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Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

theguardian.com

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Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#21

Post by chojeen »

mschip wrote: post #9
debacle wrote: post #8

I mostly suppress my reflux through a twice daily regimen of cider vinegar (diluted* ), more walking, eating more conscientiously, and forcing myself to sleep on my left side. These are all very minor changes, and the biggest impact came from sleeping on my side. My gastroenterologist was very against the daily PPI my primary put me on. There are a lot of potential negatives there. * Straight up cider vinegar is very…

I was on PPIs for reflux for about 6 years before realizing how damaging they could be. Getting off them was really difficult but your suggestions here, in addition to some ginger supplements, helped me to ween off them. Getting off them was a terrible experience, but I'm much better off because of it. I rarely experience reflux anymore.

For a couple of years, the only thing that worked for me was mega-huge doses of PPI's. After several pH studies, endoscopies, and other tests confirmed that I don't have abnormal reflux, food allergies, gluten sensitivity, or anything else, my doctor(s) and I found after years of trial-and-error that a combination of H2 blockers and a low-dose of antidepressants mostly controls my symptoms, which are probably caused by an overly-sensitive gastric nervous system.

Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#22

Post by jasonhn9999 »

jakebasile wrote: post #11

Nothing gives you a morning dose of fear like reading this about a drug you’ve been on for 6 years. Guess I’ll start looking into alternatives and ways to screen for stomach cancer.

Paradoxically, I cured my reflux with betaine HCL (with pepsin) and digestive enzymes.

I found that when I eat meat and/or when I’m stressed, my body doesn’t naturally produce enough “good” acid. This leads to a build up of reflux because the meat is essentially rotting in my stomach, which creates awful “bad acid” reflux.

Instead of the drug(s), with every meal, I recommend taking one capsule of betaine HCL (with pepsin) and one digestive enzyme capsule.

Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#23

Post by trhway »

>Daily use of PPIs was associated with a risk of developing the illness that was more than four times higher (4.55) than those who used it weekly.

(IANAD) from what i read on the pill boxes, PPI are supposed to be used max 2 weeks in 4 month period. If you look at the micrograph photo at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton-pump_inhibitor showing cell hyperplasia (possible precursor to cancer) resulting from PPI use you'd get the idea. (note: myself use PPI 2 weeks in 4 months (and they do have noticeable lasting effect for long after the 2 weeks course due to nature of their action), and the rest of the time H2 blockers. I limit the PPI exactly because scared by that hyperplasia photo (and now that i read the other comment about cognitive impairment i'm scared even more :). Again - all that is "self-prescribed"/"internet researched", IANAD.

Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#24

Post by Diederich »

yawz wrote: post #18

Damn! And if you don't treat your acid reflux, it can cause "esophageal cancer".

Maybe growing numbers of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situations are the natural result our current 'late stage' medicine.

An analogy that came to mind: an enormous, largely opaque codebase that works very well. Most of its behaviours given most inputs are well understood, most of the time, and endless optimizations have caused it to reach a pretty good level of stability.

But maybe, going forward, more and more small optimizations and bug fixes cause as many problems as they fix.

Clearly we need to re-factor ourselves. (:

Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#25

Post by criley2 »

jasonhn9999 wrote: post #22
jakebasile wrote: post #11

Nothing gives you a morning dose of fear like reading this about a drug you’ve been on for 6 years. Guess I’ll start looking into alternatives and ways to screen for stomach cancer.

Paradoxically, I cured my reflux with betaine HCL (with pepsin) and digestive enzymes. I found that when I eat meat and/or when I’m stressed, my body doesn’t naturally produce enough “good” acid. This leads to a build up of reflux because the meat is essentially rotting in my stomach, which creates awful “bad acid” reflux. Instead of the drug(s), with every meal, I recommend taking one capsule of betaine HCL (with pe…

I would recommend talking to your doctor before accepting medical advice on the internet. Please do not accept medical recommendations from strangers who are not licensed to offer medical advice.

Also, if you continue to have to treat symptoms on a regular basis you did not "cure" anything, cure implies that you are free from managing your symptoms. Rather you are managing symptoms and doing nothing about the cause.

Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#26

Post by ksk »

>>Responding to the study, Stephen Evans, professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “Many observational studies have found adverse effects associated with PPIs.

>>"The most plausible explanation for the totality of evidence on this is that those who are given PPIs, and especially those who continue on them long-term, tend to be sicker in a variety of ways than those for whom they are not prescribed."

Why is this not at the beginning of the article?

I suppose, the silver lining is that the headlines are no longer "X causes cancer", but "X linked to cancer".

Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#27

Post by H1Supreme »

jasonhn9999 wrote: post #22
jakebasile wrote: post #11

Nothing gives you a morning dose of fear like reading this about a drug you’ve been on for 6 years. Guess I’ll start looking into alternatives and ways to screen for stomach cancer.

Paradoxically, I cured my reflux with betaine HCL (with pepsin) and digestive enzymes. I found that when I eat meat and/or when I’m stressed, my body doesn’t naturally produce enough “good” acid. This leads to a build up of reflux because the meat is essentially rotting in my stomach, which creates awful “bad acid” reflux. Instead of the drug(s), with every meal, I recommend taking one capsule of betaine HCL (with pe…

> my body doesn’t naturally produce enough “good” acid

Exactly. The amount of people completely, and utterly, misinformed about acid reflux is astounding. You don't have too much acid, you don't have enough!

Ditching the dairy and drastically cutting back on animal flesh will cure most heartburn/acid reflux.

Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#28

Post by Overtonwindow »

jakebasile wrote: post #11

Nothing gives you a morning dose of fear like reading this about a drug you’ve been on for 6 years. Guess I’ll start looking into alternatives and ways to screen for stomach cancer.

I can't find it but I once read that acid reflux was actually due to not enough acid, as what you were ...refluxing was partially digested foods. You might try taking an acidifier and see if that helps.

Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#29

Post by Overtonwindow »

H1Supreme wrote: post #27
jasonhn9999 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Paradoxically, I cured my reflux with betaine HCL (with pepsin) and digestive enzymes. I found that when I eat meat and/or when I’m stressed, my body doesn’t naturally produce enough “good” acid. This leads to a build up of reflux because the meat is essentially rotting in my stomach, which creates awful “bad acid” reflux. Instead of the drug(s), with every meal, I recommend taking one capsule of betaine HCL (with pe…

> my body doesn’t naturally produce enough “good” acid Exactly. The amount of people completely, and utterly, misinformed about acid reflux is astounding. You don't have too much acid, you don't have enough! Ditching the dairy and drastically cutting back on animal flesh will cure most heartburn/acid reflux.

I started taking a probiotic (cheapest at whole foods) and stopped getting acid reflux all together.

Re: Acid reflux drug linked to more than doubled risk of stomach cancer

#30

Post by snarfy »

jakebasile wrote: post #11

Nothing gives you a morning dose of fear like reading this about a drug you’ve been on for 6 years. Guess I’ll start looking into alternatives and ways to screen for stomach cancer.

I've been on prilosec close to 15 years. Unfortunately H2 blockers don't seem to work for me. I'm not sure what to do. I can go without it for a month or so, then crippling stomach pain and indigestion happens.
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