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It's always wise to do a little research into a "prescription" drug a doctor tells you to take virtually for life. In my case, I wasn't thoroughly convinced a lifetime prescription of Prilosec was right for me. In fact, I was so averse to this prospect that I was ambitious enough to search out a reason not to take them. Little did I know the incriminating evidence I needed was right on the home page of its own website.

I began my research in the same fashion most others do: by typing the name of the topic into the search bar of my favorite search engine. Right away I was greeted with a Nexium site, even though I had searched for Prilosec (since the two are almost one in the same, I figured I would find the same information, and I did.). I clicked on the link, which directed me to a cheery, purple page featuring the world's favorite heartburn medicine. There was a video highlighted on the front page, explaining in detail just how the medicine functioned once inside the body. I love videos, so I clicked on it for grins.

As I listened to the audio and viewed the animation, I couldn't help but wonder a little more about the product. The video explained in detail how the acid-pumping valves to the stomach were completely shut off during the duration of the pill's lifespan, thus preventing acid from coming back up the esophagus. This might sound fantastic to begin with, but something still didn't seem quite right. Of course I couldn't ask my doctor about it, because he wouldn't have had a clue, but there was a health care professional friend of mine who specialized in healthy, alternative treatments, so I made an appointment with her and posed my questions.

Sure enough, as it turned out, the Prilosec was doing anything but helping my body. In fact, it had a much more detrimental effect. My friend explained to me that, since the valves in the stomach were forced to shut down while eating, the food was not getting digested. True, without some treatment the acid would just sit on top of the eaten food, unable to digest it, but turning off the valves completely is not the right answer. This meant that for the past few months my body was not digesting food, nor was it getting the proper nutrients everywhere else as a result. In addition, this sort of action is notorious to leading to stomach cancer. Now that's something a doctor will NEVER admit.

Incredibly discouraged at this point, I asked if there was any other product I could turn to for relief. During the course of

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