Long term use of Omeprazole

jme,

Adding to the info from madness, his comments on calcium are important. Getting good quality calcium *and* getting it absorbed properly is not a simple matter. While plant based calcium is gaining favor recently, it's more expensive and hard to get enough from food alone. If you can afford it, go for it. A good quality calcium citrate will do if you can't. But you must take other nutrients with either type to make it useful.

Calcium needs to be in the presence of Magnesium, Vitamin D, and a source of fat to get absorbed into the blood stream. But you don't want it to stay in the blood too long, as that can lead to kidney and gall stones, as well as deposits in the artery walls. What you need to get it out of the blood and into the bones and other places it needs to be is Vitamin K2. That's K2 not K1. K1 is the clotting factor vitamin. K2 has entirely different functions.

I recommend calcium/magnesium in a 2 to 1 ratio. Vitamin D3 and K2, should also be in a 2 to 1 ratio. And you should take additional magnesium, by itself at another time of day without any calcium, as the magnesium you take with calcium will get used up helping the calcium to get absorbed.

Good luck with your bones. I am not sure you can reverse what has been done. I suspect it will take a very long time if it can be done. But you can at least stop further damage with the supplements. But if you can't wean yourself slowly off the PPIs, by gradually reducing the dose over a few weeks time, then ultimately it might all be for naught.

Hi.  I live in US.  I have suffered 4 injuries sequentially since 1985 – each of which involves pain and results in stomach problems from taking all the medications they put me on long term.  In 1999 I started using Omeprazole with my medications.  When I stopped taking the meds, I stopped using Omeprazole.  The next injury – being run over in the street – resulted in three years of use of Omeprazole due to the harshness of the NSAIDS they put me on.  The stomach burning did not improve and I was using Zantac sporadically.  I began to have a problem with weight gain and was diagnosed with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) which is just a catch-all for doctors that means the tests are not conclusive and they have to call it something.  They will also tell you that you probably have a “leaky gut.”  I was having problems from low stomach acid and using a spoon to clean my tongue in the mornings, Listerine, and cleaning out my sinuses using a Leti Pot as often as I could.  I also began using garlic and other natural things to test the reason my quality of life was so low because my conscious hours were spent trying to alleviate uncomfortable GI tract symptoms.  I started to research and read books.  Once I stopped using the NSAIDs every day (I got better and pain improved), I wanted to get off Omeprazole but it seemed like I was stuck with taking it because every time I went off the acid became unbearable. 

 

Dr. Perricone, a dermatologist who published results of his research into nutrition’s effect on inflammation in the body in various books in the last 15 or so years.  He suggested all kinds of supplements.  I found that using large amounts of fish oil (for the Omega3 nutrients mainly), eating Salmon and other deep sea fish, lutein (recommended by my ophthalmologist as preventive of macular degeneration), probiotics, alpha lipoic acid (100 mg or more), DMAE, multiple vitamin support with Quercitin and coQ10 as the daily vitamin needs such as C, D3, B complex (try sublingual) and calcium/mag/zinc worked wonders for my GI tract health.  I was able to permanently get off of Omeprazole and enjoy life.  Eventually, I reduced the nutrient supplements and just took a daily multiple with some fish oil two or three times a week.  Because I ate very little meat, I also took L-Glutamine and L-Carnitine to support stomach muscle and nerves during the healing period.  The inflammation of the lining of the stomach is the key to the acid problems that linger on – for me the irritation of the NSAIDs was what caused the inflammation.  Don’t drink alcohol.  Use it every month or two to test how you are doing – it is one of the worst irritants to the stomach known to man.  Coke, coffee and eating pills on an empty stomach are bad because the stomach tries to digest these things when they are not digestible at all so it puts out too much acid.  Also, phlegm from draining sinuses will have the same effect – indigestible and hard on the GI tract. 

 

I gained about 80 pounds during the process of having GI tract problems.  For the first time I had abdominal fat (from the increased amount of cortisol from stress as well) and I could not lose it until I went on a modified Adkins diet (all meat/fat).  I eat a few carbs – no more than 15-20 per meal but to lose weight I reduce it to no more than 30 carbs a day.  My primary care doctor is promoting a high fat/high protein diet and has made an online video available to watch.  It is not long and pretty interestingly presented at www.burnfatnotsugar.com.  Try watching it.  

  Re-reading your original post it occurred to me to ask whether you've been tested for Coeliac disease and whether any biopsies were taken during your endoscopys?

