Derek, you will need to use your own judgement as to how to approach this,
if you want to try it.   In my case, I did throw away my meds "cold turkey"
and adopted my 4 step plan below.   Here's my story...

I was totally dysfunctional: puking in the men's room at the office, wasting
all weekend trying to recuperate from what I was convinced was a weekly
bought of the "flu"--which was really acid reflux ripping my oesophagus
apart and attacking nerves in my throat making me puke, etc.  My doctor
prescribed LOSEC.  After 3 weeks my acid reflux overpowered it.   He doubled
the dosage and in a couple of weeks I overpowered that.   He flipped me to
Prilosec and that caused me stomach pains, constipation,...so I threw it all
away!  Over 9 years ago, I walked into a bookstore to buy some light
reading.  One title caught my attention and I momentarily enjoyed the sheet
irony of my situation:  "Fit For Life"- by Diamond.   In it the authors
recommend giving your stomach and your body a chance to recuperate after
meals.   There is a bunch of other stuff in the book but I ignored most of
it.

Step one:  I ate only fruits for breakfast, sat upright to let the stomach
work freely and in a natural position..as the book instructed.   Small
amounts of fruit at first, but feel free to eat small amounts of fruit every
1 hour if you are hungry.   Remember you are trying to let the stomach and
oesophagus repair itself so take small amounts of fruit.    THAT WAS THE
MAGIC for me.   I ate a cup of fruit cocktail.   That was the first meal I
ate in years that didn't cause me to feel like puking right afterwards.   A
couple hours later I ate fruit cocktail again.  And again and again for two
straight days.   I was afraid to try any other foods since the fruit
cocktail made me feel terriffic!    I had NO acid reflux the very first
night and every day and night since then.   Step 2:  I also gave up coffee
completely!   Even decaffinated.   I learned on my own that coffee is the
ONLY "food" that causes the muscle at the top of the stomach to atrophy.
That same muscle controls and holds back the stomach acids.  I used to have
several cups and sometimes coffee would be the only thing I'd "eat" for
breakfast.  "D'oh!!"   Step 3:  I stopped eating ANYTHING after 8 pm to
allow myself 3 hours to digest food before going to bed.  Not even a light
snack.  (You may not be able to do this if you are diabetic or need to take
nightime meds with food?)  Step 4:  I cut way back on the heavy meats like
beef.   I made complex  carbohydrates about 75% of my "heavy" meal.   Before
this, I used to have meats about 90% and kinda walk the veggies on stilts
across my plate.   Step 5: Until the above  regimen reduces your acid
reflux, you may need to keep your chest slightly elevated at night when you
sleep so stomach acids would have to fight gravity instead of laying flat
where acids could easily roll or drip into the oesophagus/throat and
aggravate the condition.   I did not need to elevate my bed since I felt
better that very first night.

So,...there you have it.  My 4 step plan built right from "Fit For Life".
My doctor still quizzes me about this.  He can hardly believe I have
abandoned my Lo-, and Prilosec.  I have NEVER had a bought of acid reflux in
over 9 years!   P.S.:  I now have gone back to a cup of coffee almost daily,
but an ready to give that up if my acid reflux ever does come back.

Hope this helps you out, too.   Best of luck to you.

I find that each PPI seems to become less effective after a period of time
and my symptoms gradually come back. A change to another PPI helps again for
a while. Nexium has been the most effective for me but after a few months
seems to dry out my mouth, throat and chest and I waken in the night having
difficulty in taking breaths. It also makes the back of my palate and throat
very sensitive and I choke, heave and bring up lots of wind when cleaning my
teeth in the morning. This has stopped again since switching back to Losec.
Some one on another NG advised taking Ginger juice to combat acid. He used
root ginger in a juicer and made enough to take a tea spoonful every
morning. Ginger was too tough for our juicer and burnt out the motor so now
I just grate about two tea spoonfuls and put it in a  tea pot with enough
water to make two cups full. It does seem to help.
Derek.