Omeprazole has ruined my life

im of the same opinion and i think that this is occurring because the anxieties were there before and that the stomach upsets that required the PPI drug were all part of the same anxiety problems. from then on its a vicious circle of anxiety creating more anxiety. i think benny is one person who stands out from the rest and her severe symptoms are due to something else. i hope benny gets some positive outcome soon.

thank you susan ❤ you saying that my condition is due to something else is helping me right now when i am crying .. i am literally bedridden. i dont know who or what to blame. i dont know if it was omeprazole or not.. whats done is done.. i am trying hard to find out what could have caused this paralysis and anxiety like situation.. the neuro has put me on steroids .. does anyone here know how long they take to work 😦

you previously said about your MRI results showing white matter and de-myelination with the neurologist saying a probable auto immune disorder. It sounds like it has nothing to do with taking a PPI drug. The steroids are aimed at treating those problems identified on MRI. They aim to reduce the inflammatory disease and are also likely to give you a better feeling of well being. I'm not sure how long it will take to give you some relief. Just keep going and have a good talk with your doctor about the cause and prognosis.

thank you .. your words are reassuring.. i have this weird thing going on.. my neuro has already given me a months time for follow up checkup .. but i cant wait or find any peace.. i already want to see a gastro for endoscopy and another neuro for second opinion.. its the anxiety which cant let me have patience and switch doctors and medicines. no matter what i do to calm myself down

I am glad PPIs work for you with no ill effects. Each person does react differently to different medications. Not sure how many folks on this board have no issues taking PPIs. That would be interesting to find out. Then again, I am not sure why someone would follow this board if you didn't have any issues. I did not have any issues with PPIs effectiveness. They worked really well for me but for the life of me I could not figure out what was making me feel miserable. Ultimately, I came to the decision that it was the chronic use of PPIs. I was not taking anything else on a daily basis and I did not experience any sort of trauma (not very scientific, I know). When I asked my doctor about 8 years ago if it was safe taking PPIs chronically, he emphatically said, "there are no issues. I have several patients who have been taking them for years". I am not sure if this same doctor would say the same thing today. Anyway, I have been off PPIs for almost 3 years now and feel a lot better. I still experience moments of muscle tightness all over my back and abdomen but they are nowhere near how bad it used to be.

how were you able to get off the ppi? dud you wean off? if so how?? i would love ti get off...thanjs

hi Judith, just wean off slowly, mayby take a quarter off for a few days then take half a tablet, or you could try one every other day...whatever way you feel comfortable..I wouldn't advise stopping suddenly, you can get rebound acid, that could be painful...while your weaning off, if you get acidic ,you could take gaviscon, or a rennie, 2 hours after your ppi. stick it out though, I was put on them for a month, and told by my GP not to take them for longer...They give me anxiety, nausea, and lighthead, I hated them...x

glad to know your muscle stiffness is leaving.. how is the anxiety?

mariano.. did you have health anxiety or obsessive thoughts about health while on the ppi?

I was just bored and googling which is how I saw this. I would love to come off them but everytime I try I find I am back to square one within a few days so just stay on them, only take 20mg every other day now. I have silent reflux more than full blown acid. Must admit I do have stiffness in my muscles but just thought it was getting older. One of the side effects is low magnesium and calcium but mine are both normal after all these years which is good. We are all different and affected by different meds so have to find what works for us. Take care

Please keep an eye on your muscle stiffness. Can be very insidious. It was for me. Blood levels for me were all normal but I think that doesn't mean much. I think many on this board also reported normal blood levels. There's got to be something going on that prevent your cells from absorbing/using said nutrients.

