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Feeling dreadful a week after starting omeprazole

Posted , 4 users are following.

patricia77349
patricia77349

Just writing here as I'm wondering if anyone has had similar circumstances.  I hope that this makes sense as am feeling so poorly at the moment that am finding it hard to write.

I started taking Omeprazole just over a week ago.I was reluctant to take them after reading some pretty scaring things on the internet.  I laso tried Lanzoprazole for a few days but stopped them due to palpitations.

A few months ago I'd been having what I thought was a rotator cuff injury in my shoulder and I had to take some ibruprofen which I think irritated my stomach. the pain in my shoulder was then identified as neck pain and I had an MRI which only showed back spasms. ​I also had an abdominal scan last week that showed my gallbladder etc were all okay except there was a a lot of gas in the abdomen.

Before this incident, I've never had obvious reflux or heartburn but have suffered for years on and off  from a feeling of a very constricted throat,  bloating, an inability to get a proper breath and a pain in the top left part of my back.  This has always been uncomfortable but managable in my life so far. In my layman's opinion I think I have some sort of hernia, who knows.

As The Gastroentronologist indicated that I might have IBS and I was feeling uncomfortable last week (bloating and tight neck/throat again) I took some peppermint capsules.  I think that was a huge mistake  (I realise peppermint and reflux don't mix) and I felt terrible and finally decided to just take some omeprazole.  I took 10mg x 2 for two days and then increaded to 20mg, on the Monday (the doze I was recommended). That night when I was drink some water I felt like my throat got stuck and I couldn't complete the swallow without several attempts-not painful- but frigtening. Each day after that my swallowing has been strange that somedays it has been bad all day and other days it seem to get worse in the evening.

Due to these problems, I stopped it but after a day or so I started with , dizziness; feeling like my stomach is trying to push it's way out of my throat and horrendous oesophageal spasms-I've had them in the past but never this bad (I completely sympathize with all those poor people who have posted saying they feel like they are going to die and how they dread going to bed at night). Sometimes I might have joked about dying but the terror of really thinking it might be your last breath; when you feel you are a prisioner of your own body and t's iterrifying symptoms is no joke.

I quickly went back on the omeprazole and thought I felt initially better (the throat spasms have gone). However, last night I seriously considered going to A & E as I felt so sick, the swallowing problems keep on coming back on and off, I have this dry throat and mouth, my stomach feels like it's being pushed in so I can't breathe. Today the symptoms aren't as frightening in the daytime. I've gone down to 10mg of omeprazole but even scared the spasms might come back or i'll feel worse.

I have just called to try and speak to a gastroentronologist but not heard back yet. I don't really have the money but am thinking I will book a private appointment this afternoon as am getting desperate.  If anyone has a similar exerpiences I'd be very grateful for any advice.

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • anne240
    anne240 patricia77349

    Posted

    Once I stopped the Omeprazole, I threw it all away.  i went back to the doctor and told him I had bad side effects (mine was acute agitation) and he did not seem surprised.  As my problem is loss of appetite and bad nausea, I asked for piils to stop me feeling so sick.  I started taking them 4 days ago, and so far the nausea has diminished.  I would say to you do not take medication that makes you feel bad, see if the doctor can prescribe something different for byour problem.

    If you really think it is worth it, then perhaps seeing a specialist privately may help.  I know what a long wait it can be to see doctors at the hospital.  I do hope you have heard back from specialist by now.

    A lot of us are sensitive to medication.  Ibuprofen gave me fresh bleeds from my gut, and it was so frightening.  I had to have test at hospital, and you can buy that over the counter.

    Keep in touch, but do you really want to continue taking something that may, or may not be helping?  Like me, you want relief, but what to do?

    • patricia77349
      patricia77349 anne240

      Posted

      Thank you so much anne,

       

      I haven't replied before now because I've felt so unwell that I couldn't make it to the computer.

      I managed to make it to get on to 10mg of omeprazole this week on Tuesday and Wednesday then stopped taking it altogether yesterday. I went to a private Gasteroentronologist and he told me on Wednesday and he said stop taking them and he didn't know why I was on them!

      I read another useful thread on this forum about the side effects and I've found this comforting as even though I've stopped them I still feel terrible; difficulty in breathing (feeling suffocated), nausea most of time, feeling of my chest 'pressed in', difficulty in swallowing and really bad panic attacks. I am trying to remain positive and believe these symptoms will go away but am so nervous that I've actually messed up my stomach taking this stuff or that there was something wrong with my stomach that I've made worse by going on and coming offf the drug and am stuck with these symptoms forever (I know it sounds stupid and dramatic but I am finding it so hard to stay positive and hopeful right now).I shall not be going for an edoscopy in two weeks feeling like this!

