acid. Examples of these drugs are famotidine (Pepcid-OTC/Rx), cimetidine (Tagamet-OTC/Rx), nizatidine (Axid-OTC/Rx-shortages and products removed from the US market), and ranitidine (Zantac-which was removed from the US market).
Start at the lowest dose and increase as needed. These meds are generally used twice daily about 10min-1hr before eating for 2 weeks. Cimetidine has more potential for drug interactions, so it is least likely to be recommended for use. Famotidine is likely your best option. These drugs are also not meant to be use long term unless under medical supervision, because they can interfere with the absorption of other substances, such as iron, vitamin b12, calcium, and the degradation of protein structures that can help prevent microorganism infection. In addition, they can also have drug interactions with other medications, so even if you buy them OTC, it’s always best to let your medical providers know that you take them. 👩🏽‍⚕️
If you max out your H2RA dose and your heartburn still frequently persists, you should seek medical provider advice; however, there are even stronger acid reducers called proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) that can be used OTC or by prescription. PPIs include omeprazole (Prilosec-OTC/Rx), esomeprazole (Nexium-OTC/Rx) lansoprazole (Prevacid-OTC/Rx), pantoprazole (Protonix-Rx), rabeprazole (AcipHex-Rx), asdexlansoprazole (Dexilant-Rx).
These work by stoping the gastric acid pumps at their source, but they need to be taken around 30min-1hr before you eat anything each day to be effective. Again, start at the lowest dose and increase as needed. These are generally dosed every 24h, but some may be used twice daily. Use these for 2 weeks only unless under medical supervision as they have increased risks of infection, fractures, and iron and b12 deficiency. Also, be sure to alert your medical providers of their use OTC.
I thought this website had some good additional info (sorry for the Ads) if you want to learn more! What Is Acid Reflux Disease?

Hi all,
Problem is, I already have GERD and am on a pretty hefty dose of lansoprazole with famotidine as needed. But even with all of that, I was having breakthrough symptoms at times before my first dose of Taxol (and Herceptin). But since my first Taxol, I am really suffering with it. I will probably need to talk to my GI or medical oncologist but I just wanted to - well - bellyache! And see if anyone had a similar experience.

are there any specific meds other than the usual acid reflux and gerd meds that target lpr specifically?
for reference i’ve basically been on esomeprazole 40 mg twice a day and famotidine 20 mg twice a day ever since i was a kid. used to take ranitidine (was recalled years ago), pantoprazole (did almost nothing for both gerd and lpr), lansoprazole (same issue as the pantoprazole) and of course all the otc remedies.

i’ve been diagnosed w gerd since i was little. i’m 19F and originally started meds for it at 8 y/o- did zantac, then lansoprazole, took a hiatus from 13-16 then back on lansoprazole, off again at 17, on omeprazole, then omeprazole and famotidine, then lansoprazole and famotidine. i also have severe anxiety which goes hand and hand w this and i’m medicated for that as well.
my main symptoms are just nausea, burning, pain at base of esophagus, occasional and rare chest pain, and a whole lot of burping. like 150x a day. but the last few days i’ve started feeling it in my throat, started feeling bubbles and burning in my throat like there’s a lump/something sitting there as well as worse esophageal pain. i’m back on omeprazole and famotidine. i try not to take extra meds like tums/pepto bc i was really dependent on them for a long time two years ago to the point that they stopped working so i stopped taking them.
i will say, my diet hasn’t been great (lots of coffee mostly) and my anxiety/stress has been thru the roof for a few months now, i also went back on omeprazole like i said and idk i feel like it doesn’t work as well as lansoprazole. what do i even do here? most everything hurts my stomach in some way but it’s just been straight reflux now for three days and it sucks. worst it’s been in years honestly. what can i do? this rules my life and i just wanna eat and drink like a normal person lol. i’m only 19. how do i fix this? how do i live w this? i’m sick of the medication too but i feel like i can’t get off it. sorry for the ramble it just sucks.

