READER’S DIGESTJune• 2019 | 51Find the right
medication schedule
Yoga instructor Miriam Pilgrim, 45,
controls GORD with H2 blockers.
In 2009, her gastroenterologist pre-
scribed PPIs, but when she got preg-
nant, her doctor switched her to H2
blockers. Pilgrim never switched
back. Lifestyle choices also influence
her symptoms. “Yoga definitely helps,”
says Pilgrim. “Chocolate aggravates it.”
After decades of stoically dealing
with pain, five years ago Claude Bar-
ruyer, 84, a retired dental assistant,
finally saw a doctor for treatment.
Today, she uses PPIs as needed when
reflux symptoms flare. “I usually pre-
fer to heal without any medication,
but my son-in-law convinced me to
ask the doctor for proton pump in-
hibitors,” says Barruyer, who stopped
when symptoms disappeared.
For lawyer Ian Sirota, 52, taking
PPIs has been the only way he’s
managed to find relief. He has taken
PPIs since 2007, after an unsuccess-
ful hiatus. “Within days, the acid re-
flux returned, so I was immediately
put back on the medication,” says
Sirota. “Before I went on it, I would
wake up with a severe attack once or
twice a week, where stomach acid
would go up my throat and leave my
throat burning for days. That doesn’t
happen an ymore.”
If y ou’ve been on reflux medication
for a while, ask your doctor whether
you could have a PPI-free trial peri-
od, as not everyone needs to be on
the medication indefinitely. There are
always risks of side effects when you
take any drug long-term. Some doc-
tors worry that a percentage of peo-
ple who take PPIs may not even have
acid reflux, because use of the drugs
doesn’t always improve symptoms.
“Not everything that sounds like
heartburn, indigestion or regurgi-
tation is due to gastro-oesophage-
al reflux,” says Professor Hungin.
“Although we doctors do prescribe
proton p ump inhibitors, our suc-
cess rate with people who have
these symptoms is not quite what it’s
cracked up to be. And I suspect that
for around half the people we see,
medication alone won’t help.”
Although Stier doesn’t take medi-
cation daily, he still relies on PPIs
when his symptoms flare. “I don’t like
to take pills frequently – it makes me
feel like an old-timer,” says Stier. “But
I know that PPIs will be my compan-
ion for the rest of my life. To be fair,
since I’ve had them, a new life started
for me.”TAKE YOUR PICK‘Actions speak louder than words’ OR ‘The pen is mightier than
the sword’.FROMPREPOSTEROUS PROVERBS BY MAX CRYER, (EXISLE) 2011