Posts Tagged ‘Replenish’

GERD stands for gastroesophageal reflux disease, but if you have it, GERD also stands for upset stomach, heartburn, belching, acid rising up into your throat and choking you, and an aversion to certain foods that might bring on an attack. GERD can also lead to inflamed gums, erosion of tooth enamel, and a chronic sore throat.

One in five people (or about 21 million Americans) is affected by GERD, spending $7.6 billion annually to help treat the disease.

Every year during the week of Thanksgiving, appropriate since we all tend to overeat during this holiday, GERD Awareness Week takes place. This year it falls from November 22-28.

Joe and I know all about GERD, as Joe has been popping antacids since he was a teenager. He has also been taking medicines such as Prilosec and Pepcid for years. These medications led him to have a severe case of anemia and made us very aware that while he needed something for the GERD, he also needed something to combat the side effects caused by the medicines he was using.

The medications, acid blockers such as proton pump inhibitors (Prilosec, Prevacid, Nexium) and H2 blockers (Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid), that are used to treat GERD are serious “drug muggers” since they alter the pH or acidity of the stomach. Remember, a “drug mugger,” according to author and pharmacist Suzy Cohen, is a medication that robs your body of necessary nutrients and therefore causes a whole host of side effects.

GERD medications, because they change the acidity in the gut, can deplete your body of most important nutrients and lead to a ton of health problems. These risks can include:

• Heart disease
• Fatigue
• Anemia
• High blood pressure

We carry a line of supplements in the pharmacy called Replenish. There is a specific Replenish supplement made just for people taking PPIs (proton pump inhibitors) and H2 antagonists. The supplement is called PPI/H2 Complete and it contains vitamin B12, magnesium, calcium, folic acid, beta-carotene, vitamin C, iron, zinc, and chromium.

To find out more about PPI/H2 Complete, go HERE.

There is also a nice article on the Replenish web site about acid reflux medications and the impact they have on your body. You can read that article HERE.

And don’t forget, stop in the pharmacy throughout the month of November and enter the raffle to win Pharmacist Suzy Cohen’s book, Drug Muggers, so you can learn even more about how to combat the drugs robbing your body of nutrients.

Besides combatting the side effects of the GERD medicines, there are other things you can do to manage the GERD symptoms as the holidays approach. The flyer below lists “15 Tips to Manage Your Symptoms this Holiday.”

Several of the mentioned tips Joe already does, because they help him prevent acid reflux and a miserable night of pain. His favorites from the list would be:

• Schedule an earlier meal. This was a problem in the early days of the pharmacy when Joe sometimes wouldn’t get home until 8 pm or later. It is also a worry when he has late meetings. As long as Joe eats early, he usually doesn’t have to worry about acid reflux overnight.
• Nix the juice. Orange juice really gets Joe’s GERD in motion. That is a problem, because he loves orange juice.
• Substitue water for soda. Joe does this most of the time. He drinks so much water, we call him a camel.
• Stay awake. Once the symptoms of GERD start (acid coming up in the throat), Joe has to get up and sit in a chair. Lying down only makes things worse.

To read all the other tips, scroll down to the info graph at the bottom of the posting.

For more information on GERD, visit the Digestive Health Alliance web site HERE.

You can also visit the About GERD website HERE.

For other helpful tips LIKE the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (IFFGD) on Facebook HERE.

Last week, I recommended the book, Drug Muggers by Pharmacist Suzy Cohen. Drug muggers is a phrase author Cohen uses to describe prescription medications (and lifestyle habits) that can rob your body of necessary vitamins and minerals.

To combat the drug muggers in our lives, many of us should be taking supplements to replenish what has been depleted by our medicines.

In my first blog posting on drug muggers, I wrote about statins or cholesterol lowering medicines and the things in your body that are lost with their use. You can read that blog HERE.

This week, since November is American Diabetes Month, I thought we should discuss diabetes medication drug muggers and what supplements you should take if you are on diabetes medicine.

Diabetes medicines include:

• Glyburide (Diabeta, Glynase, Micronase)
• Metformin (Glucophage, Glucophage XR, Glumetza, Fortamet, Riomet)
• Metformin and Sitagliptin (Janumet)
• Tolazamide (Tolinase)
• Glipizide (Glucotrol)

Some of the side effects that can occur with diabetes medicines when certain nutrients are in short supply:

• Fatigue
• Weakness and muscle cramps
• Memory loss
• Heart disease
• Frequent infections

Diabetes medications can leave you deficient in:

• Coenzyme Q 10–necessary for the proper functioning of our muscles, including the heart. Decreased levels can lead to muscle weakness and pain, as well as problems with the heart.
• Vitamin B6–(pyridoxine) needed for normal nerve and heart function.
• Vitamin B12-(also known as methylcobalamin) necessary for energy, sleep, as well as for our nervous systems.
• Folic Acid (also known as Vitamin B9 or 5-MTHF/5-methyltetrahydrofolate or Folate in its natural form)–Folic acid is necessary to make red blood cells to transport oxygen throughout the body. Folic acid is also needed to make DNA, our genetic code, and is thus vital to prevent birth defects. Folate and the other B Vitamins also play an important role in heart function.

We carry a line of supplements in the pharmacy known as Replenish. Replenish has a supplement, Oral Hypoglycemic Complete, specifically for people who are taking diabetes medications. For less than 50 cents a day, you can take this supplement to help restore the vitamins and minerals that have been drug mugged by your diabetes medicines.

During the month of November, we will be giving away four copies of Drug Muggers. So please stop in the store and fill out a raffle ticket. There is a ton of wonderful information in this book about many classes of prescription drugs–more information than I can possibly summarize in my blogs.

There is also an end cap in the pharmacy featuring Statinzyme and the vitamins and supplements needed if you are taking diabetes medications.

As always, please check with your doctor and let them know about any and all vitamins and supplements you add to your daily regimen of medications.