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Stopping Omeprazole before 14 days are over?

Posted , 3 users are following.

rachelk123
rachelk123

Hi all,

I had acid reflux from around Dec 2015 - 2016 and had been doing significantly better, not taking any form of medication and just dealing with a few flare-ups every now and then.

From November 2016 till recently, my stomach had been making super loud gurgling/rumbling sounds and I could even force the sounds by pushing my stomach in and out. It was definitely not digestion sounds because they were different. This was deeper and more like a whale-noise than grumbling. I also had more trouble passing gas and felt like huge amounts of gas was trapped in my stomach and I would burp more frequently. Toward the 3-month mark of this happening, my upper-middle abdomen was starting to hurt too so I went to the doctor who told me to take Omeprazole for 14 days.

I've taken it for 9 days now and although my unknown symptoms of loud stomach noises and abdomen pain are gone, my acid reflux has been flaring up since day 2 of taking this medicine and been getting worse. This is weird because I've taken Prilosec before (which helped tremendously when my reflux was at its worst last year), so maybe I'm thinking Omeprazole is making my reflux worse since I barely had it to begin with??

I'm wondering if it's okay to stop taking Omeprazole before I finish the 14 days?? I am just so nauseous from the acid...

*other possibly important information- besides acid reflux, another new symptom from Omeprazole is feeling incredibly full/bloated right after I eat no matter how small my meals are... I've also skipped the last month of my period so I don't know if those are related in any way.

Thanks for any help/advice!!

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • gillian75986
    gillian75986 rachelk123

    Posted

    Hi I've had pretty much all the same symptoms as you describe.

    I had been on Omeprazole for 6 months and gave up on it because of the bloating and the whale noises you describe and the rest.

    I stopped taking it at the start of December 2016 & was doing ok with just a few rebound flare ups for which I tried home remedies as mentioned on Patient. However I started taking Zantac now and again which seemed to work but 2 weeks ago I had to get a prescription for Ranatadine (which is Zantac) I started on 150mgs in the morning on an empty stomach!! but last week I had a dreadful flare up of heartburn and had three sleepless nights so I'm now taking 150 at night too. So far so good.

    Obviously I don't want to have to stay on anything. My GP thinks I probably have an old ulcer which has been aggravated by other meds I have been taking for a herniated disc for the last 9 months.To be honest there have been times when I now know I was taking my meds wrong ie not leaving enough of a gap between certain drugs which interact. I regret ever having taken diclofenac x3 daily and Gabapentin. As soon as I realised I stopped taking diclofenac and started taking Omeprazole and now ranatadine two hours away from Gabapentin.

    If I were you I'd ask to swap to Ranatadine as it's not as strong as Omeprazole. The more I've read about Omeprazole the more I don't want anything to do with it. Good luck.

    • rachelk123
      rachelk123 gillian75986

      Posted

      Hi Gillian,

      Thanks for your comment! 

      I think I'm going to ask to swap like you suggested!

      I've been off Omezprazole for only 2 days, but the whale noises have already come back so the med was definitely helping with that... but the acid reflux that came with it is not worth continuing on.

  • alison39461
    alison39461 rachelk123

    Posted

    Hi Rachel

    I stopped taking my Omeprazole about 5 weeks ago, I quit cold turkey after reading all the horrendous reports of rebound acid and just wanted rid of it. I have to say that for me, it has been pretty easy. On the OM I was still getting heartburn and having to take Gaviscon at night, still burping like a bullfrog so I didn't feel it was doing anything for me.

    I have gone down the natural route and it's working well for me. After doing lots of reading I felt that my symptoms were more about not having enough acid rather than too much. When I went back to my GP last week, (a different one that I visited asking to stop the tablets), he was really receptive and interested in that theory. 

    Yes I have to watch what I eat a bit, I have identified a big trigger for me for burping etc which is tea/coffee on an empty stomach. I had the same thing as you with the whale noises, even breathing in or out would make them happen.

    Hope this helps x

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