michael_ward  07-23-2003
04:54 PM ET (US)
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I had had moderate problems with acid reflux for the past few years, but a diet which eliminated most butter (with olive oil used as the primary cooking oil) seems to have gotten rid of it. Whether butter was the issue remains to be seen.
The reason I changed diet was to reduce blood pressure, not reflux, but reflux elimination seems to have been an unexpected good consequence of it. There were other dietary changes as well (going to one which included lots of veg, cutting out most of the beer I drank regularly, reducing the amount of red meat -- but not doing it in any extremist
manner) so it is difficult to pinpoint what caused which changes.
However, I have heard butter has been marked as a consituent cause of acid reflux.
I offer this just as a data point, not as a recommendation.
Mike Ward
www.hidden-knowledge.com
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David Mercer 07-23-2003
03:41 PM ET (US)
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Ian, I've also had individual health insurance I paid for out of pocket, and I absolutely LOVED being able to go to whatever doctor I saw fit for the current medical situation. For example (not for your benefit Ian, you already get it! :-) if I had a skin condition, I didn't go to my PPC or the NHS doctor first, who then would perhaps send me to a specialist, I would go right to a dermatologist in this example. Why 2 doctor visits when I already know what type of thing is wrong? If it's more generalized, I'd start with my internist. Respiratory, start with my Ear-Nose-Throat doctor. Everyone I knew at the time with an HMO here in the US was AMAZED that I was allowed to use my own brain in regard to my medical care! Imagine that! Edited 07-23-2003 03:41 PM
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Ian Wood 07-23-2003
03:28 PM ET (US)
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That's right, David.
I'm self-employed, so I pay a hefty chunk per year for an individual PPO health care plan, because I choose to do so. With this plan, I pay 10$ per prescription (any prescription) w/ a $50 prescription plan deductible per year. That's in addition to all the other benefits I'm paying for, like not needing referrals, picking any specialist I need out of the Big Book O' Doctors, full medical/surgical coverage, etc. Except for peremptory rate hikes--which are typical of the industry these days--it's eminently satisfactory. I see who I want, when I want.
Advocates of socialized medicine want to take a chunk of my taxes to provide substandard care for everyone, while still making me pay for the higher-quality of care that I wish to enjoy. They can sod off.
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David Mercer 07-23-2003
02:47 PM ET (US)
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I think he meant that the new PPI was so cheap, it was less than his insurance's copay, so they need not be involved.
Yes, screw the FDA, the over-regulation of the US pharma industry is their excuse for ass-raping everyone here for meds.
Oh, and the poster gushing about the "free" healthcare in France? It wasn't free, peoples taxes PAID for it. I never cease to be amazed at how pre-paid gets distorted into "free" on the socialized medicine issue.
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Goldilocks Pro 07-23-2003
01:46 PM ET (US)
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My mom just went on Atkins 2 months ago. She's dropped 10 pounds, but she said that the best thing was that the acid-reflux she'd normally get at night just went away. We went online to check it out and found that this is one of the commonly experienced side effects of an Atkins regime. Food for thought, and cheaper than all these meds. Edited 07-23-2003 01:49 PM
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schwantz 07-23-2003
01:15 PM ET (US)
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I started getting acid reflux a few years ago, and went from Tums to Pepcid, to Prevacid, and it just got worse and worse, and I felt like I was getting "addicted" to the PPIs, since I had to take them EVERY day. Then, I switched to pure aloe vera gel (just swig a little shot of it) - you can get it at a health food store (not the juice, the GEL). Not only did it work much better, and quicker, but it seems to be actually HEALING the problem, and I don't have to use ANYTHING most days. Last night, I went out and had a huge meal, with wine and cocktails, and even had a smoke after dinner, and I didn't need to take anything at all. Not even a Tum or even a swig of aloe. My advice is to get off of the PPIs (who really knows the long-term effects of them anyway?) and switch to aloe gel. I don't have the brand name that I use, but it comes in a white bottle with a pink and yellow label, and has a few other herbs mixed in - it tastes minty. Edited 07-23-2003 05:15 PM
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cptnrandy 07-23-2003
11:13 AM ET (US)
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Damn - sounds like we're a bunch of oldsters! Yep, I'm on Nexium (and also Lipitor and Naproxen). I never really thought I had acid problems, but early this year when trying to diagnose a problem that was finally identified as a bad gall bladder, I was also diagnosed with "Barrett's Esophagus". I laughed it off at first as unrelated and not serious, but the Doc who removed my gall bladder set me straight - "No, it's damn serious. Keep it in check or you could end up with cancer". So I take the little purple pill everyday. Fortunately, I've got great insurance and the copay is $5/month. Edited 07-23-2003 11:15 AM
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psyork 07-23-2003
11:09 AM ET (US)
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My husband had acid reflux disorder more or less from the time I met him. The tissue in his esophagus would thicken and swell as a result and he had a hard time eating. Ofen he'd have to eat separately from the kids because he needed to focus all his attention on swallowing. All foods had to be soft or semi-liquid, and even then he would often have to throw up because the food wouldn't go down. Needless to say, eating out was impossible. We slept on a steep tilt and he was pretty much always in pain.
