My experiences of stopping taking Lansoprazole

Please I have experiencing dizziness and tiredness since I started taking lansoprazole

hi  

i had serious acid reflux for years possible hiatus  hernia and got fed up with side effects and all medication in general.  have stuck to a low carb diet when possible and take gaviscon when needed and i have managed the symptons of the acid most of the time which is preferable to medications especially long term as i was on lans for approx  10 years

Hi there i have crohnes and high hetas hernia i feel sick and be sick most days have a few days when im ok im takin lans for that been on it 3wks do u have the sickness or be sick caus want to know if its my hernia or crohnes .

Some years ago I had repeated severe chest pains and was eventually taken into hospital with a suspected heart attack. After some hours a heart attack was ruled out and I was discharged with a prescription for Lansoprazole (Lans) to deal with the chest pains. I was on 30mg every day for several years.

I used to get a bloating feeling and pains in the middle of my chest but Lans would get rid of the symptoms.

A couple of years ago I started getting severe nose bleeds. Hospital and GP had no idea and they went on for 4 months. On one particular day I had an urgent rush to the lavatory which was mostly blood so I was feeling rather down thinking the grim reaper was knocking. After many hospital visits I was at my wits end and I wonder if taking anything like cod liver oil could be contributing to the problems. I asked a local Pharmacist who told me something interesting. I knew that Lans reduced the production of acid in the stomach but I did not fully understand that acid in the stomach was essential for digestion and absorption of nutrients, vitamins and minerals from my food. He suggested that I was suffering from malabsorption caused by Lans and I was likely to be deficient in vitamin c. He suggested I overload on vitamin c and see what happens. I went straight into the local Tesco's and bought a large pack of orange juice and drank it all within 24 hrs. At the time I was getting around 2-3 nosebleeds a day. The nose bleeds stopped instantly and I reported this to my GP who said it was a coincidence.... I also reported it to the ENT consultant I was seeing who also dismissed it as a coincidence as well !!!. I didn't care much as I just wanted to stop the bleeding. I decided that taking Lans on a regular basis was not such a good thing if it was preventing my stomach from working properly. I switched to taking it as and when I needed it. I still found that I would get bloating and chest pains every few weeks and taking Lans for a few days would solve the problem. One of the other symptoms I would have is acid reflux, especially at night when I would suddenly wake with a mouth full of bile. Again Lans cured that.

I suggested to my GP that the approach appeared to be treating the symptoms rather than looking for a cure of the cause, I was met with a rather stiff response.

A stool test was suggested to rule out H.Pylori and I was given a sample bottle. As I was still on Lans I wondered if that would have any effect on the test sample. I phoned the doctor for advice but my call was not returned. I decided to check with the pathology lab at the local hospital. Sure enough they confirmed that I must not take Lans for at least two weeks before providing a stool sample. If not, the test would show a false negative. My GP had not given me any instructions at all in this regard. I went back to the GP and asked what I should do in the event I had a flare up of symptoms and what I should take. My GP needed to take advice and came back the following day with a prescription for Ranitidine which should not affect the test results. Worryingly it seems the doctor was unaware that Lans could render the test useless. As it happened I did not need any medication and the stool test came back negative for H.Pylori.

By this time I had lost a lot of faith in my GP. I decided to check for myself what the internet might say about what might be the cause of my troubles.

The internet is a wonderful thing but you have to be aware that there is a vast amount of utter rubbish on it so you have to be careful with sifting out the nonsense.

I found that my symptoms of acid reflux could be made worse by drinking too much caffeine which apparently reduces the efficiency of the sphincter at the top of the stomach so it does not shut properly and allows the stomach contents to flood up into the food pipe where it is irritated by any stomach acid.  That seemed to be plausible so I cut out all caffeine drinks. My acid reflux stopped fairly quickly and although I have now started drinking coffee again I now only drink teas without caffeine.

More research on the internet indicated that lots of indigestion problems are caused by bad bacteria in the intestines. I consulted a homeopath who suggested I could be suffering from a candida overgrowth. This is apparently initially caused by antibiotics which wipe out all the bacteria in your system including the intestine. Trouble is the antibiotics are not selective and they wipe out good and bad bacteria all at once. What tends to regrow is the bad type which include fungi, like candida.

When I asked my GP about candida I got a similar response to the one about treating the symptoms rather than looking for the cause. GP said everyone has candida so there is no point in testing for it.

