duh...
We have acid in the stomach for two reasons: ONe to digest food, Two, to kill germs.
C Dif is a "normal" germ that usually is kept in place by "good" germs...and if you take Antibiotics, and kill the "good" germs, it multiplies and voila, C.Dif diarrhea, a nasty nasty disease...
However, dying from bleeding ulcers is nasty, dying from aspiration pneumonia from Reflux is nasty, and sitting up all night unable to sleep from heartburn is nasty...
Most old peole taking these strong medicines already have other diseases that make C.Dif more likely (heart disease, diabetes for example) or are elderly...
And the epidemics in England were spread thru hospitals due to their lack of clean up crews...
What do you think of eating yoghurt with acidophilus (sp?)after taking antibiotics? It has always worked wonders in my family. Of course, we take antibiotics very rarely.
I agree, Prilosec and/or Prevacid has made my feel very sick when I tried it. Good old Tums seems to be the best for occasional heartburn. Plus doctors used to recommend Tums to get extra calcium. A nice glass of skim milk would have the same effect, wouldn't it?
Not that I am asking for a diagnosis. The more natural remedies seem to work the best.
From that one situation I can tell you understand the disorder. Not all MDs do.
I get a kick out of it when people suggest taking a Tums. It does work for me for a little while -- I timed it. 45 seconds.
For me, the best thing seems to be a PPI on a somewhat stretched schedule: one about every 31 hours. It's the dickens to keep track of the administration time but I believe it does give the acid a chance to build up to just below painful levels. But I am worried about a change in stool over the last six months.