Every few years the doctors would put some kind of medeival imstrument down his throat and stretch the scar tissue open again.
Then came Prilosec. No more problems. No more stretched esophogus procedures, no more trouble swallowing. The stuff is a miracle. But if we can get a Prilosec analog cheaper I'm all for that!
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vsp 07-23-2003
10:03 AM ET (US)
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Another vote here for Prevacid. I had GERD that (at its worst) could leave me doubled-over in pain at times. Pepcid didn't do much, OTC antacids didn't do much, but Prevacid stopped it cold. The only time I have heartburn now is when I'm eating things I know I shouldn't (say, large quantities of acidic citrus fruits, which sucks given how much I like the taste of oranges.)
Gaviscon's about the OTC antacid I trust. The tablets start like chalk and turn into paste as you chew them, but they do shut the symptoms down for a while.
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Cory Doctorow 07-23-2003
09:37 AM ET (US)
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Someone mentioned "research subsidy" below. I think that's being too generous. Big Pharma is always whining about its need to recoup its costs during its 20-year patent-window, but I don't buy it.
As noted, Prilosec's patent recently expired (it may have been renewed). Apparently, AstraZeneca's financial position was sound enough, even after this all-too-short 20-year-window to recoup its costs on Prilosec, that it was able to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to develop Nexium and have it FDA approved.
Nexium is a drug that does what Prilosec does. The differences are miniscule -- only enough to ensure that a new patent could be secured.
AstraZeneca didn't spend hundreds of millions on the FDA, and hundreds of millions on R&D, and hundreds of millions on the national ad campaign (they painted entire BART stations purple!) because they needed a new pill and a new patent to recoup their expenses on Prilosec.
They did it in order to engineer a market-failure. The Nexium marketing -- especially that aimed at MDs -- emphasised benefits that hadn't been attributed to Prilosec but which were dubious and/or marginal. The message was clear: stop taking Prilosec (which will be generic soon) and start taking Nexium.
When you have multiple vendors all charging the same price for that product, and when that price is hundreds of times the marginal cost of goods, you have a market failure. A conspiracy, even.
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John West 07-23-2003
09:29 AM ET (US)
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I had severe ARD for about 10 years. My doctor finally recommended a surgical procedure called Nissin Fundoplication (probably not the correct spelling). The insurance company balked until they agreed that the long-term cost of all that Prilosec would be more than the surgery. You might want to ask about it. I've been heartburn free (except for 'normal' heartburn) for 7 years.
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Cory Doctorow 07-23-2003
09:28 AM ET (US)
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Prilosec has been re-patented, iirc.
Buying full-price Pariet, without my insurer, is cheaper than paying my $25/scrip co-pay for any of the name-brand PPIs. My insurer had nothing to do with it.
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mrklaw 07-23-2003
09:25 AM ET (US)
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It's Prilosec that just had its patent end. That's why they just came out with Nexium.
I have been on Prilosec and Prevacid. Prilosec was a lot easier on my stomach, but Prevacid does the job too and it's cheaper.
So your insurance doesn't have any problems with buying drugs from Canada? Are there any special hoops you have to jump through to get them to pay up?
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Cory Doctorow 07-23-2003
09:16 AM ET (US)
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I'm not a smoker anymore.
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wiseanduncanny 07-23-2003
08:55 AM ET (US)
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Not to be snide or anything, but aren't you a chain-smoker, Cory? When I was a smoker, I had stomach acid problems like crazy. The doc told me to quit. After many tries, I finally did. The acid problems went away.
Funny how that works.
--sean
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Craniac 07-23-2003
08:51 AM ET (US)
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There was a piece on NPR, the Diane Rehm show either yesterday or the day before talking about Big Pharma, and I may be totally wrong, but I think the Pariet may be a result of the patent recently expiring on Nexium or some other bile-inhibitor. I may be totally wrong.
http://www.wamu.org/ram/2003/r2030721.ram
I hate ram files.
It's funny how these responses to Cory's medical problem follow the genre conventions of Usenet. This is not necessarily bad, it just is.
First post: I found a solution to a problem!
response: It's all part of a large conspiracy (true, however)
response: it's your fault.
response: all medication is wrong and bad
response: Europe is better than America (probably true in many areas)
response: here's some random crap I googled about the problem that you've probably read 10 years ago.
response: acidic uber-libertarian starts chumming
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