I'll I'll go ahead and jump in on this one. my muscle stiffness is very bad as well. my muscles ache from the front right chest sometimes into my traps and into my back right side. I have been off Omeprazole for several weeks now. I'm starting massage therapy and physical therapy within the week and hope these will help resolve my issues. I do not know how much is associated with the omeprazole but there is no doubt in my mind that it made things worse. I never had severe muscle pain like this before taking the omeprazole and I have a feeling because I took it for about six months that is going to take a long time to fully recover.

did u get rebound acid when u quit

Just a little history of how I got here. The person that pointed out that I got me thinking about this whole issue was my chiropractor. He did an exam of my back and noticed that I had a lot of trigger points. He pressed a little further and asked what meds I was taking. When I said I was on PPIs, he recommended that I discontinue this. There were precautions I had to take before I went down this road.I got an endoscopy (and colonoscopy, I figure what the hell) done to make sure there wasn't any damage. After I got the ok from my GI and the imaging study, I did a lot of reading. Some with clinical support but most just anecdotal. A lot of what I did was just trial and error.

I started tapering off the PPIs (Prevacid in my case). One capsule every other day to every 3rd day, etc. There were days when I had to take it more frequently and then go back to taper. I would supplement the PPI holidays with H2s especially on days when reflux was bad. If not so bad, I would take antacids or sodium bicarbonate. It took about a year for me to completely come off PPIs. I was also taking diluted apple cider vinegar with meals to promote faster gastric emptying. In some of the stuff that I read suggested that lack of acid actually makes reflux worse b/c the food just sits in your stomach. This concept was a little scary and controversial but since the endoscopy did not show any damage, I thought it was worth a shot. I was very careful about avoiding dietary triggers; this was huge for me and probably the second hardest thing to deal with. The other thing that I took, usually at bedtime, was pure dietary aloe vera gel (not the topical stuff). This is an anti inflammatory to protect and promote healing. None of this stuff tastes good by the way. Makes me a little queasy thinking about it. I have been taking vitamin and mineral supplements especially B12 and magnesium. Potassium is important but try to supplement it from your diet (potassium supplement gave me diarrhea). I feel like I am rambling so I am going to stop here. It's hard to go into all the combination of things that I did and took but this is it in a nutshell. All I can say is that I only have occasional episodes of reflux but nothing that an antacid can't handle. I am still working thru the muscle tightness but this is trending positively. I did have another endoscopy done a year after I got off PPIs to confirm that there was no damage. Best of luck!

michael911,

You and I have exchanged posts before. I am glad that you are starting PT and massage therapy and I wish you the best of luck. Please be religious about the sessions and home exercises. I think much of your symptoms are very similar to my issues. During recovery I experienced victorious ups and frustrating downs. I wish I could comment on how long recovery might take. but please stay the course. I recently had my last PT session. I was discharged with a good exercise program and understand the goal of this program. I wish you the best of health in this New Year.

I have those thoughts anyway, benny, but yes they were intensified ,my anxiety was so bad, I would get a wave of fear run right through me as soon as i would open my eyes...it was like a burning feeling ,usually started in my stomach...the weakness was unreal, i couldn't lift my hand to wash my face....and then the feeling that your full of air,and cant breath, the GPs hand them out like smarties...I really think they should be taken off the market...x

i swear i feel the same but much worse.. as soon as i open my eyes, gushing wave of fear hits me... its like i am paralyzed. i dont have words to describe it.. i cant do anything either.. its like i am frozen.. cant move, cant change my position .. its debilitating.. i am back on zantac now as doc put me on steroids which he says can harm my stomach lining .. i am afraid what if zantac causes the same as its also an acid blocker

how long did your anxiety last. i was on omeprazole for two months and a year later i still have crippling anxiety .. no change at all

michael911,

Research and ask your PT about Upper Cross Syndrome. It may help with your recovery. Good luck.

