Minocycline & Gastric Reflux

[fastspinW]

Back when I was taking minocycline I had a terrible problem with gastric reflux. Many nights the only way I could sleep was sitting up on the couch. As I have diabetes as well as RA the doc blamed this on diabetic neuropathy rather than the minocycline. Then my face began turning a blueish gray, and the whites of my eyes as well. So although the mino had done a great job of controlling my RA he switched me off to Doxy. Not long after this the gastric reflux began to stop. Recently, however, I was forced to switch back to generic mino and Bam! last night I awoke with so much acid in my throat and mouth that I had to literally jump out of bed. Worse yet, my total sleep for the night was around 2 hrs…

Has anyone else had this problem? And if so were you able to find a solution?

Thanks,
Winston

[Maz]

@fastspinW wrote:

Back when I was taking minocycline I had a terrible problem with gastric reflux.

Has anyone else had this problem? And if so were you able to find a solution?

Hi Winston,

I haven’t had this problem, but I have read that those with helicobacter pylori may suffer from GERD when treatment is commenced (hence why a PPI is usually used during therapy) and minocycline has a better rate at treating HP than other tetras (usually in combo with flagyl or clarithromycin). Is there any chance you may have HP? Ever been tested? Interestingly, HP has been tied to RA in studies where RA remitted with the use of clarithromycin. Just thought to mention this in case it might help.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2036.2002.01284.x/full

Can’t remember your dosing schedule, Winston. Are you doing Harvard Protocol? If so, what time of night do you take your dose? Sometimes avoiding taking the dose in the evening and either doubling up in the AM or taking the second dose in the afternoon can help when lying down worsens symptoms. Not sure whether or not a PPI is okay with diabetes, but this might help resolve the GERD, as well as raising the bed-head with stilts or a foam support under the mattress.

Interestingly, the following study demonstrates a higher incidence of neuropathy in diabetics with HP.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18320319

Seems that Type 1 diabetics have a greater susceptibility to HP in the following study:

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/25/8/1485.full

Just wondering if maybe…just maybe…(and not wishing HP on you, but…) finding such a trigger for your RA may help in getting AP (and in oral combination, no less!) more locally? All this may be moot if you’ve already checked into this as a possibility, though. 😉

[fastspinW]

Maz,

Thanks for the heads up on the articles on HP. Interestingly enough, as I’m sure you know, the doc who figured out the relationship between HP and peptic ulcers faced (actually still faces) the same sort of resistance from within the medical community as did Dr. Brown.

To answer your questions:

– No I haven’t been tested for HP

– I’m following the usual Dr. T dosing schedule of 2 caps a day x 7 in the am and before bed.

– I have used Prilosec in the past but once I switched to Doxy it was no longer necessary. I don’t like using this drug because of side effects but may have to go back on it while using mino.

– I’ve tried raising the bed, etc. and it didn’t seem to help much. Back when I was having trouble with GERD I spent many a night sleeping upright on the couch. But I sometimes need to do that anyway due to diabetic neuropathy as the burning is made worse by lying down.

I will add here that after just a few days on mino my RA flare seems to be backing off. In the past two days I’ve gone form severe pain in both hands and some involvement in other parts of my body to just some minor soreness in my right hand. As always it is difficult (no, IMPOSSIBLE) to do any more than infer a causal link between these improvements and the switch to mino from doxy but it certainly seems rather likely.

By the way, did you get my PM in answer to the PM you sent me? I am never confident on these forums that when I click Send things actually get sent. If you didn’t get it I will try to resend.

All best,
Winston

[Maz]

@fastspinW wrote:

Interestingly enough, as I’m sure you know, the doc who figured out the relationship between HP and peptic ulcers faced (actually still faces) the same sort of resistance from within the medical community as did Dr. Brown.

By the way, did you get my PM in answer to the PM you sent me? I am never confident on these forums that when I click Send things actually get sent. If you didn’t get it I will try to resend.

Hi Winston,

Sorry for my delayed response to your PM…I’ve been on the fly this week and I got a bit backlogged, but did receive it and plan on replying. I have a funny study to send to you for some chuckles.

Yea, poor old Barry Marshall really got a bum wrap and was either stark-raving mad or very courageous to infect himself with HP for the sake of science. It’s thought that we all have a bit of HP in us and may even be beneficial for proper digestion, but who needs a whopping dose of the blighters? He has an interesting site…will post it for others as you may have already seen it. His abx treatment protocols are listed there, too, but obviously more for acute infection:

http://www.helico.com/

What is so interesting in the RA/HP study above is that continued improvement of RA occurred over the 2 year abx therapy study, the results of which lend themselves to the contention that HP has a chronic form and, being a spirochetal infection with pleomorphic capability, it is much like Lyme disease (which has also been politicized). The same abx combos are used in Lyme txs, so a LLMD might be an appropriate physician to see in this context.

Glad your RA is feeling a bit better, Winston, but really feel for you re: the reflux. There is an oral supp that can be taken to protect the lungs from inhalation of and damage caused by stomach acid – NAC (N-acetylcysteine) – that can be related to reflux.

I have family arriving today and visiting all week from Canada and UK for Thanksgiving week, so I may be a bit tied up some days and apologize in advance if I’m slow responding to anything. 😉

[PhilC]

Hi Winston,

How soon do you go to bed after taking the minocycline?

Phil

"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
- Albert Einstein

[fastspinW]

Phil,

As a rule I take the mino about 1 hr before bedtime. As I tend to eat late it would be hard for me to take it earlier without violating the rule about 2 hrs after eating.

All best,
Winston

[fastspinW]

@Maz wrote:

@fastspinW wrote:

Sorry for my delayed response to your PM…I’ve been on the fly this week and I got a bit backlogged, but did receive it and plan on replying.

Maz,

That’s quite alright…given the number of years since your last pay raise I’m guessing there is not deadline! It’s just that I’ve had so many problems with forum emails (mostly on other forums) that I often worry that my messages aren’t getting through.

All best,
Winston

[judy cash]

Winston,
I know this was posted in November, but I hope you get this anyway…
I was having very bad reflux also, and tried lots of natural things until I started drinking lemon water, with meals and all through the day. It has helped me a lot. You might give it a try..Good Luck!
Judy

[fastspinW]

Judy,

Thanks! I’ll give it a try.

All best,
Winston

[Jan Lucinda1]

fastspin-

I’ve also had more acid reflux since on minocycline. I got The Acid Alkaline Food Guide by Nutritionist Dr. Susan Brown. She says antibiotics make the body more acid. She also said the liver which balances acid-alkaline becomes less effective as we age. I have been having a more alkaline diet which has helped. Judy lemon is alkaline so lemon water would help. Good luck.

Jan

[richie]

Hi–Reflux can be a problem with minocin or most meds for that matter –I have found sleeping on my left side actually helped !!!
richie

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