The symptoms you discribe seem very like the ones I experienced before I was diagnosed with CD.

I am also troubled with a persistant (15 years) which I am told is due to acid reflux although I don't get heartburn, so I too was prescribed Omeprazole but it hasn't helped at all.  I was prescribed 40mgs a day and have not ut it to half that without any noticable change for the better or worse!

I currently suck Bisodol which helps in the short term, but I'd like a cure .....

 

I have been taking Omeprazole for about four years and despite the doctor's advice to take one tablet daily, I started by taking one tablet when necessary.

I take it to stop bile rising into my throat and causing bad indigestion. I don't know the technical name but something to do with a weak valve allowing this to happen.

I found the drug changed my life and eventually started taking it daily. This is because it does not cure indigestion once you have it and I had to predict when I might cause it by eating an Indian meal say. By taking it daily, the shares in Gaviscon must have fallen considerably.

I am now considering stopping the tablets because of side effects but as I am using other medications, I am not sure what symptoms are caused by what drug.

I get headaches, bad enough to take at least two paracetemol tablets daily. I also get a dizzy unbalanced feeling and a constant frog in my throat.

I am therefore interested in the other comments on this thread whch are helpful.

My other tablets are Statins and Oxybutin.

I have suffered from what I thought was extremely painful trapped wind, the very worst attacks being like heart attacks  and I  have indeed been sent up to a&e with a suspected heart attack with one of these attacks. The local leading stomach specialist carried out endoscopy etc and  concluded my problem was IBS but my own doctor told me to research Eosophageal Spasm and BINGO there was the answer, after all these years!  finally diagnosed an been on Omeprazole daily for about 8 years now

I have been on omeprazole for approximately 20 years and have been reading a great, well researched, and knowledgeable book by Martie Whittekin (who REALLY knows her stuff!) called 'Natural Alternatives to Nexium etc...' Really is an eye opener (unless your on the payroll from the pharmaceuticals that is!!)

Oh dear this is all very worrying.

I have been taking Omeprazole for 17 years... EVERY DAY! I feel very unwell at present with all sorts of odd things. I have had joint pain for many years due to Osteoarthritis and had one hip replaced 3 years ago and although it was arthritis I wonder if the joint pain is caused by this medicine? I have H Pylori and was treated with antibiotics several times to no avail, therefore prescribed Omeprazole. I was warned about 10 years ago by a Gastric specialist that the inhibition of acid could liead to ill health, including stomach cancer. However, none of my GP's have ever agreed with this or thought I should come off it.

My stomach is dreadful and I suspect my digestive system has been damaged by the use of this medicine and I have always suffered from diahorrea etc despite taking the meds. At present I cannot seem to digest food properly and am evacuating whole bits of what I eat, in particular vegetables (foul smelling and greasy (apologies!)). I have been prescribed Clarithromycin for a current  throat infection and wondered whether this was upsetting my stomach more?

So, I have done some research and reading and am horrified to find that this antibiotic should not be taken if your blood potassium is low. I don't know if mine is but I know that Omeprazole reduces Magnesium which in turn reduces potassium and calcium levels in the blood. After 17 years of it I am suspecting my levels may be low. Will stop taking it immediately and go to GP for a serious conversation. I am a 52 year old woman, in pretty good health (apart from my stomach and joints), but seem to be too tired all the time. I eat no meat or processed food but am concerned my health has been compromised by this drug and that I have magnesium and potassium deficiencies, or worse.

Any advice out there would be welcome although there is already some very very helpful stuff in this discussion which I would like to follow. 

Try getting your iron levels checked,  You may have hemochromatosis, very similar symptoms.

Hi all,

Maybe someone could help me with this? I have gerd and i've been taking lopraz on and off for the last 4 years. The funny thing is, it only flares up if I eat certain pork products or if I eat too much. Out from that, I can eat whatever I want and I'm fine.

I started taking lopraz full-time as I had a bad bout before Christmas and thought, "sod that, I'm not going through that again." But I have noticed that since taking lopraz full-time, the symptoms have gotten worse. I now take 40 mg a day with two Motilium.

It never bothered me until I read about Barrett's disease and that put the sh*ts up me. I'm gonna try going off them and concentrating on my diet to see if that helps.

I said to my GP about it only happening with pork and he laughed at me. Is it possible that there is something in these certain pork products that could be affecting me? If it was a case of cutting out pork and this goes away then happy days.

Thanks for listening and to everyone out there suffering from gerd, you genuinely have my sympathies.