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Could Omeprazole be making me worse

Posted , 4 users are following.

paul75665
paul75665

Hello Everyone

Just wondering if some of you can give me your thoughts on whether Omeprazole might actually be contributing to my symptoms rather than helping them.

I've been on Omeprazole for about 3 years now, and was prescribed 40mg a day (20mg morning and 20mg evening), initially for suspected Gastritis / Stomach Ulcers. I was experiencing severe upper abdominal pain, like the top of my stomach was being scratched or torn apart, plus my bowel movements were very dark, tarry and smelly. After a few days of taking them I noticed my symptoms improved greatly, no more upper abdominal pain and eventually my bowel movements looked normal again.

The thing is, even though my symptoms improved, my doctor didn't seem to be in any great hurry to take me off Omeprazole, and has said to me in the past that they are pretty harmless really. So thinking I needed to take these constantly, I've never really addressed the issue of coming off them. In recent months I've read from others that this medication can actually do more harm than good.

From my point of view, I have been diagnosed with IBS with lots of bloating, burping flatulence, random abdominal pains. I've had endoscopy, colonoscopies, many blood, urine and stool tests in the last few years, all coming back normal. I have to take other medications and as such have to take these with water. I was wondering if my IBS symptoms are not IBS at all as my bowel movements are generally normal, albeit I only go every two to three days, but I'm putting this down to being on a low residue diet. I have this suspicion that I'm lowering my stomach acid levels too much, then diluting the acid with water, making the acid in my stomach ineffective in starting the digestion process. This has led me to wonder if I actually have partially undigested food going through my bowels, which in turn could cause the IBS symptoms.

I hope this makes sense, I've tried to explain as briefly as I can without waffling on, and I'd be interested and very grateful to know what you think of this theory.

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • simonron
    simonron paul75665

    Posted

    Sorry, can't offer specific help. I just wanted you to know i had read it.

    • paul75665
      paul75665 simonron

      Posted

      Thanks for that Simon, appreciate you having a look.
  • olivia53472
    olivia53472 paul75665

    Posted

    Hi, my name is Olivia and I want to say omeprazole is probably contributing to your ongoing symptoms. I became very sick with a virus last December and was told the same thing to take 40 mg once in morning and once at night. And as a result made me sicker, bowel issues, fatigue, muscle twitching. I have since weaned off.. this medicine does more harm than good im afraid. I hope your feeling better. Please respond and let us know. I would try and get off this med if you can smile I am surprised though that you were given omeprazole w/o any confirmation of gastrist? Is this correct? I saw that you did have both scope procedures? and they said normal? so why did they give you the omep? Ive learned that whenever you suppress stomach acid it will be very difficult to digest food.. same thing happened to me. so im taking digestive enzymes... maybe try those.
    • paul75665
      paul75665 olivia53472

      Posted

      Thank you for your comments Olivia.

      I should have mentioned that a doctor prescribed Omeprazole to me after looking at my throat, and going back through my medical history there is a suggestion that I was suffering with Gastritis. The endoscopy was performed a month after being prescribed Omeprazole, hence why that probably came back normal, the Omeprazole had been given a chance to heal my stomach.

      I've always wondered if the food I'm eating is not being digested properly, and basically having undigested food going through my system, it is definitely a suspicion of mine. I'm going to try and wean myself off it, I have heard more bad experiences with this drug than I have good.

      Thank you again for your thoughts and advice.

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