Anxiety and more specifically tension in my abdomen is much better. I think it has something to do with the fact that the muscles in my back are starting to feel better.

jleerph,

have i told you that youre awesome ? because you are.ive actually been researching my issues a lot and i think a lot of them are posture related. i am tall and skinny and spend long hours at the computer. upper cross syndrome is on my radar as well as thoracic outlet syndrone. i havent been formerly diagnosed with either as of yet but i am going to a massage therapist this morning. i hope i find some relief there. i begin PT on monday and i cant wait. thanks as usual for the info JL. i hope we all continue to help each other! JL have you had issues with upper cross syndrome? and do you think that it could be related to your Prilosec use? or could it have potentially been exacerbated by Prilosec use? anyways I wish you good luck talk soon.

if if I can add to this I would like to also say that if you overdo magnesium it will also cause diarrhea so start slow. however the magnesium will help with any muscle tension you may have,stomach cramps etc. a couple things I also added to aid with digestion is probiotic once or twice a day with a meal as well as digestive enzymes at least until your stomach levels off being able to digest by itself. it is also important to know that some trigger foods will not create a reaction immediately. an example of this is if you have an issue with wheat it could be hours before your reflux symptoms begin. for me I realized one of my major triggers was wheat and by cutting it out I reduced my symptoms greatly. this is not to say that wheat is your problem but I'm trying to say that triggers can take a while to see their effects which can make the process difficult. I hope to one day be able to reintroduce meat into my diet but at this time it is the only thing that allows digestion to not cause acid reflux for me. JL is correct that in some cases low acid can be the cause of acid reflux this is especially true the older you get. in my case I didn't taper and it made things probably more difficult for me and I wouldn't recommend it. good luck let us know if you have any more questions we will try to help.

wheat not meat*

Great points and thank you for refreshing my memory. I did indeed add digestive enzymes and probiotics during my taper therapy. I forgot to mention that. The regular magnesium gave me diarrhea for sure. When I found chelated magnesium. This got rid of the diarrhea. Supposedly chelated form is much better absorbed too.

Thank you for you kind words. If I can help just one person, it will be well worth it. I have never been formally diagnosed with upper cross syndrome but I want to know what is that I have or suffer from. This is the closest thing that I have found. Sad thing is that I could have done myself a huge favor if I just kept doing resistance training but I just thought that it would make things worse.

Occupational factors are something that I did not think were a main issue for me. I have a sneaking suspicion that postural weaknesses have always been there b/c I too look at computer screens all day for work. As you now know, other muscular structures are compensating for those muscles that should normally support "posturally". I just believe that the chronic PPIs now are affecting the postural muscle systems as well as those that are compensating. So your theory to me makes complete sense. May be wishful thinking but I will take it.

have you heard of Stiff person syndrome? when you pointed out that anxiety was related to muscle stiffness and related issues, i couldnt agree more... ppis are known to cause nerve damage as far as i have researched.. this gives rise to muscle stiffness and movement problems which present themselves in the form of anxiety.. my legs feel wooden since it all started. other muscles in my body keep contracting and stiffening without my will and even if i try to relax them, they are back to stiff in the next moment.. i have also noted that the problem exacerbates due to external stimuli like sounds, or when i have to go somewhere.. then comes the crying coz i cant make any movement but life requires movement ... the connection between anxiety and muscle/nerve function is very strange to me

I have not heard of SPS. I did research it a little. It seems like a inflammatory mediated disease. Have you had your blood tested for markers??

i got tested for anti TPO thyroid antibodies which came out borderline.. on the basis of which my neuro doc assumes i have thyroid encephalopathy which he himself said is a blind diagnosis as there are no definite markers to determine an accurate diagnosis. couldnt get checked for the GAD antibodies present in 60% of all SPS cases, but my symptoms match SPS more than thyroid autoimmune encephalo... i have a lot of trouble actually preparing myself to get up and do something.. i am mostly in bed.. also nerves have become so irritated they cant handle external stimuli like a normal voice or tv playing. i get really irritated and lash out at times, other times i am in fear and then there are times when i am hopeless i ll never recover!

michael911,

I was just wondering how your PT sessions are going and if you see changes. I personally have been adding more exercises focusing on upper cross syndrome and now feel much better especially around the areas of my rib cage. Hope you are making good progress too.

