New Med - Old Med?

Because Axid stop working for me the doc now has me on Zegerid...which is a powder form of Prilosec with sodium bicarbonate added (so the drug survives the stomach acid). I mix it with two tablespoons of water and take it like shot of tequila. This is day 3...no change so far. Supposedly my body should absorb this better than pills.
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The Past Week

In the last week I started having all sorts of GI Problems...abdominal cramping, diarrhea , and slowly a return to more reflux and heartburn. Today the heartburn and reflux back and today is one of the worse days I have had....3 out of 10.
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Yesterday - 6 out of 10

The good news is my reflux was limited to a little acid-tongue. The bad news is I had diarrhea for the first half of the day. Mirilax sometimes works fine, sometimes doesn't work at all...yesterday it obviously worked too well. So far, today has been better on all fronts...and rears :)
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Yesterday - 8 out of 10

I had a really good day. Only a tiny bit of acid, once in a while and I didn't feel bad after any meals. We had a great day at Upwards Flag Football and the Award Ceremony at night was tolerable. They actually kept it to an hour! So far today, ok...tonight is the AWANA Award Ceremony. The boys did really well in AWANA Club this year and should be getting the recognition for it.
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Yesterday - 7 out of 10

Overall I had a great day yesterday. Most of the day was an 8. I didn't have acid at all...until after dinner...I was mostly ok by bedtime and I slept well. I weighed at Publix...197. I am hoping for a good weekend. It's a busy one!
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Yesterday - 6 out of 10

Woke up feeling better than Wednesday. Had acid-tongue all day, but no bad heartburn or reflux in throat. I am thinking it may be the new hard-pressed apple juice I was drinking. It is now out of my diet. Slept in late today (forgot to turn on the alarm, and I took bacfolen last night). So far today I feel ok.
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Yesterday 4 out of 10

My streak of good days in a row I had is over :( Starting after breakfast and continuing into today...heartburn, reflux, ickiness...bleah!
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Tuesday - 7 out of 10

Most of the day was acid free...but it took me forever to fall asleep again. Today I don't feel as good (acid tongue), lack of sleep is catching up with me.
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Monday - 8 out of 10

A great day...a little acid before dinner but otherwise I felt much better. I had falling asleep though.
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Friday, Saturday and Sunday - 8 of 10

I had a relatively good weekend. I know that I have felt a lot worse and I know that there has been the occasional weekend that has been better. The good thing is I have had far less acid reflux. The problems that I did experience were some constipation and gas. I did have some phlegm that may be reflux related but it was not a lot and was less annoying than acid-tongue.

The one big difference that I did get a refill of my liquid EES (for motility). It always seems that when I first get the Rx refilled that the EES works better. Then it seems that when I get to the second bottle it doesn't work so well. I asked Publix if I could just get two weeks at a time and they said OK. So far so good. This weekend I felt like I have had a decent amount of stomach emptying and Monday AM I had relief to my gas and constipation.
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Yesterday - 8 out of 10

I had a really good day yesterday. Almost no reflux until around 9 PM last night and even that wasn't too bad.
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200 pounds again!

I have lost around 58 lbs. and weigh 200. Which I have not weighed in...7 years...10 years. I can't remember. That is the silver lining in all this. If only I hadn't run over that Old Gypsy lady and then lied about it :)
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Yesterday - 7 out of 10

I felt great most of the day...drank enough fluids and had my ginger candy and licorice on hand....then starting around 9 PM last night I got some bad acid reflux. I didn't sleep too well...but have been ok this AM. If not for the nighttime issue, I would have given they day an 8.
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Yesterday - 6 out of 7

Today started of good...great actually. After lunch I have seen an increase in acid reflux. I actually had a little heartburn too. No change in diet. All I can think is...

#1 It's been about 5 days since I switched meds and I always feel good for 4-5 after changing meds.
#2 I forgot to bring my licorice and ginger candy to eat after meals or when I have acid tongue.
#3 Other than the apple juice I had with my Mirilax this AM, I didn't have any other liquid...usually I slowly sip on water or apple juice. Maybe temporarily having no liquid was bad for me?

The good news is, after my afternoon meds (EES and Axid) and a small peach smoothie (yogurt, skim milk, canned peaches and honey). I felt much better last night. If not for the after-lunch reflux I would rate the day an 8.
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Yesterday - 7 out of 10

Again a better day. I had a little acid tongue at night but overall it was a good day.
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Yesterday (6) and Today (7)

Yesterday...felt a little better than Friday. Busy with Upward football with the boys and chores. Reflux was less. I bought some ginger candies and licorice from Wards (on Friday) and they seem to help when my tongue is acidy. I seemed to have a bit of acid at night and woke up this AM with an acid tongue. The good thing is I felt better after breakfast and lunch and not too bad after dinner. Hoping for a better week. .
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Yesterday - 5 out of 10

I felt *much* better yesterday. Of course this is usually the case after switching meds so I am cautiously hopeful.
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UPDATE: Trying a new Rx

(If you haven't read my first post here it is.)

As I said in my last daily status post I hit a new low. I called the GI doctor's office and asked the nurse to pass on a message to Connie. She is the one who had me try, Bacfolen and Protonix (along with the 2 Zantacs and 2 doses of EryPed 200). I expressed concern about the possibility that I may have too little stomach acid instead of too much. Connie does not think that to be the case (neither does my friend, Chris, who is a pharmacist). She says my reflux is caused by my gastroparesis (duh) and what I need is greater stomach emptying. She prescribed a new (well it's older...so different) drug Nazatidine (the generic of Axid). She said it would help with reflux and empyting my stomach. I found a couple of articles from a few years ago that suggested this might be the case. Anyhow, I am taking two Nazatidine 150s a day and I am dropping the Protonix and the Zantacs...yay! So far I have only had two doses. One last night and one this AM. It is too early to tell. I will say that any time I switch meds I seem to get better for 4 to 5 days and then worse...so time will tell. My next appointment with Dr. Sninksy is May the 11th. I hope to have a better report by then.

Yesterday - 2 out 10

My cold virus is almost completely gone...my acid reflux is at it's worst. Yesterday was a low point. The only times I have felt worse is when I had bad reactions to Nexium. More on all of this later...
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