Trying D-Limonene for heartburn

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nogutsnoglory

nogutsnoglory

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I have tried many things over the years for heartburn. Currently I'm on Nexium which isn't great and I'm not happy with the side effects on the bones.

I have read some amazing small studies on D-Limonene (orange peel extract) and there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that it really helps. 1,000 mg every other day for 10 days is enough to eliminate or reduce heartburn in many people according to the small studies.

I figure it can't hurt so today was day 1 of my trial. I hope I can spread some good news to the rest of the forum if it helps. Anyone try this?
 
I haven't tried it, but am interested to hear of the results you get. I currently take ranitidine 150mg for heartburn, but it doesn't work very well. Pepcid worked pretty good for me, until it slowly lost it's effectiveness. I should also mention that I have a condition in my esophagus, although I can't for the life of me remember the name of it. Let us know how it goes, and I hope it helps you out.
 
Well it's super early to tell but so far only burping up orange which isn't so bad. I'm really optimistic about it but won't stop the Nexium till I know this works.
 
Interesting, I have never heard of this. I have severe GERD which is just barely kept in check by Nexium and a whole bunch of Zantac & Tums. NGNG, would this work for reflux or is it strictly for heartburn? I don't get much heartburn but I can reflux up pretty much anything, including plain water. If this works for reflux too then I'm very curious to hear how it goes for you and I may try it myself! Please keep updating this thread to let us know how you're doing with it.
 
I wanted to cite a reputable source which is hard when it comes to unregulated and not widely tested natural substances like this. That being said a major cancer institute here in NY says it may have benefits for heartburn & GERD http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/herb/d-limonene

I'm really excited about it simply by the amazing feedback on amazon reviews. I'm hoping so many people can't be wrong!

Day 2 and I am having more heartburn and a little bit coming up so I'm hoping this will go away. I'll do the whole course and see what happens. I know oranges usually give me heartburn so it seems crazy swallowing orange oil but who knows.
 
I have a general heartburn question. Before diagnosis, I had a lot of what I thought was heartburn. Dull but sometimes intense rib and back pain. I'm wondering if it could have been referred gut pain?
I'm on pred so I'm taking Protonix right now but a natural alternative to Prevacid would be great for later!
 
NGNG, thanks for the link. That's a bit discouraging that you have more heartburn today, but hopefully, like with some other heartburn treatments, maybe it just takes a little while to fully kick in. I know what you mean about oranges though, sometimes I make fresh OJ in my juicer but it always gives me wicked heartburn and reflux. It's so delicious but so acidic and my body doesn't do well with it! I'm not sure how different this supplement is from actual oranges, but hopefully it's far less acidic at least.

Nancy, yes, I sometimes get horrible rib/lung area pain which seems to be referred heartburn pain for me. I didn't know what it was for awhile, then at one point on a whim I took some Tums when the rib pain started, and that actually worked - the Tums made the pain ease up. So I guess I don't know for sure that it is referred heartburn pain, but based on the fact that Tums relieves the pain, that's my guess as to what it is. Now every time it happens, I pop a few Tums right away, and the pain never lingers. So I would say the next time it happens to you, perhaps try taking a few Tums and see if that helps any.
 
I think this supplement is based on the idea that we need more acid and not suppression of such. Similar to the idea of pale cider vinegar. It's a good test to have and even if it doesn't work for me it might be the next persons godsend.
 
nogutsnoglory said:
I wanted to cite a reputable source which is hard when it comes to unregulated and not widely tested natural substances like this. That being said a major cancer institute here in NY says it may have benefits for heartburn & GERD http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/herb/d-limonene

I'm really excited about it simply by the amazing feedback on amazon reviews. I'm hoping so many people can't be wrong!

Day 2 and I am having more heartburn and a little bit coming up so I'm hoping this will go away. I'll do the whole course and see what happens. I know oranges usually give me heartburn so it seems crazy swallowing orange oil but who knows.
Click to expand...

Hi nogutsnoglory,

how is your treatment with d-limonene going? I just started to take it today. My naturopath recommended i take two capsules every second day for 20 days.

I took Losec for 20 years and unable to stop due to rebound heartburn. i stopped it about 6 weeks ago now. It was a bit rough but so far I have persevered. i am taking ranitidine for now but hope to stop it soon. the heartburn has been improving as the weeks go by but I am still getting it after I eat lunch and then for the rest of the afternoon and evening. I have also been getting a bad cough, from the irritation in my throat. I am hopeful the that the d-limonene will do the trick.
 
I have one more pill to be done with the 20 day every other day treatment. At first I felt like I might be getting worse but now I feel it may have helped quite a bit.

I'm not really sure to be honest so at this point I would encourage others to try it but I can't make a sweeping statement one way or the other yet.
 
So it's been a few days since finishing my course and sadly I can't say this has made much of a difference or any at all. I might try it again since it works for so many. I wouldn't discourage anyone from trying but it was no magic to me.

Of course my insurance is also declining to continue to pay for my regular heartburn medication now so who knows what's next.
 
It's ok thanks I'm just gonna try daily apple cider vinegar. I have done it before but I'll try it again and see if that helps. I will also need to find ways to reduce acidic food.
 