My PT is treating it kind of as if its thoracic outlet syndrome. trying to strengthen my shoulders while stretching my neck and chest. they do a lot of soft tissue work on me as well as functional dry needling. the dry needling hurts like a B but then the day after those muscles tend to kind of relax. Im taking a muscle relaxer at bed time now to help during PT. Xanax works really well too just to calm my anxiety and also helps with muscle spasms. i am going to go to an orthopedic guy and ask for an mri of the shoulder area. this is just to be sure nothing sinister is going on and also to quell any of my anxiety about it. (my health anxiety is dreadful and probably a major part of the problem.. i am completely off the omeprazole now. what has really helped me a lot is limiting my bread in take mostly. if i am going to eat a wheat product i opt for like a tortilla or something not as doughy. once i got a lot of the prilosec bloat off my stomach.. i think the pressure on my stomach, gas etc was making the reflux so bad. so yeah. as far as the ppis go, and reflux go, im doing well! its good to hear from you J. I hope youre doing well. i know that adjusting posture is so hard.. im there as well. another good thing to consider is how you breathe.. try to engage your diaphragm and breathe from the stomach and not the chest.. its a weird thing to get used to if you were a chest breather.. like me.. look forward to hearing more about your improvements 😃!

That's great that you off the omeprazole AND that you aware of triggers and can control your GERD symptoms. Sounds like you are on the right track with PT. TOS and Upper Cross Syndrome seem to be related (maybe one causes the the other) or at similar in many aspects. MRI of shoulder sounds legitimate as chronic conditions like this could cause joint damage. I haven't thought about that. MRI's are so difficult to get approved. They always want x-rays first. Breathing is another good point and something I don't always think about. Use of meditation apps might help me incorporate this. Thanks and keep fighting the good fight!

yes ive had an x ray of my chest and shoulder and nothing was found. so that is good. i want to get an MRI to look at the soft tissues, and if nothing shows up i can at least rest assured nothing serious is going on.. like i said.. stupid anxiety! i definitely think upper cross and TOS feed into each other. i get those knots in my back, traps, neck etc. my pt uses dry needling.. which hurts so bad the day of but tends to really relax the muscles afterwards. Taping really helps my shoulder because i have some dysfunction in my scapula and it hurts to sit in front of a computer too long.. of course that is what my job requires me to do. always a pleasure to talk to you J. youre a positive influence around here. thanks for checking in. i hope to hear more progress from you soon. 😃

hi! i am having a very hard time with the anxiety 😦 no sleep, immense restlessness, crying, fear, complete inability to focus on small things like sounds, even thoughts, and that urge to hurry everything up...

did you have fear, restlessness and inability to focus on small things too? and did you have restlessness in legs, arms and shoulders too?

michael911,

It's been almost 2 months since we last exchanged posts. Just wondering how your recovery is going? I continue working doing exercises for Upper Cross Syndrome and adding on some core strengthening ones as well. Relief is slow but progressing. I feel like I am getting stronger in my back as well as my lower extremities (this was something that's fairly recent). My muscles are a little sore like they have not been used in a while (or like after a hard workout). Hope you too are making good progress.

Hey Jleerph!

it's funny that you messaged me! i was actually thinking it's been a while since we caught up. i am really in the same boat. slow incremental improvement. most of my work is being focused on opening up the chest and strengthening my neck and back. forward head posture or upper crossed syndrome seems to really be the main cause. id had this posture most of my life. i think it spun out of control when i started having stomach issues, got on the omeprazole and went through times of extreme anxiety and stress. this resulted in things tightening up even further and i think muscles became retrained to hold in positions that would compress nerves from my neck down to my right arm. i have definitely made improvement with PT but it has been slower than i had hoped.. i need to he more diligent in keeping on top of my daily work outs, stretches, as well as being aware of my posture at all times. some days are better than others. working a job where i basically have to sit at a computer all day is very difficult. i think i need to find a new job eventually!! keep in touch. im sure you know how taxing this can be mentally.

