Thanks in advance for responding. This is my first ever post at HealthBoards.com.

15 months ago I had asthmatic symptoms. I saw an ENT and he saw puss and prescribed antibiotics. It kind of helped but didn't really. Chest xray was fine.

He sent me to have a barium swallow. Hiatal hernia was present. Peristalsis (the swallow reflex) was incomplete. I didn't swallow food all the way down. GERD was diagnosed.

Then I went to a GI for endoscopy on both ends. Some damage in the esophagus. He prescribed Nexium. EXPENSIVE!!! and not covered by my health plan. I have decided to self diagnose myself with LPR. Last week was bad -- sore throat, really hurt to talk (and I'm a high school teacher so I talk for a living).

I read in many posts that people find that Prilosec OTC does not work, that it is crap. I've talked with doctor friends who suggest that the PPI's are all the same. Any thoughts on Prilosec OTC? I've been taking them 1 or 2 a day foir some time now. I hock up white foamy spit and in the morning really thick mucous.

And my knee is giving me arthritis pain bad. Which anti-inflammatory would I do well to use in view of my reflux condition?

These kind of forums are amazing. Thanks again and good luck with your health.

It doesnt work for me at all.
I can only take Nexium or Previcid.

Hi

I broke out in hives when I tried Prilosec, so now I am trying Nexium.

What works for one may not work for another.

If Prilosec OTC works for you that is great!

Ish

Can I ask you if you had the knee pain before or after starting the Prilosec? For me PPI's give me bad joint and muscle pain and make me extremely tired.

I have severe LPR for 4 years. I have tried every PPI out there, and only Nexium, 40 mg, 2 pills in the morning, works for me. I tried Prilosec OTC for a 4 month period, and very like you, I developed nasty foamy spit, and I would spend 1 hour every morning after getting up hocking up thick sticky mucous into the sink. I went back to Nexium and got better again in 1 week.

Prilosec OTC is crap if you have LPR. See the old thread on it.

Regarding the knee pain, I had a little bit of pain before the prilosec, but now it is in full bloom. I've not heard of such side effects.

I have been using Prilosec for the past 3 months and it seems like
it is not working for me. Nexium worked for me before, but my current insurance will not pay for it. **Sigh**

I have been on Prilosec for the past few weeks and it has yet to kick in, although I was told to allow 4-8 weeks until it started working. :confused: Anyway, I agree with what someone else said -- everyone is different. I tried Prevacid for a little while and it completely killed my stomach. Intense nausea 24/7. Yet no weird side-effects yet on the Prilosec (and boy this stuff is not cheap...)

Search the net for symptoms of low stomach acid, its what I have and my doctor is finally treating it very very succesfully (and much cheaper, too!)

Here is what he told me:

Most people don’t have too much stomach acid as you would think from watching TV commercials. By taking antacids, you will have less stomach acid being secreted setting you up for infection and malabsorption.

My doc believes that the acid supplaments (betaine HCL) can aid GERD by
increasing stomach acid (I take 2 pills with every meal). This sounds crazy, since conventional treatment tries to reduce stomach acid. However, he thinkgs that lack of stomach acid leads to incomplete digestion of proteins; these proteins cause allergic reactions and other responses that lead to an increase in reflux. It works for me, you should try to investigate it further.