Omeprazole has ruined my life
Posted , 89 users are following.
I really regret taking prilosec, i fell ill with a virus last december that caused gastroenteritis (severe acid reflux and diarrhea).. i was told to take omeprazole for 14 day treatment.. at the time i did not experience any side effects so after the 14 day treatment was over, about a week later i experienced acid rebound that sent me to the ER. The er dr said i needed to up the dose to 40 mg 2x/day... and this is when i became more ill.. i had severe diarrhea for 9 days, blurry vision, brain fog, muscle twitching, cramping, body jolts before going to sleep, . i couldnt digest my food.. lost 10 lbs.. but i did not know what was happening to me.. i was so sick i had to have a colonoscopy and egd.. i was told i had unspecified colitis.. i stupidly cont this drug bc thats what the drs told me to do.. and as im trying to heal my gut from whatever virus i had i started to develop new symptoms.. extreme brain fog, memory loss, fatigue, anxiety, muscle twitching, buzzing in certain parts of my body.. frequent urination in am. I feel as if i have nerve damage of some kind because of this ppi.. after 4 1/2 months of this posion i have since stopped this med and it has been 11 days but my twitching is still there.. i know this drug caused these other problems bc as i weaned from 40 mg to 20mg to then every other day i began experiencing body jolts and more nerve problems, numbness in certain parts, etc. has this happened to anyone else and did anyone make a full recovery?? I need some help please..Before I took this med I was a healthy 32 year old. Now 33 and still recovering. Does anyone know if this is permanent?
1 like, 376 replies
jhleerph olivia53472
Edited
I have been off lansoprazole for about 4 years now. Long story short, I still have much of the symptoms you described. It didn't start that way. Much of the anxiety has dissipated over the last 6 months but I still have the muscle issues. Especially the neck tightness/pain. Much of my muscle tightness/weakness is on my left side but it has become more noticeable on right side recently. I have been asking the same question for a long time. Sorry, I do not have better news. I am usually more positive but I feel like I am losing this battle and don't look forward to the rest of my life.
eagle33050 olivia53472
Posted
hi this is a very late reply but was reading about brain fog on the internet and this forum came up. i take omeprazole and its now been 2 weeks or 3 weeks since taking it but the doctor didn't tell me when to stop so assumed i was meant to take them permanently. actually ive been taking it for 4 weeks as i got a repeat prescription. I've been having severe brain fog, sleep apnea that i also get during the day which is strange and i can't sleep at all. is this going to be permanent? i also been getting vertigo and
Happyhacker eagle33050
Posted
You certainly need to go back to your Dr and discuss these issues. I have not read the leaflet that comes with the drug recently so can't remember the secondary effects some of which state that the Dr should be consulted if they occur. I am sure I get heart palpitations with PPI (omeprazol) and I have stopped them and seems to have gone away.
eagle33050 Happyhacker
Posted
thanks for reply I'm going to stop taking them and see how i feel because since i had vertigo i thought it was something to do with that even though brain fog isn't usually a symptom. the strange thing is my mum was taking them for 2 months and recently stopped and she also has brain fog and had it for weeks now that's why i decided to look it up on the internet. i also get ringing in ears, sleep disturbance. i also take creon with these and thought it was down to those. i only take 20 mg a day but feel spaced out all the time. so glad i found this forum
eagle33050 Happyhacker
Posted
what do you mean by secondary affects?
Jonb1010 olivia53472
Posted
Hi Olivia
So sorry to hear about your bad experience.
i have been on lansoprazole (30mg) for 8 weeks, as doc said i had silent reflux & have had similar side effects to you.
legs buzzing and calfs feel like they are cramping, then for a week now i have suffered chest spasms which resulted last sunday me going to A&E as i thought i was having a heart attack... it wasnt until i found this forum made me realise i need to stop the lansoprazole.
like you i am in my 30s fit and active and now i can hardly do anything without my muscles twitching....
does anyone know when after finishing your course do the side effects wear off?
barney34567 Jonb1010
Posted
"After finishing the course do the side effects wear off" is not the right question to ask.
The right question is "what alternatives are there to lansoprazole 30 mg, that does not have these serious side effects"?
The answer could be:
a) a lower dose or
b) another medication that does not have these side effects. There are a few.
Good luck.