      I am literally praying that the side effects (hoping that's what they are anyway!) will go away soon because it is like a living hell! I'm past crying, just in a state of fright most of the time. I know different people say side effects lasted for different. i just want to feel a little bit better as trying to work with these symptoms extremly difficult.

      Many thanks for listening 

    • anne240
      anne240 patricia77349

      Posted

      Hello, I am so sorry you have felt so ill.  i am glad you got to see someone privately.What did he say he thought was wrong, and what the next step is for you.  I see you are going for an edoscopy.  I think if our GPs do not know what is ewrong with us, they prescribe medication for tummy problems.  I wondered if the Omeprazole was right for me, as my only symptoms are loss of appetite and nausea.  No diagnosise though.

      I do hope you get on OK and please let me know what the result is.  So many medications have side effects, but this drug, by all accounts, is a horror.  I can understand why you are feeling so down.  I suffer from depression and anxiety anyway, so often feel things could be in my head.  

    • patricia77349
      patricia77349 anne240

      Posted

      Hi, . thanks again for your kind words. The gastroentronologist said he thought it was stress and I suppose i just have to try and stay positive, hope I feel a bit better soon and wait for the endoscopy. I can't belive that drs said none of the side effects are in the British medical journal and that they should be out of your system in 72 hours. I am still hoping I might feel better soon and it is the side effects from this drug ( I didn't feel great before starting the medicine but feel 100 times worse after taking it). I'll post when I find out anything. I have also suffered from some depression and, infact, came off setraline after being on it for over 10 years and even though it was only 25mg I was taking in the end I had vetigo and sickness for weeks.
  • anne240
    anne240 patricia77349

    Posted

    I wonder if my problem is due to anxiety and depression.  I did come off Effexor nearly a year ago, and when I did this before, completely lost my appetite.  Scan showed no problems, and I did get better.  This time I have nausea too, which is hard to deal with.  The pills I have been prescribed this time have helped with the nausea, and no side effects.  I don't know if you have heard of the Yellow Card system, but you can report side effects on-line or via your doctor about side effects the Omeprazole gave you.  I did this.  It helps with the leaflet that goes with the drug, and lets government body which controls drugs what side effect a drug has had on you, which hopefully will feed through the system.  It took me 10 months to withdraw from the anti depressant, so I did not get any side effects, as Effexor well known for having awful withdrawals.  I have been on Sertraline in the past too.  I was on anti depressants for over 20 years, and really do not want to go back on them.  The acute agitation the Omeprazole caused was very hard to deal with.  Now I have anxiety just trying to cope with everything.

    Hope you get on all right Patricia.  I am so glad there is somebody else I can talk to about how I feel.  

    Take care

  • j74871
    j74871 patricia77349

    Posted

    I know this was a long time ago, Patricia, but did you ever figure out what was going on?

    I took omeprazole for a week as well recently, and my side effects have been exactly the same as yours--almost exactly. It's been 2 months now and all the doctor can tell me is that i have IBS, which i never did before taking omeprazole.

    Really feeling at a loss right now.

  • rmr0325
    rmr0325 patricia77349

    Posted

    Ever since I started taking Omprazole for Esophagus Erosion, I have been debilitating ill. I have been a prisoner to my house for over 2-1/4 years. I could no longer work. My savings is about depleted and I'm going to lose my house. I live alone and can hardly take care of myself. I severely suffer from everything everyone in this conversation complains they experience. I not only am said to have IBS now but to have a bad case of visceral hypersensitivity that can come from IBS. Everyday after I take my 20 MG capsule, in less than an hour, I am in agony feeling like I need to be in the intensive care unit of a hospital waiting for a Colo rectal surgeon to come do emergency surgery. Everytime I sleep at night or even a short nap, I always wake in agony. I'm afraid to go to sleep. I've lost so much weight due to the fear of food that I have developed. I cannot get off the crap. A GI helped me try using two per day 40 MG of Pepcid but it did not work out. I am in so much pain all day every day and do a lot of crying. Not knowing what else to do with myself, I make frequent trips to the ER. Every hospital staff hates me. I cannot not tolerate any of the drugs they use such as Bentyl and many more. My allergy list is so long from every drug I tried at least three times to help my stomach and each exacerbated my problems. I have a really hard time breathing and get so full of gas that never passes. it gets in my back. neck, shoulders all over and causes me severe nerve pain but of course. Gabapentin makes it worse. I get a restless chill in my body when it's really full of gas desperate to get out. Incredibly and amazingly one little capsule could cause so much hell. Someone recently suggested to me to go to a Ketamine Provider to get off of the Omprazole. I'm open to anything. I am so stressed out and cannot tolerate the pain and having no life anymore. Prilosec/Omprazole is absolute poison!!!!

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