HEALING HEARTBURN NATURALLY: A Guide to Managing Acid Reflux and Restoring Gut Health Paperback – Big Book, 6 December 2021

Easy to read and contains natural remedies that one would not have known about.Also valuable information about gradually stopping supplements.

I’ve been wanting to wean myself off my PPI for awhile,especially since they stopped working and this book has been very informative

I absolutely love Dr. Low Dog so I did not hesitate to buy her book on healing heartburn naturally. My husband has been on PPIs for years and we would love to wean him off of them. I did gain a bit more information than I already knew from this book. It is laid out well and easy to read. I docked it one star because I feel like there could be more information. There are more herbs that I know can help that she did not specify in the book, such as Gentian. For the price of the book though, it is definitely worth having as a reference.

Earlier this year, I noticed that my numbers at my annual doctor's appointment were disturbing, especially the creatinine levels and GFR. Interestingly enough, a week after that doctor's visit, I heard Dr. Low Dog in an interview on The People's Pharmacy and realized that those disturbing numbers were most likely related to my dependence on omeprazole for the last 20 years. My skepticism was pretty high but I like People's Pharmacy and decided to research Dr. Low Dog's findings. I was afraid she may be another "too good to be true" internet doctors. I looked at the multiple peer-reviewed studies that she mentioned and they were pretty convincing, so I bought the book, took notes, and kept a diary of what I was taking and the effects including bp, side effects, and so on. I did that for 3 months.The book was pretty easy to understand. She clearly explains how heartburn, PPIs, and her method of tapering clearly off in detail. The only downside was that I had to figure out what was best for me to take as she has a lot of options. I'd love for that to have been a little clearer. She does break it down, though, into botanicals, enzymes, melatonin, and the additional vitamins to take in preparation and why. She doesn't offer a "magic pill" but includes a common sense strategy that also includes lifestyle changes. She stresses the importance of taking to you doctor before attempting these strategies.A year or so ago, I tried to quit omeprazole "cold turkey" and the hyper rebound effect was similar to swallowing broken glass (hyperbole intended and felt). So I was leery of trying this but felt that I had to try something. She goes into detail on how to prepare your body to taper off of PPIs in a way that will not produce the "swallowing broken glass" and Dante's inferno effect. So this strategy has three stages: preparation, tapering, and maintenance, which take about 3 months.Report from labs taken earlier this week: my creatinine went from 1.53 to 1.03 (still high but significantly lower); my GFR went from 37 to 63. I see this as a miracle in my life, and though there may be other factors that contributed to these numbers, I see lowering my dependence on omeprazole as a primary one. I guess I'll know more when I go back in 7 weeks.Note: I had decreased my omeprazole to 5 mg for a few days and had to go back to 10 mg, which seems comfortable for me now. So I've been at half the prior dose (20mg) for a month, which seems to have made a tremendous difference. My goal is to get to zero within a year (after a few more lifestyle changes) but I have a plan on how to deal with heartburn episodes.

Research based solutions when you want to replace GERD meds with something less hard on the body. Excellent info, with practical advice from a doc who taught at UofA's School of Integrated Medicine. No fad holistic or crazy protocols. The book lays out the hazards of long-term PPi use and medically substantiated alternatives that work with the gut, without negatively impacting other bodily systems.