It is more prevalent in meno but I had acid reflux and my investigations done long before meno.
I suffered dreadfully with heartburn in my last two pregnancies and I think damage was done then.
The GPs that I saw were very happy to give me prescriptions for increasingly strong medication. I insisted that I had tests and went privately for an endoscopy and biopsy. All was clear, no hiatus hernia and no ulcers and no GERD. More pills were given and I became more and more dependent.
I eventually got a referral to another private consultant. He told me I was in a vicious circle. The more pills I took the more I needed and the more side effects I would have. The side effects were heartburn and the runs
![Shocked :o](https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/Smileys/extended/shocked.gif)
At that point after about ten years I had had enough. I went to an alternative practitioner and he helped me get off the pills that were blighting my life. It took a long while and a few miserable months before I got better. The bowel damage had been done and I then had IBS. Again I treated it with natural medicine.
I now generally manage things very well. I have flare ups and sometimes need a couple of days of prescription meds but I am soon back on the alternatives.
I wish I had known what could happen as I took my PPIs. I would not have started them at all.
It is important to get a proper diagnosis and then make a decision from there.
Honeyb
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