My experiences of stopping taking Lansoprazole

I've been taking lanso for my Gastro Reflux or (GERD, Acid Reflux, Heartburn) as they call it for a number of yrs "infrequently" though, contrary to the doctor's advice! although

i never had serious (or even not serious) side effects, but i decided to take them less often

(twice a wk and not 1 capsule a day as advised/instructed by doc) just as a precaution, having read about

their possible side effects. from what i read and see everybody's condition and reaction to this medication is different. so what works for me doesn't necessarily mean works for others. . Let me get to the point. i stop taking them (daily) whenever i feel ok ie. no heartburn etc. ..and how i do that? simple, i just substitute that with natural food: vegs and the best that work for me are lettuce, cucumber steamed or boiled (shallow)

spinach and green leaves like kale etc. (adding some salt can help) as all these are antiacid alkaline "food".

and here how it works (for me).. after a meal and even sugary dessert which is my stomach's enemy i eat

lettuce (a few leaves depending on how i feel and how much sweet or culprit food i had) or plain salad with vinegar if i want to. Yes vinegar, i know it may sound strange but works for me! this it seems has a

balancing or rather containing/inhibiting effect on the acid in the stomach,, cleansing your

gullet and neutralise the acid. give it a try it may work for you. its only vegs after all. no harm done.

hope sharing my exp. with you can help explain some aspects of this dreadful gastro acid condition which

makes life so unpleasant for so many. thx.

Hi all,

Please any help would be greatly greatly appreciated. I'm 23 and went to the gp 5 months ago because cardio made my chest hurt. An endoscopy showed that I had a hiatus hernia and I was given lansoprazole which I've been on for 3 months but since I have been taking lansoprazole 30mg a day I have had such horrible non stop chest pain and stomach pain. I took ibuprofen for three weeks and chest pain was significantly better (I can now sleep instead of lying awake for death) but the pain still exists.

I have recently read that my muscle pain could be a side effect of lansoprazole. I tried stopping but I went through such horrendous stomach pain I took it again after day 3 . I am going to try stopping it again but weaning off slowly. 15mg a day for a week then ranitidine or Zantac or gavisconf or a week then hopefully home free?

Does anyone know if my muscle pain and side effects in General WILL leave once stopping lanso after long term use? I didn't have ANY problems before starting it. I still don't understand/ can't believe I was prescribed it and so many others. It's just ruined and taken such a big chunk out of our lives.

Thanks guys for sharing ur experiences

I've been on Lansoprazole for more years than I can remember, originally for reflux, and it has never been reviewed.  I've had stomach pains and muscle pain for 3 years, yet GP never commented on possibility of this drug being the cause.  Having read by chance an article on the side effects I decided to come off it and see what happens.  I've missed 4 days of tablets now and stomach actually feels a little better. Muscle pain the same, but I'm hopeful in time that may go.  So far no reflux, but I'm being careful what I eat and keeping off the alcohol.  I'll report back, hopefully with good results!

I quit my 30mgs per day tablet about two months ago. I accompanied this with the decision to eat a much smaller evening meal, taken about 6pm. Examples are apple with whole meal bread, butter, honey and water. Or one baked kipper, also with bread and butter. My nocturnal acid reflux, which gave rise to the lansaprazole presciption, has gone away. I still suffer from trapped wind when I begin a workout, so try to do this on an empty stomach. I also realised that I had probably triggered the acid reflux myself - failed to notice that I was eating main meal at noon, so did not need anything other than a very light tea. The shift has also got nocturia under control - from up to 5 times down to at best 1 per night. Makes a big difference. Hope helpful

I've been off mine for about 8weeks now having been on 30mg a day for months. I kept suffering from flare ups of gastritis. 

I've recently been diagnosed with autoimmune hypothyroidism and read about links to stomach problems and decided to try coming of my lanzaprazole. 

I'm fine in the day but the evenings are really tough with severe heartburn. I find the double strength gaviscon helps before bed. I'm just hoping the heartburn will settle down eventually. 

I've been prescribed 30mg lans forthepast 6 years and have taken them without fail. 6 yrs ago I had severe gut issues which meant an endoscopy. I was told that I had gastritis and a couple of small stomach ulcers. Sadly the surgeon didn't take notice of my suggestion that Coeliac disease could be the problem. I later adopted a full gluten free diet and the problems went away.

I continued the 30mg lansoprazole because of the possibility of the ulcers getting worse, and none of my doctors seemed bothered. However I have been type 1 diabetic for 22 years and in the last 12 months have had to increase use of insulin because of rising blood sugar levels.

