My experiences of stopping taking Lansoprazole

HI  I HAVE TRIED COMING OFF LASPORAZOLW  FOR  6 WEEKS BUT PAIN A FEW DAYS AGO WAS BAD - TOOK ONE PILL AND IT IS MUCH BETTER - GOING TO TRY AND TAKE ONE PILL AND ALTERNATE WITH MAALOX OR GAVISCONE

- IT IS A DREADFUL WORRY BECAUSE THE SYMPTONS CAN VARY FROM DAY TO DAY.  ALSO GOING BACK TO THE LOW CARB  DIET AS THIS DEFINITELY

HELPED.    WILL JUST TRY AND TAKE THE LANSPOZOLE A  FEW TIMES A

WEEK AND NOT EVERY DAY.  HAD ALL THE SIDE EFFECT BUT WHAT CAN YOU DO THE ACID PAIN WAS SO BAD WHEN IT BUILT UP AND I FEEL ILL IN MYSELF.

STILL CARRY ON AS USUAL

Hello,

I realise your post was over a year ago now but as I'm considering coming off Lansoprazole thought I'd add my thoughts.

BACKGROUND FIRST, Since I was a skinny child (I'm almost 60 now) I had the problem of swallowing but it getting stuck, it usually went down eventually to no further ill effects. Fast forward to 2002 and my first mouthful of food one Sunday lunchtime got stuck, it took over 4 hours to dislodge. I ended up having an endoscopy (terrifying, no sedative) and put on 30mg of Lansoprazole. I'm also type 2 diabetic, and on thyroid tablets (had a goitre removed), have osteoarthritis and no surprrise, depression. I am also morbidly obese. I had a sleeve gastectomey in 2007 (80% of my stomach removed) and lost 5 stone but still needed to lose another 5, it didn't happen, in fact my stomach has been growing back and I have gained at least 3 stone. You getting the picture?

So 2 years ago I went on holiday abroad and my Lansoprazole mysteriously disappeared from my hand luggage so I was faced with 12 days cruising the Med wthout them. I was in dreadful stomach pain each time I ate. You can imagine with all the fabulous food available this was not good for me. Anyway, upon my return I weighed myself and had lost over 9 pounds. At least some good came of it.  

My dilemma now is, due to so many other health problems I am feeling the only thing that will improve my overall wellbeing would be to lose weight. Having lost so much by stopping the Lansoprazole, should I consider this drastic action again? I know Doctors would doubtless say NO! But is this not the lesser of two evils? If my weight continues to increase I will be putting myself in even more danger.  D'you see where I'm coming from dear reader. I am so desperate I will try anything.

I was on lansoprazole for about a year, it helped with heartburn and nausea throughout my day. I haven't taken it for about 3 or 4 weeks now and my heart begins to race randomly, I feel as though something is stuck in my throat, I can't sleep very well and my nausea lasts from early morning until I go to bed every day. Everything seems to be fine when I'm on lans but after being off for more than 2 weeks I can tell that my body just feels worse.

Been on Prevacid (Lanzo) for 16 years consistently.  First prescription and then over the counter.  Never had a noticeable side effect when taking daily for so long.  A couple of weeks ago I saw a news report saying it can lead to dementia, which given my usage I'm sure I'm doomed anyway; so I decided to stop cold turkey.  Now, I'm basically a pharmaceutical sponge on antidepressants, opiates, benzodiazepines, all types of pills to help my cravings for alcohol, oh yeah I'm a 20 year alcoholic too, recently antibiotics, probiotics, fiber gummies, new vitamins and I think that's it.

Anyway, I have been having the worst digestive problems I've ever felt.  Constantly having to go, like 10+ times a day for two weeks which makes my commute to work a nightmare.  I've been running through what it could possibly be, been dry from booze for a month (withdrawal?) off opiates which I used recreationally when I wasn't boozing for 1 week, and Prevacid for two weeks.  The symptoms started two weeks ago and I can't nail it down but I feel awful, worst case of withdrawal ever.  I've quite booze many times and never has my body reacted like this.  It could be a combination of age, how horrible I've treated my body, but something tells me the abrupt stop of Lanzo has not been helping.  If it's the cause I hope I return to normal soon because this is HELL!

Hi

Realise this post is old but hopefully I can help.

I have had a hiatus hernia since I was 18 and have been on lanprozole ever since for 30 years with the dose being increased over the years until I was on two 30mg tablets a day. I went to see a consultant November last year and after tests he decided I should have surgery. I had the operation on 5 January and it didn't go to well as I couldn't swallow any liquid so next day on 6th January the top surgeon then re- did the procedure and it was a success. I have not taken lanprozole since that day and have had no indigestion/ heartburn. The first six weeks after surgery are hard as you try to build up to normal eating but now that is done I have the symptoms, of what I believe are from not taking lanprozole any more. I have found that I get strange tightness around my head and sick feeling in my stomach that is hard to explain as its not a normal sick feeling but this eases if I eat something and I now find myself having to eat regularly to reduce this feeling. I do get headaches a lot now and this seems to coincide with the stomach sick feeling.

My bowl movements were pretty normal when on lanprozole but now there all over the place, sometimes constipated and sometimes loose and not regular.

I'm hoping all this settles in time and hope this helps your discussion.

Hi

I been on Lans for ages... For heartburn.

