I have been taking lansoprazole every day now for the pa...

My experience of Lansoprazole is rather similar; it being 100% effective in relieving my chronic indigestion. Unfortunately diarrhoea occurs about two months after commencing to take the drug.

I am now back to square one with this, relying on bicarbonate of soda & Gaviscom to control the problem.

[i:e1a25639f4]This message was automatically imported from the original Patient Experience[/i:e1a25639f4]

Interesting how different doctors prescribe the drug in different ways. I usually get a 2 or 3 months supply and when that is finished I stop taking them until the symptoms come back. It can't be healthy to take any drug over such a long period.

I thought that the tablets are just meant to reduce the amount of stomach acid to allow the throat time to heal. The last doctor I saw told me that there I was too young to have any damage to my throat and that I should take the tablets when I have symptoms (as if they were antacids), which I do not believe.

Has anybody else had interesting experiences with doctors?

Would tend to agree witha few comments here....it cant be good take anything permanently....I only take it when it gets bad for a few days after which I'm fine ......IBS / diahorea definately associated

Note that this will not apply to everyone!

I was diagnosed with a \"leaky\" stomach valve resulting in acid reflux and prescribed Lansoprozole, this worked very effectively and I had no short term side effects.

However I don't like the idea of taking any drugs long term so tried another approach.

I started to drink 8x 250ml glasses of water throughout the day and after much experimentation cut out lactose, tomatoes (skins) and especially cheese.

My permanent \"leaking\" valve is no longer a problem and providing I avoid the afore mentioned items I do not get reflux. may work for some.

Our experience with GERD (Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disorder) is that the Lower Esophageal Sphincter (the muscular \"valve\" at the bottom of the esophagus where it meets the stomach) is leaking because it is getting the wrong signals from the stomach, and not that the stomach is excessively acidic. In patients with GERD the sphincter is not responding adequately to the level of acid in the stomach and does not nip up tightly enough to stop the gastric juices seeping back up the esophagus and start digesting it. We do the exact opposite to the established logic, we give Betaine HCl, a form of stomach acid, which is increasing and not decreasing stomach acid. This makes the sphincter respond to the acid and tighten up to stop leaks. The acid also increases the digestive process and digestion of proteins is over much faster, after all it is the digestion of the proteins that causes the increase in acidity in the first place.

Don't decrease the acidity - increase it.

I have the same dilemma, when i take lansoprazole I get intense IBS like spasmic pain (although my bowel movements are normal), when I used to come off the drugs, round two weeks later the IBS pains have gone although the stomach ulcers return.

Unfortunately now even when i come off the lansoprazole I still have the spasmic pains..im worried have I permanently caused myself this pain by taking the lansoprazole? But what was my other options?

Docs are clueless they dont know what's causing my gastric ulcers. I was HPylori negative.

Jedi guest- if you are still reading this blg grateful if you could inform us of how your experiments went and how you are doing now.

Any advise from anyone would be greatly appreciated. Being in pain every day is not fun.

sorry I meant R.W guest, was looking at wrong blog for name

So why didn't your GP prescribe something else like Omeprazole or failing that Zantac?

I've been taking lansaprazole for three weeks and yesterday I started getting diarrhea.It went off in the afternoon but I had lots of gas and my stomach still felt uncomfortable.I woke up this morning and it feels like it's starting up again. I think I better stop taking the lansaprazole.Id like to ask the doc but it's impossible to get through on the phone.

It's hard to believe the drug is beneficial if it does this.

In the three weeks I've been taking it there have been two afternoons where the symptoms seemed to be eased but the rest of the time it seemed to make it worse.

I had the h pylori stool test and it was negative. However I discovered that h pylori is what they used to call campylobacter. I was extremely poorly when I caught this bug in Tunisia and I was unwell for 9 months afterwards.This was about thirty years ago but I wonder if I still have it iny stomach. I know my digestive system became much more sensitive from that time onwards but I thought because the obvious symptoms had gone so had the bug.

Does this fit with anyone else's experience?

This sounds like my case, except I had a constant cough and phlegm and a rash similar to tiny warts.  I discovered drinking liquorice and peppermint tea  just about cured my heartburn and reflux.  So I stopped taking lanzoprazole.  To my amazement the cough, phlegm and the wart like rash disappeared.  I now keep a bottle of Peptac Liquids to hand and take a small sip when heartburn and reflux rears its ugly head slightly.  It was very hard to stop Lansoprazole had to gradually take less and less and at least once a week because of acid build up would bring up violently.  Eventually it stopped and I will never touch that stuff again.

This sounds like my case, except I had a constant cough and phlegm and a rash similar to tiny warts.  I discovered drinking liquorice and peppermint tea  just about cured my heartburn and reflux.  So I stopped taking lanzoprazole.  To my amazement the cough, phlegm and the wart like rash disappeared.  I now keep a bottle of Peptac Liquids to hand and take a small sip when heartburn and reflux rears its ugly head slightly.  It was very hard to stop Lansoprazole had to gradually take less and less and at least once a week because of acid build up would bring up violently.  Eventually it stopped and I will never touch that stuff again.

I have the same issue with all of these types of medicine to the point i had chest pains so bad I ended up in hospital being treated for a heart attack at 45.

1 year later I had the same severe pains again but this time a lady doctor in A&E realised it was this medication and stopped it immediately. I was given famotidine instead and have been fine ever since. I'm currently being treated for H pylori bacteria and the doctor has said I have to take lansoprazole along side the 2 sets of antibiotics but they have told me to continue taking the famotidine as well. so I'm praying I don't have any episodes this time.

it may be worth asking your doctor if you can try famotidine to see if it helps. its been a game changer for me no acid reflux or severe heartburn since i started it.