I had the feeling that I could do without lansoprazole so 3 weeks ago I stopped taking them. On reflection this may not have been my best decision in life, but have suffered severe heartburn, stomach pains, diarrhoea, back ache and very tender gut feeling. Also vomiting almost pure acid as my system is over compensating and continuing acid production. Those are the cons. But on the plus side my blood sugar levels are the best they have been in years, my insulin use has been reduced by 40%, and I have lost 14 lbs in weight.

I can't cope with the vomiting though so I am taking lans again but opening them and discarding 20% before taking the capsules.

I will keep you posted.

Very interesting and similar comments here!  It's now 3 months since I stopped taking 30mg Lansprazole daily. I did have a period of bad indigestion where Gaviscon didn't really help, but the way I control things now is to avoid wine and high fat foods like pastry, I don't eat late and if I am to be in a situation where I may have to consume problem things, I take one Lasoprazole tablet and it seems to work effectively without side effects. My stomach is now completely pain free and I have no discomfort whatsoever, which is astounding after years of it!  Also, my knee arthritis pain, which was very debilitating has also disappeared competely!

Maybe suddenly stopping Lansoprazole is drastic for some people, so perhaps gradually reducing it, maybe alternate days to start with, compensating a bit with Gaviscon and changing drinking and eating habits would be a more sensible approach.  I've only ever been prescribed 30mg, so I'm going to ask my GP for 15mg for the days when I feel I need it.

I HAD BEEN TAKING LANS FOR 2-3 YEARS ONLY 15 DOSAGE BUT SIDE EFFECTS DREADFUL EVERYTHING YOU NAME IT ALTHOUGH IT HELPED THE

ACID REFLUX.  STOPPED ON 1ST FEB 2015 AND HAVE CONTROLLED ACID AND PAIN BY HAVING ,LOW CARB FOOD, SMALLER MEALS, PLAIN GREEK YOGHURT AND GAVISCONE 3 TIMES A DAY OR AS NEEDED.  FEEL MUCH BETTER AND WILL NEVER TAKE LANS AGAIN.  I WILL CONTROL BY DIET AND

DO NOT EAT LATE AT NIGHT

LANS ARE POISON TO ME 

Just following up on my post of 2 months ago.

Going 'Cold Turkey' and stopping Lans dead in the tracks is NOT a good idea!

After three weeks, lots of acid vomit, heartburn etc etc I was forced to concede that you can't just give them up. However I started reducing the amount in the 30mg capsules, cutting them down by approx 20%. I did this for two weeks before I started taking 15mg capsules for another two weeks. After that I cut down the quantity of granules in the 15mg capsules down to approx 7.5gm (I bought a micro scale for the purpose), and kept taking these for anothe two weeks. Then I stopped completely.

I haven't had two much of a problem since then only on one occasion I had to take a 15mg capsule after getting severe heartburn - but that followed drinking a large glass of pure apple juice - I'll avoid it in future.

My blood sugar levels are still excellent comparativeley, and I am still using far less insulin. My weight goes up an down like a yo yo but that is another matter and mainly due to water retention. 

I am very happy to say that I am now completely free of Lansoprazole. Fingers crossed.

Yes, I think this confirms the message that it is better to come off them slowly, use Gaviscon when needed and change diet to foods that do not generate a lot of acid.  I do use Lansoprazole occasionally if I know in avance I'm gong to eat party food or drink a lot and it seems to work for me.  I have told my GP about this thread and he was very interested and supported what I am doing.

I had been taking zoton, as is called in Australia for about 5 weeks when I felt unwell, though as I also have a gastric band it was thought I might be anemic, but when I googled the side effects of the drug it basically mimicked anemia.  Blood tests cleared actual anemia.  And within two days of stopping the exhausted feeling I had and other horrible side effects ceased.In the end I had been on the drug for 7 weeks when I stopped and returned to using nexium twice daily, but now I'm uncertain if there has been damage caused to my stomach as I require more nexium than ever before and sometimes a liquid antacid as well, I can't keep solid foods down because of the chest and back pain affects the lap band, but as I've had once before when I had a drug interaction affect my stomach I am constantly hungry, but then I can't eat anyway!!  

Hi.  I've been on 15mg a day for the last 10+ years.  I was previously taking Gaviscon but this was no benefit in the end.  I went for an endoscopy and they found I had 'erosions' on the duodenam and prescribed Lansoprazole.  I tried stopping a couple of years ago but only managed half a day!! before the reflux and heartburn etc returned.  So now I keep on them and luckily don't seem to have any major side effects and can eat anything I like. Don't know what I'd do without them.