Heartburn/Acid Reflux Medications

[OddlyEven]

Hi, I'm new here. I apologize in advance if this is not where this topic should be. If possible, perhaps the moderators could move the topic if they see fit.

Anyway, I've been HIV+ for 2 years now. I started the meds immediately. I was on Atripla for a few months but switched to Reyataz and Truvada because I couldn't handle the side effects of Atripla.  My viral load was rather high and my CD4 count was at 350 when started. After two years I am proud to say that my viral load is undectable and my CD4 count is above 1000. I'm told that's great. But back to the purpose of my starting this topic...

Like many people I suffer from heartburn/acid reflux. Recently this has gotten so bad that it's starting to cause me a great deal of pain when I have an attack. It's so bad at times that I feel like I'm having a heart attack.  I've discussed this with my doctor and he put me on a drug known as Reglan. Recently Relgan doesn't seem to have any affect on this condition. I've done some research and it doesn't seem there is a lot I can take for heartburn/acid reflux because of interactions with my medications...mostly Reyataz.

Is there any advice out there from other sufferers? Is there anything out there that I can take to help better control this condition? Any help would be much appreciated.

[mewithu]

Prevacid, Nexium Are two that have worked really well with me but of course I am not your DR you will have to discuss these with Him/Her

[BT65]

I take generic prescription Pepcid.  I'm not on Reyataz, though, and don't know about the interactions.  You should be able to discuss this with your doctor, and you two come up with a new solution.

[madbrain]

Prevacid, Nexium Are two that have worked really well with me but of course I am not your DR you will have to discuss these with Him/Her

He can't take reyataz with Nexium .

According to :

http://www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.php

 Nexium (esomeprazole) and reyataz (atazanavir) (Major Drug-Drug)
GENERALLY AVOID: Concurrent use of proton pump inhibitors may decrease the oral bioavailability of atazanavir and substantially reduce its concentrations in plasma. Atazanavir solubility decreases with increasing pH, thus inhibition of gastric acid secretion may interfere with dissolution of the drug.

MANAGEMENT: Given the risk of reduced viral susceptibility and resistance development associated with subtherapeutic antiretroviral drug levels, use of proton pump inhibitors is not recommended in patients treated with atazanavir.

Same issue with prevacid (lansoprazole).

I take prilosec (omeprazole) which also has major interactions with HAART. It took many years for me to find a med that helped with acid reflux. The fact that I would have to get off omeprazole to get on HAART is one reason I want to stay off HAART.

[sdguyloveslife]

Before I started meds, I considered Reyataz as one of the components of my combo at the suggestion of my doctor.  However, I take antacids - sometimes prilosec and/or zantac.  Turns out that the prilosec is a problem with the Reyataz, but it is the one acid controller that works best for me. 

You should probably double-check this with your own doc, but mine told me that Reyataz was fine with zantac, tagamet or pepcid as long as I took them several hours apart from eachother.  (No prilosec or nexium!) 

I tend to like things simple, so I opted for Prezista (instead of Reyataz) and take everything at once, once a day. 

[OddlyEven]

You should probably double-check this with your own doc, but mine told me that Reyataz was fine with zantac, tagamet or pepcid as long as I took them several hours apart from eachother.  (No prilosec or nexium!) 

Thank you! Thank you to everyone who replied here. My attacks have gotten so bad that I ended up visiting my local ER because I thought I was having a heart attack. It's good to know that there are options out there and hopefully I can discuss these with my doctor and get some help on this. I knew Prilosec and Nexium were out but there still has to be something to try other than simply waiting for the attack to subside.

Thanks again.

[manchesteruk]

Sorry to hear you are suffering from bad acid reflux I know how uncomfortable it can be.  I started taking Omeprazole and I haven't had any reflux since it's wonderful stuff.  I've just taken a look on the drugs interaction website posted above and it's got a serious interaction with Reyataz unfortunatley,  I hope you find something that helps though.  I'm sure your doctor has already mentioned this anyway but it's always helpful to try and cut down on spicy foods and alcohol etc if possible.

[Joe K]

If you find that gas is a major factor in your discomfort, you may want to try something like Gas-X, Beano or charcoal pills.  When I feel gas coming on, two charcoal pills seem to do the trick.  I also find that Compazine or any anti-nausea drug, to be very helpful.