Hiatus hernia

[Davies3112]

I've been on PPIS eg omeprazole and lanzoprazole for about 25 yrs. I'm worried because I started on a low dose but at the moment I'm on 30mg twice a day and gaviscon med 4 times a day. I'm so worried about the long term effects. I had a gastroscopy 2 weeks ago which shown there was no sign of cancer (,my father died at 58 of cancer of the oesophagus) I feel really ill at the moment at first this high dose worked but now I've got permanent heartburn and nausea. My doc is now adding famotidine at night to my meds but is it ok to take all these meds? I have a lot of stress in my life and wondered if this has caused a flare_up. I'm terrified to eat but feel worse when I'm hungry. I despair sometimes as now I cant even go out with friends for a meal. Any diet suggestions please 🙏

[Jumpey]

I'm so sorry you are suffering. And please have hope.Things can get better. I've had Gerd for over 50 years.I have a hiatus hernia.About three years ago I went into a crisis of pain, vomiting etc..It was so bad my lungs became damaged from acid aspiration .I was very ill,breathless and unable to do very much at all.Meds didn't help.I read Dr.Louise Kaufman's Acid Reflux Diet.She's an internationally renowned expert. I went on a strict alkaline diet for months. It's not a quick fix.But over time I healed myself and now can eat a fairly normal diet and am back to better health-although there is permanent lung damage. Stress of course can make things worse. Could you afford some therapy?

[Davies3112 in reply to Jumpey]

Thank you so much for your very helpful advice. I will certainly look at this book.

[Gaslo]

I’ve had similar problems. Saw consultant last week and she said take famotidine 20mg twice a day and gaviscon advance four times a day. I’ve been doing that but don’t feel much better. I’ve been on Dr Jamie Koufmans website who is a specialist in LPR. She explains everything about this and her site and books are fantastic and very reassuring.

She advises famitodine 20mg in the morning, before dinner and 40mg before bed as well as gaviscon advance after dinner and before sleep making sure there is a 30min gap between famotidine and gaviscon. Been doing this only for two days but I do feel a difference already so I’m going to carry on with it. I also feel my reflux is stress related so spoke to the consultant about anti depressants as I’ve read that this works for some people. She’s agreed and has written to my go to say that if I feel I need these in 4-6 weeks time then it’s ok to prescribe them for me. I think they are very mild and have proven to work well for ibs.

I’m also following a low acid diet and again, Dr Koufmans site help massively with this as well as her books. If you have a kindle then download a sample and see what you think.

Hope this helps

[Davies3112 in reply to Gaslo]

Thanks very much for the advice I will give it a go