20 years on omeprazole...need help coming off!!

I just joined the Patient forum and your post from three years ago popped up.  If you're still a follower, were you finally able to successfully discontinue Omeperazole?  

Hi Mark

I originally started this debate about omeprazole because I linked it to hair loss. But I've since discovered from other people that they've found other nasty side effects. (The trouble is that GPs don't pass on reported severe side effects to the manufactures, thus things like hair loss are bottom of the list).

I swapped medication and asked my GP to put me on Zantac (ranitidine). It's an earlier medication superseded by omeprazole and works in a slightly different way. Personally I found it easier to use.

But I've also studied what foods aggravate acid build up and reflux plus time of day. eg. I can't eat late at night (eg. restaurant suppers around 10pm). Symptoms are worse if I eat factory produced food (must be the colorants, preservatives etc added.) Wine is also a NO NO! - particulalry white wine.  Finally, I was advised by and ENT surgeon to have a spoonful of Gavisicon or similar product, last thing at night to help provide a protective coating to my throat if I feel acidic (nb don't drink anything afterwards or it will get washed away from the lining of the throat).

The net result is I only take a pill if I feel a particularly bad attack coming on - which is less and less.

Hope that helps

Anne 1202

It's now 2 weeks cold turkey after 21 yrs of being on Omeprazole.

I take Apple cider vinegar with honey and probiotics now and have taken tums  chews on a couple of occasions.

Willing to try the mastic gum for the times my stomach is churning.

Looking forward to less hair loss and joint pain in the future!

I started taking Omeprazole and after 42 days I had a stomach I thought was going to explode. It worked for a month. The gas is high and just turns and doesn't turn into gas.  I lucked out and found an article on Licorice.  There's a trick.  Regular Black Licorice. long term, causes high blood pressure so you buy DGL Licorice which is designed for long term.  It works with the saliva to coat your stomach membraine.  Pill form doesn't work they said.  I ended up with Solaray DGL Licorice Gumlets  (GUM),   It works excellent so I stayed with it. You find it in the digestion section not the vitamin section in the nutrition store.   You chew the gum 20 minutes before you eat.  Gas and berps follow.  My stomach is so bad this is what worked for me.  1st thing in the morning  1- Throat Coat Tea- which has Licorice, slippery elm,etc.  and then 1 DGL Licorice  20 minutes before breakfast,  one before lunch and one before dinner.  That's it  !  I haven't had to take one before bed.  They said most people take one before breakfast and one before dinner. I'm working towards that.

You are absolutely right about doctors I’ve come off Omeprazole I just did cold turkey but your supposed to wean yourself off every other day and so on like that but I have many worries I have like reflux osephagus and I’m now considering surgery for that because these pills are just bad and since I have been taking them I have this constant chest pain the doctors have examined my chest only 5 days ago but it actually aches like constant pain in the middle where you’re gullet is like inbetween my cleavage so to speak it’s awful and doesn’t really go away on gaviscon and in the upper chest just down from my throat I might go to a health food shop I can never get hold of my doctor because they are always on leave or have to well in advance it’s so bad I also wake in the night with attacks in the night I’m having a bad time I’m also waiting to see if h.plyori has been eradicated as I have that aswell with gastritis I’m so depressed I feel like I want a CT scan as doctors are doing nothing 

did you finally able to quit it . iam trying too so far no success . i am currently on 20mg pantoprazole need help to come off theme . my stomach acid is drastically increased after using this horrible med . it blocks the acid but in the background it actually increases acid production.   

I too have this problem but I’m not good on ppis anyway why don’t you try Zantac which is a weaker drug but works in a slightly different way to Omeprazole I would take 2 of them a day and stop the Omeprazole all together then see how you feel? Another thing there’s a new treatment out for acid reflux it’s called stretta and it basically renews the gullet and it’s done with special electric that they put on the end of a scope it’s looking successful other than that there’s the nissen surgery but to be honest I would rather have that done than a lifetime of pills!

Anyone who has been on omeprazole for such a long time, as I was, should get a DEXA scan to rule out osteoporosis and a breath hydrogen/methane test to rule out small intestinal bacterial overgrowth! 