Some while later a TV programme "Trust me I'm a doctor" had some content about the gut flora or microbiome and it seems that antibiotics did indeed wipe out gut bacteria and there was a need to introduce good bacteria into the intestines to re-establish a good balance. Most of the probiotics which you can take are wiped out by the acid in the stomach before they reach the intestines.  So a different approach is needed. Some treatments include faecal implant of a healthy persons microbiome introduced anally is alleged to be effective. Some how I did not relish that idea....

The programme went on to talk about kefir which is a centuries old product originating in the Caucasus mountains region. The indications were that it had a beneficial effect on the microbiome. 

As I was getting nowhere with my GP I thought I'd give it a try. It is like a drinking yoghurt and I started taking it about 6 months ago. Since then I have had no chest pains, no acid reflux, no feelings of bloating. I have not taken any Lansoprazole as I have not needed it. 

I am no expert and these are my own personal experiences. What has become clear to me is that doctors appear to continue to prescribe antibiotics when they do not seem to care or be aware of the problems they cause. Furthermore Lansoprazole and other PPI' seems to be prescribed and regarded as a miracle drug when then full extent of the side effects is unknown and certainly not fully understood by the doctors that prescribe them. 

With the benefit of hindsight it is highly likely that my chest pains could have been resolved by cutting out caffeine and taking kefir to re-establish my gut flora after it had been devastated by antibiotics. 

I am now of the opinion that a more holistic approach could have saved the NHS thousands of pounds in my case alone.

If you challenge your doctor and ask some questions you will not be popular but it is your health and wellbeing that is at risk, not his.

The main thing here i think is PPI OMEPRAZOLE are the devils drug.

I have just thrown mine in the bin .

The side effects are nightmarish,

Nausea , loose stools ,cramps ,aniexty , globus sensation like someone is trying to choke you ,

loss of appetite ,oral thursh .

has anyone had these side effects .

 

HI

Haven’t you seen my posts? I have been trying to stop taking this blessed tablet for almost a year now. I have been opening the capsules and splitting the m into empty one purchased from eBay. I am now down to a 1/4 dose a day (about 4mg) but am struggling to stop altogether. Any ideas

hi 

i was on lans for years with acid reflux -  -  in the end i got so fed up with side effects from this medication that i stopped it and went on a low carb diet which helped a lot and used gaviscone a few times a

day - this did not completely cure it but it is no worse than before with

the lans.

i am anti all medication as i feel that unless it is life or death situation you are just swapping one set of side effects for another which might be more intolerable.

try the low carb  diet-  it seems to stop the acid or reduce it - i have spent a small  fortune on alternative remedies from health shops etc.,

off the net and have wasted pounds.

i have also lost weight and can now manage this from day to day

hope you will try this perhaps for a few weeks and see how you get  on

best wishes

lh

I've stopped two days and feel better. I've had to drink Rosemary tea (from my plant) made a Banana pineapple advocado with a 1/2 tsp Tumeric smoothie All anti inflammatory no more Diarrhoea which I've had since Xmas night after taking the tablets  since mid November Need to change my diet to reduce stomach acid  

HI

THATS  GOOD - i have found  lemongrass and ginger  tea  very good - i take it several times a

day - keep of  coffee if you can  -  plain greek yoghurt is good  not fruit   flavours

take  care

linda

Hi have been taking Lansoprazole for about 18 to 24 months as a result of being diagnosed with gastritis. This was followed by a heart attack just over twelve months ago where like everyone was prescribed aspirin together with a similar drug for a stent which I had fitted, this drug had to be taken for a period of twelve months both of these drugs had an adverse effect on the stomach and though-out the period after discussion with the GP I attempted to reduce the amount of PPI which I was taking without success.

In mid-January I stopped taking the additional drug and saw this as an opportunity to possibly reduce the PPI. Slowly I reduced the dosage from seven to six to five pills a week until I stopped taking them completely about three weeks ago.

Since I stopped I have be almost continually constipated which I have never under normal circumstances ever been before.

It is either as the result of stopping taking the Lansoprazole or a co-incidence as all other things are equal regarding my diet !!

ANYONE else experienced this?

Update.

I placed a post on this subject about 8 months ago. Since then I have been making my own cultures kefir from grains. I drink two small glasses a day. I remain symptom free. I have had no need to take any Lans nor any other indigestion remedy. Well happy.