Best way to come of them is to slowly do it.

Open up the capsule and take one grain out and then close again. And do that for a week.

Week two, open capsule and take 2 grains out.

Week 3 take 3 grains out.

Week 4 take 4 grains out.

Do this every week till you come of completely or at a very low dose holding the reflux or acid etc.

Your body will slowly ajust and does not notice.

If you have been on for a while worst thing is going cold turkey. Can does worse!!!!

Follow my way it's perfect.

Hi,  Lansoprazole!!! Yes, I have weened myself off it as well, quite a job, with build-up of acid after a week or so, I was vomiting, horrible as it is pure acid coming out.  Always eat a spoon full of honey to soothe the throat and brush your teeth well.  Anyway I have discovered liquorice and peppermint tea, works wonders for your acid.  Hardly any acid anymore and I had a weird looking little cluster of warts (I thought it was warts), turns out it was a rash and that has also disappeared.  I noticed when taking Lans, muscle contractions, lower legs, very sore, waking up at night, ouch.  Also had a persistent cough and phlegm  in the lungs, this is also better now.  Just to mention I took Settlers in between to help with the acid, worked well, but left me with a terrible rash on my hands.  When I started drinking the tea I mentioned and stopped Setlers totally, Lo and behold the rash also stopped.  All I can say about modern medicine is DON'T TOUCH IT, there is quite often an alternative, thanks for listening.

Hi,

I have been on PPIs for over 11 years. The original Dr put me on Aciphex for my first experience of stomach upset not heartburn. I have tried to get off the medicine many times but with a response of horrible chest pain. In the fall of 2012, I had throat trouble swollowing and unfortunately after lots of different specialist appointments, ended up with an EDG where the Dr stretched both my upper and lower sphincter muscles. Then I really had heartburn!  I lost about 10 pounds and I was already thin. I became underweight and weak. Since I could not make it through the night on Aciphex, I asked for Dexilant that is like taking one dose of Prevacid now and another 5 hours later. That worked.

When I learned that PPIs may lead to Dementia which my mother had and that they might be causing my dry eyes and mouth, I became determined to cut back. I bought over the counter Prevacid and started that once a day before dinner, figuring that that was half of the Dexilant dose. I was on that for two months. My Dr had recommended trying every other day once I was ready so I did. I did that for 2 weeks. That pill made me sick when I took it on an empty stomach so I stopped it all together. I take a chewable calcium carbonate, magnesium, Vitamin D which helps. 

It has been 3 weeks since I stopped Prevacid and I am surviving it with a very limited bland diet. I assume that my body needs to adjust to the change after taking PPIs for so long. Unfortunately 3 days ago I developed abdominal pain, a fever and a rash. I went to see a nurse practitioner and she scolded me for getting off the PPI and seemed to think that my new problem is related. That's my story so far.

Has Lanzoprazole healed anyone completely?  Like completely healed the stomach lining. I have been taking 30 mg for the past 3 months for mild discomfort for Mild Chronic Inactive, Non Atrophic Gastristis ( this was the result after my endoscopy and biopsy )

Disclaimer - I am not a medical professional and wanted to share my story in the event it is helpful to others trying to figure out how to get off PPIs (in my case there was no physical reason I needed them other than it was prescribed at a young age and I was never able to stop)

I started taking PPIs at 22 years old largely due heartburn symptoms and an esophageal structure ( hiatal hernia and a poor diet). On PPIs for 15 years and have recently gone off for 2 months with no heartburn, reflux etc. Went through multiple gastroenterologist before I found one who looked at this more holistically.

In the past I had tried to stop taking the PPI

but would experience the most intense heartburn imaginable...it would get so bad that I had dysphasia and was hospitalized several times for food impaction.

Treatment to eliminate this included h pylori (antibiotics for 14 days)...after stopping that treatment (and PPI on last dose of antibiotics) I began a dose of probiotics and digestive enzymes. Heartburn continued but after the 5 week. mark things started to improve. Now 2 months later I am drinking coffee again, occasional alcohol consumption etc (all things that would trigger horrible heartburn). There was a progression from heartburn initially (w/ dysphasia) to then over time just mild warmness in the chest an hour after a meal...now at this point I notice no symptoms and feel perfect with significantly improved digestion (3 bowel movements per day). Mineral / vitamin absorption has improved and I can noticeably see I am not passing as much B vitamins in my urine.

My belief is that long term use of the PPI disturbed the intestinal flora....antibiotics eliminated the overgrowth and then probiotics restored over time. Virtually no gas since stomach acid has returned and therefore no acid reflux.

The other point I will make is that it takes time for the stomach cells to normalize acid production. This is a several month process in my experience to get the acid production normalized and it is easy to regress to PPIs. I have taken no PPI, H2 suppressor or antacid since I started my protocol 2 months back. Be careful with the diet until the stomach is normalized...small portions are key.

Oh forgot to mention, I was diagnosed with a fatty liver last year (not a drinker)...I believe the PPI is correlated and has placed more strain on the body by not having sufficient stomach acid to break down fats over a long period of time. Since ceasing the PPI I feel as though my liver function has improved...will confirm through blood work to check the AST/ALT level. .

Iv just come across this site iv stopped taking lansoprazole because it gave me a pregnant looking belly and bad memory probs sweating iv replaced it with DGL liquorice twice aday so far so good