Hey everyone, I wanted to know if anybody else had similar results or experiences, as mine were really weird.
The first GI doctor I went to immediately told me I had Celiac disease the second I walked into his office, and was deadset on it. This was around Spring of last year, and he had me do bloodwork and had an upper endoscopy. The blood work ruled in Celiac, (important results below) and and the endoscopy did not confirm it, with his words being "It's inconclusive, try going gluten free for a few months, and if that doesn't work, then just go back to eating a diet that includes gluten." I did that, and stayed entirely gluten free (watched out for cross contamination, didn't eat at many restaurants, etc.), and my symptoms only seemed to worsen.
I decided to reach out to another GI doctor that was in a different part of my state, and she also had me tested for Celiac, as she interpreted the previous endoscopy results as me having it, so she sent me for bloodwork once again (important results below), but with the genetic testing (I think). The bloodwork still kind of ruled in Celiac, so I just had my second upper endoscopy today, and I need to wait for the biopsy results, though she said there was no visible damage (which is good if it is Celiac disease). She also said that she noticed a huge increase in reflux (what I think its been the whole, and is the worst part of every day). I believe she saw this as opposed to the other doctor, as he was 100% only focused on looking for Celiac disease and nothing else whilst doing the endoscopy.
​
The first blood work results were:
IgA: 6 IgG: 29 tTG IgA: 3 tTG IgG: 8 Endomysial Antibody IgA: Positive Immunoglobulin A, Qn, Serum: 75
The second blood work results were (with HLA DQ results):
IgA: 5 IgG: 24 tTG IgA: 3 tTG IgG: 6 Endomysial Antibody IgA: Negative Immunoglobulin A, Qn, Serum: 84 DQ2: Positive DQ8: Negative
​
I just needed to rant because I keep on getting pulled in both directions.
First, I was told yes I probably have Celiac, then probably not, then go to second GI, maybe its Celiac or constipation (which was there, but nothing changed after fixing it). Primary care doctor just said it was dietary choices and just told me to eat a normal, balanced diet (which yes, I did take into account, and definitely have made better choices despite it not making me feel better), as I told her that I had one can of soda, and she just lit up on me for a good 10 minutes, telling me no wonder im in such pain and im having these issues and its such a dumb question as to why im experiencing all of this. She wanted me to eat 2-3 meals a day, when I can barely even stomach anything on a day-to-day basis and told her that, but she didn't really seem to care in the slightest. I then went to a nutritionist after visiting my primary care to fix that part, even if it wasn't visibly causing issues. She then had me tested for SIBO, which came back negative, and I ended up dropping her because she wasn't doing anything at all, and I had a limited number of visits with her.
The first GI doctor I saw put me on 10mg of Omeprazole then 20mg then 40mg then 80mg, then 40mg of Famotidine daily, 3gm of Sucralfate daily, and then up to 80mg of Dicyclomine daily as well as 10mg of Amitriptyline daily. None of these helped, and only made me feel worse because of how overly medicated I was. I eventually weened myself off of the medications, and felt the same afterwards and mostly broke contact with that GI group and moved onto the second one for another opinion. All she had prescribed in the beginning was Miralax to get rid of constipation, and then 20mg of Pantoprazole daily, which I did not notice any difference with at all, but she told me to still try to keep taking it (which I will). I've also tried OTC Esomeprazole and OTC Lansoprazole, though those also did nothing, I've tried making homemade remedies with ginger and water, a small mixture of baking soda, literally anything I can find.
I even went and had my gallbladder checked with a HIDA scan, and there was a small polyp in it, though it was apparently nothing of note (this is another thing I think could be the issue, but was overlooked obviously and I'll probably end up being in pain for another few years before they even suggest taking it out if that is the cause).
I wanted to note that gluten does not worsen my symptoms at all, and before my second blood test, I even just downed a massive, entire loaf of sourdough bread to make sure the results were more accurate. There is also no family history of Celiac or even gluten sensitivity.
​
It's extremely difficult for me to even get anything done (im in college), and it also played a major factor in me even failing one of my courses last semester because of how many classes I couldn't get out of bed for. Even in the first month of this semester alone, I missed approximately 5 classes already, which fucking blows.
It's just so hard to have a positive outlook when going through this, but I've always done my best and stayed happy, active, and social with friends, which sometimes also helps keep my mind off of the extreme pain and nausea.
Please note as per this sub, I'm not asking for a diagnosis, but really just people who might be able to empathize with what I'm going through and something that they may have found helpful.
I also just wanted to leave this here: there's so much that I've tried that I can't even keep track of it, so feel free to ask away here in the comments about anything :).
Thank you all for listening to me rant about this and I hope nobody else is going through the same thing, it's just so exhausting.
This is also an older post that I may have included other information in as well: https://www.reddit.com/Celiac/comments/1au77nf/unsure_if_these_symptoms_are_celiac_or_something/

Has anyone taken carafate and started to notice issues with regurgitating food and feeling like food gets caught in throat more often? I just had an egd because I was on a liquid diet for about a week with a hard time swallowing. But the egd showed I no longer have gastritis or esophagitis. I’m wondering if it’s possible that the carafate caused the throat issues. Or maybe too much medication as I’ve been on 30 mg famotidine 2x a day, lansoprazole 30 mg and carafate 4x a day. Just curious if anyone has gone through something similar?

Our little boy turned six months today and as happy as he is outside of feeding, feedings just takes such a toll on both my wife and I and our poor little guy. I feel like we’re just traumatizing him every single time it comes to feeding. We’ve gone through multiple G.I. doctors, we’ve switch Formula six times now (currently on Elecare for the past two months or so) and he’s currently on a combination of famotidine .5 ml morning and night and 7.5 mg of lansoprazole midday. He still had so much discomfort and pain while he eats and I just hate seeing him like this. Has anyone else dealt with this where the combo of famotidine and lansoprazole hasn’t helped? Anyone who tried lansoprazole for their LO that didn’t work and tried another PPI that ended up doing the trick? I just hate that our little guy has been on meds his entire life and still hasn’t had much if any improvement.