GERD & Reflux treatment

[mrowland06]

Hello all! I had c-diff about 10 years ago. It was awful and I definitely don't ever want to repeat it! lol! I have been having an awful time with GERD or reflux. My GI doctor can't see me until December so I'm trying to fix it myself in the short term. When I had c-diff it was caused by an antibiotic but I was also on protonix for reflux and the hospital doctor thought that the protonix could have contributed to the c-diff, as well.

I've read lots of stuff about not taking PPI's and H2 blockers b/c of the risk of c-diff. I'd love some advice here....TUMS is not working for me and I need something b/c this is not fun :-( Does anyone safely take a reflux medicine without recurrence of c-diff? If so, what do you take? Thanks so much!

[NS789]

I hear you! I'm terrified to take acid reducing medication as well. Someone on this site recommended good old fashioned baking soda mixed in water and I've tried that a few times when I desperately needed relief. It worked pretty well! It may not be a long-term solution though.

[NanciT]

I have tried so many things, it is very difficult. Right now things are worse due to the Dificid I took recently. I stopped my PPI when I had CDIFF the first time in 2014/15. My GI was against it but I pushed for it and went on an H2 Pepcid . I have done fine on Pepcid, it was IV antibiotics while in the hospital that caused my recent CDIFF.

I also take Manuka Honey at night which I find helps. Once in awhile I take Mylanta at night if it gets bad and that seems to help.

If it continues, make sure to speak with your GI, I ended up having an endoscopy last year and had esophagitis which can be dangerous if untreated.

Take Care

NanciT

[georgina]

As far as i know H2 blockers and antiacid meds are not linked to Cdiff , just the PPI's .

[BetsyS]

My best advice is to work with your GI. I've had GERD for years and it's been pretty severe at times. My GI had me on a double dose of Prilosec before I got CDiff. My ID wanted me completely off of it, and I have had a terrible time controlling the reflux. I find Gaviscon works very well when I'm suffering from active reflux, but it was not a long term solution. It helped me to reduce my Prilosec to once a day, but I was not able to wean completely off of the Prilosec.

I went back to my GI, who also specializes in CDiff. He acknowledges the CDIff risk staying on a PPI, but wants me to stay on the single daily dose of Prilosec and use Gaviscon to help control it. He said weighing the risks in my particular case, it was the best solution. Further damage to my esophagus etc. was more of a concern than contracting CDiff again.