Where do I go from here?

[tigertooand2]

I have had GERD since October, 2008.  I was prescribed Protonix and after a severe episode of the GERD in February 2009, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic, advised doubling my prescription to 40mg twice a day.  In my August exam by my own gastroenterologist, after no symptoms whatsoever and the negative articles published about long term usage of Protontix, I was advised to decrease the Protonix to just 40 mg. once a day for about a month and then change to an over-the-counter medication, like Prilosec or Zantac for about 6 months.  After a month without symtoms, even though the medication was decreased I am unsure which medication, of the over-the-counter choices to chage to.  

I read about the negative effects of long term medications that actually stop acid production.  Which of the two is best, or what else might be effective and correct.  

Thank you.

[Ratnakar Kini]

Hi,
Surgery is the last option when medical therapy fails.
Maintenance therapy can be given with either PPI or H2RA ( ranitdine).
PPI is better than H2RA.

[motox320]

If you want off the medicine you have 2 choices.

The 1st would be to be on a strict diet, and lose weight if any weight is needed to lose. This makes a HUGE difference.

The 2nd would be to get a surgey. There are many incisionless sugeries out there now, and with a couple years there will be more, and they will be imporved.

If you have not had a 24 hoout monitoring done, I would suggest that. This would need to be done, after you have been off medicine for at least 10 days. This would show how bad your acid reflux really is.

If its not disabing, maybe just do the diet, as you dont want to get surgey done if you dont need to.

As far as the diet, and lossing weight, dont expect to have results right away. It can take months easy to start noticing a difference.