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Not sure if this is acid reflux

Posted , 3 users are following.

sharcerv52408
sharcerv52408

Hi all! I am new to this forum. I usually post on a different forum. I had an episode on Christmas Eve where I kept getting this tingling feeling near my clavicle bone and extending out to my left arm and pains in my back but it was only irritated whenever I ate something. I would also feel like I had to burp but it was just sitting in the middle of my chest and wouldn't move. Naturally I went to the ER to see if it was my heart. Being a woman, our symptoms for heart attack are different from the standard symptoms. They did two EKG's both of which were normal. They took a chest x-ray and ran blood tests; all normal, thank God.

I have been prescribed by my doctor to take omeprazole 20mg daily. It was helping for a while since October but lately it hasn't been helping especially this month when I started my cycle which I think caused my indigestion to flare up this bad. I have been going through perimenopause symptoms some which include a lot of gastrointestinal changes and upset. When my doctor prescribed the omeprazole my symptoms were not this persistent but he was only prescribing it to keep my indigestion from turning into full scale acid reflux.

What other meds are out there besides omeprazole that you all have used that actually help? I know everyone is different and how we react to medicine is different but any suggestions are helpful. Thanks!

Shar

1 like, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • Outhwaite
    Outhwaite sharcerv52408

    Posted

    There are quite a few variations that end in .....prazole, indicating that they are all in the same group, but in different strengths and slightly different ingredients. I have taken the full range and found they all stopped working after a few weeks. I also have to suppliment any PPI (Proton Pump Inhibitors) which is prescribed by my G.P. with Gaviston Advance (in certain areas of the U.K. you can either get this from your G.P. or under the Minor Ailments scheme if you are already taking a PPI that is not working so well). There is an article about PPI's and Acid Reflux and Oesophagitis on this site under "Related Information". 

    The only advice I can give you is to return to your GP and tell him the Omeprazole is not working as well as expected and hopefully he will change it to one that does. Quite a few people on this site find that DGL Liquorice tablets or Aloe Vera Gel, both purchased in a Health Food Shop or from the Internet, have helped them. I have tried both with moderate success but, as with all medications, some find different things suitable and some not. Also, if taking herbal remedies or other prescribed tablets, a person has to be careful when mixing different drugs/herbal meds together.  Therefore, I would suggest a return to your G.P. to discuss the best way forward.

    Kind regards, Val.

     

    • sharcerv52408
      sharcerv52408 Outhwaite

      Posted

      Yes thank you so much for your insight. I do have an upcoming appointment with my gastrointerologist and will let him know the omeprazole is not working. 
    • janet74211
      janet74211 Outhwaite

      Posted

      Hi can you tell me what the liquorice tabs do? Ironically eat liquorice sweets when really constipated but did not realise they help acid reflux. Many thanks.
    • Outhwaite
      Outhwaite janet74211

      Posted

      This is an extract from Wikipedia...

      Deglycyrrhizinated licorice, or DGL, is an herbal supplement typically used in the treatment of gastric and duodenalulcers. It is made from licorice from which the glycyrrhizin has been removed.

      Glycyrrhizin is known to cause negative side effects, such as hypertension and edema; removing the glycyrrhizin is meant to avoid these symptoms.

      According to MedlinePlus and the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, licorice is "possibly effective" for dyspepsiain combination with other herbs, but there is "insufficient evidence" to rate its effectiveness for other conditions.[1] Regarding stomach ulcers, specifically, there is "some evidence...that specially prepared licorice will speed the healing of stomach ulcers".[1]

      An un-blinded study of 82 patients from the early 1980s, published in the British Medical Journal, reported that Caved-S had a therapeutic effect similar to that of cimetidine in the treatment of gastric ulcers.[2]

      Deglycyrrhizinated liquorice plus antacid is marketed in Europe, South Africa, and Canada, as the medicinal preparationCaved-S. In the United States, DGL is marketed as an herbal supplement.

      I take 2 tablets at different times throughout the day, before meals and they seem to help with painful acid reflux.

  • janet74211
    janet74211 sharcerv52408

    Posted

    Lucky for me omeprazole works, so would agree that you need to see your GP, we do not all adapt to the same meds.
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