@Kachina624 wrote:
@Susan Louise. Zantac is an Acid Reducer, not an acid eliminator. There's still enough to digest food. Gastroenterologists emphasize how important it is to not have too much acid.
@Kachina624 Ok, it is an 'acid reducer'...it still works at 'blocking' acid...which STILL works against what one's body needs/does. One of the videos I mentioned for folks to watch explains this fully...and better than I ever can.
When one is eating more carbs/sugars than their own body can handle, that's when the acid reflux/GERD/heartburn starts developing. I never had this issue til 6 years ago. My body had enough. When I cut out most carbs/sugars, the issue became non-existent...period.
Some folks have great genes and never get this issue. Some folks never get this issue because they never ate a lot of carbs/sugars from the get-go.
Still, there are other folks that develop it eventually at some point later in life. Many times that could be an indicator that they are also becoming pre-diabetic and their blood sugar #'s are rising. Being pre-diabetic is a VERY slippery slope.
Some folks can be in pre-diabetic stage for a decade or two...others for only a few months before they become full blown diabetic type 2.
It looks like I became pre-diabetic (at 53 yrs of age) at about the same time I developed the acid reflux/GERD/heartburn. My Dr at the time didn't check my blood, he only went by my telling him I was having the acid reflux/GERD/heartburn issue and gave me an acid blocker script...didn't even bother to check anything else! And here is a bit of added info: I never got heartburn/Gerd/acid reflux from spicy foods because I never ate them. However, as an example, I would get it after having a just a couple of toll house cookies and a glass of skim milk...which are ALL CARBS/SUGARS!
The only dairy DH and I have now is butter, non-processed cheeses and heavy whipping cream. Our carbs are limited to 50-60 a day and nothing with sugar...so those toll house cookies are out. We eat either FatSnax cookies or we make our own using specific sugar substitues that don't raise our blood sugar and use almond or coconut flour.
That is just one example. By making changes to our eating in these ways, I don't have the acid reflux/GERD/heartburn anymore.
So anyway, I wish I had gone to another Dr for a 2nd opinion...but no, I 'assumed' he knew what he was doing regarding my diagnosis of just needed an acid blocker. So for the next 5 years I took acid blockers and my acid reflux kept getting worse.
Thank goodness I took matters into my own hands....and by changing my lifestyle, the issue is gone. Funny, but not funny aspect of this is that I haven't been to my Dr since he gave me that script to take for 6 months. I only took it for 3 months then switched to a cheaper version of the same acid blocker drug...Prevacid.
After a couple of years using that, I had to start supplementing with Zantac...then chugging Pepto-bismal at night before bed! Taking acid blockers over a period of time does NOT do the body good.
So for folks who have heartburn/GERD/acid reflux on a regular basis, it might be a good idea to have one's blood sugar #'s checked the next time they visit their Dr if they don't already know them. I didn't have mine checked until DH got his blood glucose monitor last September when he was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic. It was through checking my own numbers at home I found out I was pre-diabetic...NOT by my Dr.
As I mentioned earlier in the thread, IF I had known my body just needed me to stop eating all those carbs/sugars, I could have saved myself a lot of pain, LOTS of $$$ and having to worry about additional health issues developing because I took the acid blockers for over 5 yrs!
I believed all the stuff the pharma companies and health institutes pushed all my life. Boy, were DH & I fools. This past year we woke up to the fact that they are all in it for the $$$. They aren't really out to cure anything...just help folks with their symptoms.
They don't make $$$ on healthy folks.
I'm sure the pharma companies are not thrilled losing me as a customer of all their acid blockers I was taking daily. It added up to near $100 a month toward the end of the insanity! And yet, the pharma companies aren't too worried, there are other folks down the pike that will be taking my place, spending that $$$ for the acid blockers unless they figure out early on about what to do to not have to take them to begin with.
Instead of having a good Dr who told me to cut back on carbs/sugars, I had one that pushed pills and gave me a script for an acid blocker (which is what I said in my OP).
Again, as I started this thread, and why I started this thread...I still feel blessed that by changing my lifestyle, I no longer need to take any medication for acid reflux/GERD/heartburn...especially since there are additional issues to worry about by taking Zantac...ie...cancer.
With PPI's it's early dementia.
Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a magic pill. One always runs the risk of developing other health issues taking any type of medication.
When one is able to get off any medication, they are healthier...that's the bottom line.
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