I have acid reflux, likely caused by long-term use of medications (non-opioid) as well as a likely predisposition to it) so have spent time looking into the various causes.
Buprenorphine can cause acid reflux in a number of ways:
1. It reduces saliva. Saliva helps reduce neutralise stomach acid, so less of it = increased acid reflux risk.
2. Opioids can relax the LES (lower esophageal sphincter) which allows stomach acid to flow back into the esophagus.
3. Opioids can slow digestion which also increases the risk of acid reflux (as well as SIBO which is implicated in RLS).
Thanks AmrobVery interesting and absolutely makes sense.
The hospital issued PPIS. I am taking for 28 days then will stop them. (Though highly effective) - and look at dietary changes and possibly patches.
Reluctant to change though. You know what it's like when something works so well?
I find if I don't drink tea/coffee (caffeine ) and milk and dairy products it's ok. So after my 28 day course of PPIS which is healing my osaphohegus. I will decide.
The doctor didn't tell me that PPIs stop the stomach producing acid - resulting in a loss of vitamins and calcium etc. if I hadn't researched I might have taken them for ever 🤔
I wonder if the mouth sprays on the market for dry mouths help with the acid? But then again they contain floride which isn't great for oral bione....
Out of interest. Do you find certain foods help or hinder with acid reflux?
Absolutely. Certain foods did really exacerbate my acid reflux, but at the same time I also have SIBO, and so it's hard to know what is causing what. Dairy is possibly the worst, plus garlic and spices. I have done the Acid Watcher Diet twice It's a book by Dr. Jonathan Aviv, and both times it settled my reflux down completely. I've only ever taken PPIs for about one week at a time when things were really bad, but I found diet the most helpful, plus also some lifestyle practices like walking daily, and also using things like Slippery Elm, DGL, and aloe vera juice to coat and help repair the gut lining.
Thank you Amrob that is very informative and helpful advice. I too have noticed that dairy causes problems. Caffeine too.The book sounds helpful. Slippery Elm and aloe vera too. I will research DGL.
When my 28 day course PPIs finishes, I will keep a pack of PPIs as a backup but be using diet and your suggestions to sort it.
I have been using 6 mg per day Buprenorphine (Bupr) and have never had the problem you mention. Only constipation and insomnia. The former is manageable while the latter is not.
i’ve been on that medication for over three years too and thankfully I have not experienced that side effect. I hope you get a solution for that because it seems to work wonderfully for the restless legs. I have to deal with insomnia and constipation, but those are doable.❤️🩹
Hi, I have not experienced any heartburn from buprenorphine, but my case is a little different to that of many people on this forum.
I use a combination of buprenorphine transdermal patches (half a 5 micrograms an hour patch, brand name Norspan) and half a 10 mg tablet of methadone. I also take half a 10 mg tablet of amitriptyline, which many people (but not everyone) find makes their restless leg symptoms worse . The amitriptyline is to prevent tolerance of the other two drugs.
I have been on this medication regime now for 9 months and have not experienced any restless leg symptoms apart from on the first night or two. I have never experienced any increase in symptoms or lessening of effectiveness of the patch towards the end of the 7 day period, though many people on this site say the effectiveness of the patch wears off at about day 4 or 5.
My treating doctors are a pain specialist and my GP.
From my experience three things to consider when using the patches are:
i) the brand that you use (according to what people have said on this site some brands are more effective than others: I have found Norspan to be excellent),
ii) where you place the patch (some places eg the shoulders are better than others, such as the ribs) and
iii) how long you leave before placing a patch on a site recently used (Norspan advises not to use the same site for about 3 or 4 weeks). I find I need to keep a diary of when and where I place the patches.
I don't really experience much in the way of side effects from this drug combination, except my IBS has become worse, though by paying closer attention to diet I can keep this under control.
Hope this helps. Good luck in finding a solution that works for you.
Hi there, sorry to take so long in replying - your email to me landed in my junk mail for some reason.
In answer to your questions, I am not medically trained so I can't say what your buprenorphine dose translates to in terms of a patch.
I also can't say what the benefits are in taking this combination. It is just the combination that the Pain Specialist uses, and I have confidence he knows what he is doing! But I will ask him next appointment, which is in a couple of weeks (it is a check up visit which doctors here are required to do to patients on opioids). It may be something to do with getting the lowest dose of opioids possible, or to do with trying to stop tolerance developing, but that is just a guess on my part. As an aside, my cat recently had a bad bladder blockage and the vets gave him a combination of buprenorphine and methodone (and gabapentin!) so that makes me think it is something to do with getting the lowest dose possible.
I'll let you know what he says after I have seen him.
All the best. I hope your heartburn has resolved. Sometimes it is just a matter of time, and your body getting used to the drug.
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