Proton Pump inhibitors cause heart disease and high blood pressure....

Today's Post:  Tuesday, 6-23-2015

A while ago, I saw something suggesting that a study had been done showing that taking the reflux or heartburn or GERD or acid reflux drugs called proton pump inhibitors caused your body to NOT release nitric oxide.

Since releasing nitric oxide is the control mechanism for relaxing your blood vessels and protecting the health of the endothelium, the inside layer of cells in your blood vessels that would be a serious problem indeed.

Over time it would cause high blood pressure, damage to the endothelium and other damage from the high blood pressure.

So, since I took a proton pump inhibitor and I had high blood pressure when much of my lifestyle was set to create good health, I tried simply stopping the drug.

After a few days it became clear that was unworkable because I began having problems with throat scratchiness and other symptoms that the drug had been preventing.

So I resumed the Prilosec, proton pump inhibitor I’d been taking.

Then I found that my high blood pressure seemed over time to be going up from moderately high to the level where blood pressure drugs were close to mandatory.

Then research was published by doctors at Stanford showing that indeed proton pump inhibitors WERE not only causing this effect but kidney disease and heart disease from the high blood pressure and endothelial damage.

Mercifully, they said that H2 blockers such as Zantac did nearly as good a job with the reflux but completely avoided this harmful effect.

Leeper and his colleagues at Stanford said they thought that once you stop taking the proton pump  inhibitor drugs, your nitric oxide levels should return to normal.

So between actually getting some early signs of the kidney and heart damage the Stanford researchers found and having my blood pressure now as high as it was, the Cardiologist my regular doctor referred me to OK’d my switching to Zantac and insisted I begin to monitor my blood pressure daily and take an ace inhibitor.

The mild headache from the Zantac did show up; but it was mild enough to ignore in part because I sometimes got one like it for other reasons.  Most of the reflux protection did show up including all of the throat protection and protection from nighttime heartburn.

Much to my surprise, I got zero side effects from the low dose ace inhibitor.

Then I got a new blood pressure device.  Two things then happened. 

1.  I found out the new one was MUCH more accurate and easy and foolproof to use compared to the one made by the same company, Omron, just a few years ago.

2.  And, much to my delight, between stopping the Prilosec and taking the ace inhibitor, my mean blood pressure dropped 12 points from the level it had been at the doctor’s office.

It may have helped that the several supplements I’ve been taking to cause nitric oxide release began to work now that they are no longer blocked.

But it’s too early to tell if the endothelial damage and the mild damage to my kidneys and heart will reverse.

And, to be fair, the stress I am often under has been causing a lot of the high level of blood pressure I’ve had.

Still, it looks promising so far! 

My blood pressure may still be high if I’m horribly stressed; but it will stop staying high when I’m not as it has been doing; and on the average it will be much lower.

But three things are clear to me.

1. The new Endogastric Solutions procedure if it becomes available that stops reflux without causing problems with swallowing or belching or vomiting in an emergency is far preferable to taking ANY medication to lower stomach acid to treat reflux.

2.  If you must do without their procedure or take something while waiting for it, it’s extremely undesirable to take proton pump inhibitors longer than just a few weeks.  And H2 blockers are always a better choice if you will take a reflux drug longer than that.

3.  If you have high blood pressure even slightly and take proton pump inhibitors you will likely protect your blood vessel, kidney, and heart health if you stop the proton pump inhibitors and switch immediately to H2 blockers instead.