Thanks for the update NGNG, and I'm sorry to hear it didn't help very much. That's disappointing, but I hope you can find something else that works well for you. That sucks too about your insurance company not paying for your previous reflux med! Can you ask your doctor to file an appeal about that? My GI has told me that if my prescriptions aren't covered by insurance, that he can appeal to the ins company and explain why I need a specific med and why they should cover it. So far we haven't had to do that, but it's good to know the option is there. Anyway, good luck with the apple cider vinegar!
 
Thanks I might have to or try som new. They have covered my Nexium for years so I'm not sure why they suddenly deem it no longer necessary. It's funny because the letter says in the interest of my continued care. Um, yeah right!!!
 
Heartburn is back with a vengeance now that I'm off nexium. I guess I'll give this supplement one more try. Sigh.
 
Oh no, that sucks that it's come back! :( Does Prilosec/omeprazole do anything for your heartburn? My GI said that omeprazole is really similar to Nexium (which is esomeprazole). At least you could get omeprazole over the counter without having to deal with your insurance company, if worse comes to worse. Just a thought if this supplement fails to get things under control. Hang in there!
 
Thanks Cat the generic didn't seem to work but I have a bottle in my at home pharmacy here lol. I could try it again I suppose. It might be that due to the ileostomy I'm not absorbing the delayed release in the pill.
 
The D-limonene did not work for me either. it seemed to give me diarrhea and did nothing for the heartburn. After two months of "babysitting" the heartburn on just ranitidine (Zantac), I gave up and my GI put me back on omeprazole. I feel so much better. I've been on it for 22 years now so seems like I may be on it for good. :(
 
"Home pharmacy" - I have one of those too! :p Mine is divided up by room. In my living room, I keep a little basket with all my pills that I take in the mornings and evenings. On my nightstand in my bedroom are the pills that I take at bedtime. In my bathroom are random pills that I don't necessarily take every day, like Zofran (I have some of these pills in my purse too). And on my dresser in my bedroom are the pills that I used to take and have some left over but don't currently take for whatever reason. (For example, an almost-full bottle of Asacol HD which didn't work for me - it was expensive though and I obviously can't give it away nor do I want to toss it because of the cost, so it just sits there collecting dust in the "pill museum", ha ha.)

Back on subject, with regard to omeprazole not working - it sounds like Nexium did work though? I thought my GI said something about Nexium having an extended release or time-release or something like that type of capsule too. I could be wrong. It could just be that omeprazole didn't work for some other reason than the time release thing. For me, I was on omeprazole for awhile and it gradually lost effectiveness - my GI doubled the dose which worked great for a bit but then that lost effectiveness too. So far Nexium still seems to be working okay for me, it's maybe lost a little bit of effectiveness (or my GERD might have gotten worse, not sure) but it still works pretty well. Anyway, my GI explained that these type of meds sometimes do that, lose effectiveness over time. But he also said that if you're off it for awhile and then start it again, it should be effective again - apparently GERD meds can work that way? (According to him anyway, I'm going to have to read up on that as I'm not sure I believe it.) So anyway, long story short, maybe try going to your "home pharmacy" and giving omeprazole another try. It may work. If not, keep fighting to get back on Nexium.
 
Gosh cat I know, we could practically open make shift pharmacies in our home with all our drugs past, present and future. n

Nexium is delayed release but if I open the pill and put the pebbles I'm apple sauce it works better. Still not like pre ostomy. I might need to try the generic again.
 
Hey NGNG! I was at the pharmacy the other day, and I saw them setting up a display for some new Nexium product that is apparently over-the-counter with no prescription needed. So if you're still having issues with your insurance company not approving Nexium, maybe look into this new OTC Nexium. I'm not sure if it's the same thing and I don't know how much the OTC Nexium costs, but I thought it was at least worth mentioning to you.
 
Have you tried chewing fennel seeds after eating ? or making fennel tea both are used in India to help with heartburn.
 
I did some googling on the OTC Nexium thing. Apparently it's not quite on the market yet - I found a link (on amazon) that says it'll be released on May 27th, so it should be available in one week.
http://www.amazon.com/Nexium-24HR-Capsules-42-Count/dp/B00I7L4V04

According to the info in that link, it is esomeprazole (so the same thing as prescription Nexium) and the OTC version only comes in 20 mg capsules. I hope that helps!
 
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The nexium OTC did help but hate taking those because they weaken the bones. I am trying the D-limonene for the 2nd time now with the 20 day course. 2nd pill down and still don't feel better. If my second trial with this doesn't help I'm giving up on this treatment for me.
 
NGNG, are you able to do any type of (gentle) weight-bearing exercise to strengthen your bones? I take Nexium and I'm also on Entocort right now, both of which are bone robbers, so I make sure to hit the gym regularly and lift some weights. May not be an option for you, but if you are able to, give it a try. Even light dumbbells or bodyweight exercises (squats, pushups, etc) if you can do them, could help.
 
Well I am cautious due to my osteoporosis but trying to take daily walks now which I think should help the bones.
 

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