When I was getting off omeprazole it felt impossible until I discovered a way to lower the dose as gradually as you want.  You probably have noticed this by now it’s important to slowly wean yourself off. Of course, you can start by trying to reduce your dose in half. And if that works for you – great! Everyone is different, and you may be able to handle that. But for me, that wasn’t an option. The solution? Compounding the medication. It was seem ridiculous at first. But the situation itself is ridiculous. So you gotta do what you gotta do.

What is a compounded medication? It’s basically a liquid version of the medication. This allows you take any dosage you want. I used a syringe to measure the dosage, and would squirt it in my mouth. It takes awful, yes. But it’s easier than dealing with the withdrawl of a major dose decrease.  

1.    Google “pharmacies that compound near me.” I had to call around to find a pharmacy that would do this, but eventually I found one and you will too!

2.    When you pick up your medication make sure you request a plastic syringe (or anything that works for you) to measure the dosage you want.

3.    Decide how much you want to decrease. For instance, if you’re on 40mg of omeprazole daily. You could start by trying to reduce 10mg at first. So maybe you take 30mg, and see how that feels. I would wait at least 2 weeks before reducing again to allow your body to balance out. I was on 40mg, and had to lower by 4mg every month. I know that sounds crazy, but that was the only way my body could handle getting off. My body is extra sensitive, so you may not have to go as slowly! Everyone is different. But if you’re like me, that’s okay too. The most important thing to remember throughout all this bulls**t is one day at a time. Feel free to message on here for more suggestions! Happy to help anyone going through this nightmare.

This discussion has helped me feel not so alone! I've been taking Omeprazole twice a day (40mg) for four months. I started to feel very jittery and tingly feelings in my extremities, heart palpitations, clogged ear, and brain fog. I was convinced this was due to the medication, so my doctor told me to stop taking it completely and see what happens. The symptoms did start to subside, but of course terrible acid reflux followed and I felt like I couldn't eat due to the overproduction of acid now! My doctor has been bouncing me between stopping the medicine, Zantac, and now Omeprazole again because she doesn't seem to think those side effects are bad! I feel like a punching bag!

My only advice is stick to what you agree to do and don't let your doctor diminish the significance of your side effects. Trust your body, you know it better than your doctor. I just wish my doctor gave me a better plan to wean off the drug rather than cold turkey. IT WAS AND STILL IS HORRIBLE!!

Hi Mark I have the same problem .I've been on Omeprazole for about 25 years. Stopped cold turkey about 3 weeks ago.Big mistake. I've now got gastritis.Have you tried taking a digestive enzyme and some pro biotic it's helped me a bit.

The thing that was a life changer for me was doing a hiatal hernia massage. I sit in a desk all day and the bad posture and leaning over weakened my diaphragm.  I had gotten really bad where 2 Omeprazoles would not even stop the reflux. Desperate, I asked my chiropractor if he had any ideas. He did a maneuver that pushed my stomach down. It was amazing. It only lasted a few days though and my reflux came back. I realized this is something I had to learn to do myself.  I searched hiatal hernia massage on youtube and found a great video to help me. I have now been able to quit Omeprazole. I also purchased a standing desk which helped. I had a barium swallow done which showed I do not have reflux anymore but I do have weakened muscles for pushing food into my stomach.

Please, everyone with any kind of dig west who problem, check out and research Slippery Elm.  Wonderful for healing acid reflux, and symptoms of it and associated conditions such as IBS and others.

I was put on omeprazole to heal gastritis/esophagus/hernia after I made a really foolish mistake by eating a bunch of black peppercorns I had spilled on my counter top, straight. I prayed to Jesus and changed to a bland diet. Oatmeal I read absorbs acid so it may help getting off omeprazole. I've been eating foods easy on the stomach like cream of rice cereal, avocados, cucumbers, alkaline foods/water, baby food at first, Manuka honey, tons of yogurt. I suffered thinning hair and prayed to get off omeprazole ASAP--been off a week, Praise be to God after weeks on it. I am still taking 40mg famotidine, praying to get off it soon.