TOPIC:

Very occasionally I have some gastritis (stomach pain / inflammation), especially if I go for long on an empty stomach. I have a prescription for ranitidine but try not to use it. I don't want to use it with these meds, even if I could get away with it. So my favourite for calming down the burning feeling in my stomach is a teaspoon of slippery elm powder in half a glass of warm water, mix and swallow before it goes all gooey and mucilaginous. This puts a lining on the stomach and allows it to heal.

Caution:
Slippery elm interferes with the absorbtion of other drugs taken at the same time. The instructions say to take other drugs outside of a 2 hour window before and after slippery elm, however I only take slippery elm at the opposite end of the day to my other meds.

I believe that this is a good remedy for those on meds who might experience the odd acid stomach, but I am willing to be corrected on that if anybody can find a contra-indication. As always, do your own due diligence.

dt

Hello, I too am trying to deal with acid reflux without Somac a PPI. I sleep well cushioned semi upright and am keen to max the effect of these meds nothing to hinder their good effect I am on led/sof 2 weeks in. I am following a diet good for acid reflux from the internet , small frequent meals, leafy greens , no cabbage family or citrus, no tomato and more.... Tonight am bothered with it (?stress earlier inday?) and have sipped Gaviscon, now nearly 3 hours since taking meds. That was safe for HCV but is it safe for DAA ?

Hi Anna,

My main complaint that I use the Slippery Elm for was gastritis. I have noticed an increase in acid reflux / nausea while on the meds. My doc gave me metoclopramide for the nausea, which is for speeding up the passage of food, however that comes up orange with led/sof on the drug interaction site. I never took it anyway, just not into loading my liver up with even more drugs if I can help it, and the nausea was doable.

The thing I find most helpful for acid reflux is organic apple cider vinegar, unpasteurized, with the 'mother' in it. Bragg make one, also Biona. I used that before tx and sometimes on tx but not close to the time of taking my meds. I am not sure it is ok with the DAAs but probably ok with led. Dac seems to be more sensitive to various foods.

I use it by taking about 10ml in 50 ml of water, 20-30 mins before a meal. It seems to tune the digestion up no matter if you have too much or too little acid. You probably need to do it for a week before meals to see the full benefit, but even once can make a difference.

Sorry, I don't know about gaviscon with the DAAs.
dt

Hi Anna,

No expert but the Ledipasvir requires acid digestion to work so Gaviscon will to some extend have similar effects to PPIs. However, the three hours before you used it will have been enough to have got the Led into your blood stream so this dose should be okay. Here is a link to a post on PPIs with comments by Dr James:

fixhepc.com/forum/drug-interactions/301-...is.html?limitstart=0

a late return to my earlier logon name, Great advice and I am using it for itchy skin, diluted as an after shower rinse.

Thank you for your post - earlier I was bamboozled by the acronyms and jargon...lost track of my posts and talked about the reflux issue recently, similar info from me - now Annasnow