Jonb1010 barney34567
Posted
hi barney
thanks for the reply. Spoken to my doctor who told me to stop taking my course of tablets and use gaviscon advance a few times a day.
so far most of the muscle aches and tingling has 80% gone, anxiety has certainty lowered.
Ive been taking vitamin d and b12 this week. So hopefully slowly i can continue to improve slowly ans steadily.
adrienne22182 olivia53472
Posted
Hello. I took Omeprazole last year in March for 7 weeks and I developed numbness, weakness, twitching, and hypersensitive skin in my abdomen area. I've had an endoscopy and a colonoscopy done , as well as an MRI of my abdomen. Everything came back normal. It's been a year and nothing has changed. M y life is totally miserable.!
ash1418 olivia53472
Edited
did anyone started loosing weight? I was in PPI esomeprazole 40mg twice a day for 2 weeks and then one month later 20mg twice a day for two weeks. Started loosing weight gradually, in 3 months I have lost around 6kg (13 to 14Lbs). I did have all other symptoms what many people here has mentioned. I was also in rifaximin for two weeks when I was taking PPI. I am worried, drs say its due to anxiety. But I don't have any pain around my body. Thanks. I am not sure whether these are due to PPI.
Guest olivia53472
Posted
GUYS YOU NEED TO ASK FOR PPIS THAT DONT AFFECT THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
E.G - SUCRALFATE
rebecca6357 olivia53472
Posted
hi can i ask if your symptoms got sny better? ive been on ppis for 3 years and now have constant nerve pain,twitching and anxiety,i had a ct scan done a month ago with contrast and my sypmtoms got way worse after,i dont know if the contrast didnthis to me or if the ppis are causing this its very scary,instopped the ppi a week ago but no improvement in symptoms
victor34218 olivia53472
Posted
Doctors diagnosis was Gerd. Put me on this med @20mg for 28 days took it for 2 days and immediately felt something was not right. Brain fog, shakiness, major major anxiety. Issues with sleep. I stopped it immediately I will rather live with the metallic taste in my mouth than the worse horror I've felt in 2 days. I hope you all get well soon
richard11773 olivia53472
Posted
Have been down the same road quite a few years ago and still having problems.
Dr prescribed omeprazole which I believe reduced acid to such a low level it allowed and infection to occur in the gut. Did the same as you and weened myself of omeprazole by opening capsules and removing one grain at a time each day until I was off completely.
Had the DR suggested change of lifestyle this would not have happened.
I now take amitriptyline which has a side effect that helps with the gut and digestion problems. Took ranitidine occasionally to help with bad days but that's no longer available. Would not risk going back onto omeprazole. There's probably a lot more of us out there.
Alphateam0311 olivia53472
Edited
i have gerd. took the first 14 days of name brand prilosec without problems. seemed to have solved my gerd symptoms.
2 days after getting off i immediately felt the acid reflux choking. took some more. felt better..
now a few months later i had symptoms after a night of alcohol consumption and purchased lansoprazole, because thats what was available at the store.. anyway.. immediately began shtting my brains out without reflux relief (choking)then im guessing in a dehydrated state i took 200mg of ibuprofen to relieve the swelling sensation around my neck. 1x every 4 hours for 8 hours and felt the immediate relief from that which was nice...
the next morning i had some breakfast with water and just felt like my stomach was bloated beyond beleif.. took a gas x which helped that but any meal after that i felt like puking. aswell as another lansoprazole because i thought the diahreah was caused by the beer. so.. another session of shtting my brains out.. after that felt slightly dizzy and realised o was dehydrated. so just drank water for a day or 2 with gatorade havent eaten much..
now 2 days later i feel better. hydrated but went to try my first solid meal in 2 days and felt like throwing up again so now im concerned with and fairly certain i have gastritis..
want to make an appointment at a gi but im 30 and dont really want to be on drugs that have such toxicity.... as of right now after 2 days of nothing i took 20mg omeprazole 2 hours ago because thats what everyone says helps relieve gastritis and allows you to digest food so i hopefully dont feel tired and occasionally dizzy.. but stumbled across this thread...
now 2 hours later feel slightly drunk which has happened once or twice taking omeprazole in the past...
anyone have opinions or personal experience with what i should do or take to re regulate myself here?
im expecting to adjust my diet to greens/carbs/ gerd friendly things.... wanting to get to a point where i can go for a beer once a week and not feel like death the next day....
any ideas?