It all started in 1995. I was 29 years old and in the prime of my life. Unfortunately, I was having a lot of problems with belching and heartburn, especially when I ate certain foods, so I went to my doctor to see if he could figure out what was going on.

He suspected that I had a bacterial infection, and he told me to go the hospital for further examination. So I made an appointment and a few days later I went to the hospital. And the doctor there asked what my problem was. I said that I had frequent heartburn and a lot of belching and that I wanted to know what was going on. And so they decided to perform an internal examination.

After the assistant explained what they were going to do, I got a numbing spray in my throat so that I wouldn’t feel anything and wouldn’t have to gag.

Gag??

Yes, because they inserted a long, thick tube with a small camera at the end down my throat.

It was crazy. The doctor stood there right in front of me, pushing this hose into my mouth, and down my throat. It looked like this…

It felt like a vacuum cleaner hose that I had to swallow! Man! I saw them pushing this big fire hose kinda thing into my throat. It was horrible. In reality, it was ‘just’ a finger’s width wide. But it didn’t feel like that.

The examination itself was unpleasant and hurt my throat and stomach when they pushed and turned the tube. It felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. What a horrible feeling! But soon the doctor said he saw what the problem was. He said he saw several inflamed spots on my esophagus wall and that I had a hiatal hernia.

Oh no! That sounded serious!

Fortunately, the tube was quickly removed after this, and I was happy to still be alive. I asked the doctor if something could be done about the hernia. He nodded and, without looking up, he started writing out a prescription. I frowned. He handed it to me and told me to start taking ‘Losec’ pills. That would give my stomach a rest and the stomach pains and belching would disappear.

When I asked how often and for how long I should use the pills, I got a horrifying answer. He said “a 20 milligram capsule twice a day, for the rest of your life”. He added that I would probably have to have surgery within a few years, if the symptoms returned, to repair the hiatal hernia.

I was stunned and shocked. I was not yet 30 and was being told I would have to take medication for the rest of my life. What? I thought, I’m not 80, am I? And then the idea that in a few years I would have to undergo surgery anyway, because my stomach was bothering me. I just couldn’t believe it.

But hey, the doctor said so. And certainly at that time I still believed that what the doctor said was true. Like so many others, people see the doctor as some sort of authority figure. After all, the doctor has studied a lot, so if he says so, it must be so…

But is that true?

Well, I went to the nearest pharmacy and handed the prescription over to the pharmacy assistant. A little later I got two jars of capsules, Losec 20 mg. The instructions were clear: twice a day at fixed times, for example at 10am and 10pm in the evening.

When I saw the price I was even more shocked. 260 dollars (so 130 dollars per jar!). So expensive?! That’s 260 dollars per month, or 3120 dollars per year. Wow… Luckily it was reimbursed by my health insurance, but still. I couldn’t believe it.

I remember thinking to myself that someone was making a lot of money here.

After this I took my Losec pills every morning and evening for many years and had no more stomach problems.

Fortunately, the doctor’s prediction that I would have to have surgery in a few years did not come true, so I concluded that the pills were working. In the meantime, however, I was slowly but surely gaining weight. Of course, I had no idea that taking Losec for years could cause weight gain.

Many years passed until at some point reports appeared in the news that the so-called proton pump inhibitors or PPIs, of which Losec is one, are harmful to your long-term health.

Dementia

They stated that long-term use of Losec doubled the chances of developing dementia.

This information came from the Journal of the American Medical Association, based on German research.

They discovered that in 74,000 people over 75 years old, who took the pills between 2004 and 2011, 44 percent more cases of dementia were found. According to the researchers, the “statistical association between proton pump inhibitors and an increased risk of dementia is undeniable.”

This was again shocking information!

Several other studies were conducted, and they also proved that taking PPIs can be very dangerous. And PPIs are the most common acid blockers. They go by a variety of names, but they typically end with “-prazole”, like omeprazole, pantoprazole, esomeprazole, etcetera.

• Prevacid ()
• Prilosec ()
• Zegrid ()
• Nexium ()

are examples of this. They’re PPIs and much more dangerous than you know.

Prilosec is a very popular drug and it can be very dangerous without you realizing it and without your doctor telling you. Heck, you can even buy it over the counter in many places.

So, what’s the problem with these drugs?

Well, you can develop:

• C Diff
• Life-threatening ulcers and perforations
• Complete paralysis of your colon
• Dementia
• Kidney failure
• Heart diseases
• Pneumonia
• Bone fractures
• Impaired nutrient absorption, which can lead to being overweight
• And they can simply kill you, and that is NOT an exaggeration!

Even CNN even wrote an article about it, in which they referred to a recent study, and even the FDA issued a warning about the dangers of these PPIs.

Addiction

So, I was determined to stop using these drugs, but that was easier said than done because I discovered that I had become addicted to it. I just couldn’t stop taking the omèprazole, because I tried… and man… It felt like my stomach was a complete inferno.

It burned like crazy. It hurt so much, and I felt so terribly sick, that I couldn’t do anything at all anymore.

So this was not an option. I had to find another way to get free from the dangerous antacids and at the same time cure my Acid Reflux.

But HOW? The doctor couldn’t help me.

In another blog you can read how I cured myself 100% naturally from Acid Reflux!

If you have questions, just leave a comment below 🙂