Hi J,

Its been about 6 weeks now since i last heard from you. I hope you are doing well..how is your upper crossed syndrome sorting out?

do you suppose the upper crossed syndrome was already kind of there and the ppis, stealing away your bodies' nutrients, kind of locked you in that position?

id like to know what kind of exercises your pt has you focusing on. do you do a lot of lower trap activation and overall back strengthening exercises? do you get symptoms down into the hand at all?

hope all is well and id like to continue the conversation.

take care!

Hi michael911,

Not too much change from last time. Still good days and bad days. I am feeling a lot of tension in neck/upper which refers down into the legs and, yes sometimes my arms/hands. It feels like a tingling sensation (transient but it does happen once in a while). I have been a longer believer in the theory that you propose. Nutritional deficiencies just highlighting underlying issues. All the exercises that you mention are exactly what I have been doing. I have been incorporating a lot more myofascial(trigger point) release using foam rollers and balls. Just been noticing a lot more "rope like" bands of muscles thru my neck and upper back. I got one on the left side of my neck (SCM or scalenes) that is really stubborn. Not pleasant but it does seem to offer some relief.

How is your thoracic outlet recovery going? Any changes to regimen or progress? Look forward to your reply.

michael911,

Can I also ask you for the comprehensive list of supplements you are taking? Are you taking anything to help re-balance acidity in your gut (i.e. ACV or lemon juice or something like that).

Thanks in advance.

well to be honest i think the thoracic outlet syndrome is really just a terrible case of upper crossed syndrome. inhibited lower traps and rhomboids cause weakness in cervical neck flexors which causes over active scalenes. also over active traps and pec minor leads to nerve compression and thoracic outlet syndrome. i dont take too many supplements. the main things i take are vitamin D 5000 ibu? 2x a week, bumped down from every day. i take 400 mg of magnesium glycinate daily, a fish oil supplement daily, a probiotic daily, i take ACV occasionally. i believe my acid reflux or LPR is actually caused by candida over growth from over use of anti biotics. when its bad i always get a white hue on my tongue. cutting out sugar, alcohol and very low carbs greatly reduces symptoms. if i over indulge they come right back. im thinking of asking my doc for an anti fungal to see if i can kill off some of this and restore the balance.

Hmm, supplements are very close to what I take. Only additional supplement of mention is a mixture of turmeric/black pepper. I have read some anecdotes about re-balancing flora using anti-fungal. Also that flora is linked to anxiety/tension. If you do, please let me know how that goes. My GP is not one to think outside the box. I am looking for a new one.

most of them arent. im still unsure about my current GP. but i am going to give her another chance.. i actually see her tomorrow for my anxiety and pain and stuff.. so we will see how that goes. turmeric is supposed to be really good for inflammation. probably not idea for me to add that. i dont do ibuprophen because as you know its hard on the stomach. i also use CBD oil which i feel is helpful but its definitely not a miracle supplement in my case. some people it is a magical medicine. for me it seems to help with pain/inflammation/ muscle tension to a slight degree. but my pain has set in for so long that i am really going to have to change habits/body mechanics and train the right muscles to get my life back. doing all this while working a 9-5 office job is stressful. im gonna see what my doc says about possibly having a gut imbalance.. only thing is i dont really wanna go back down the path of gastro issues because my experience with gastro doctors was so bad.

plsase also share which anti fungal and how to take it, mgs and duration etc

michael911,

Just checking in to see how your recovery is going. I have really been focusing on the neck muscles. My PT told me to really work the lower and mid traps to quiet the upper trap but I feel like that it not the right approach. Stretching and strengthening my neck muscles has relieved (at least for now) some of my tightness. I had a big tight ropy upper left trap and that has really quieted down. So I feel like good progress is being made. I do have to say that the last two weeks of May and first two weeks of June are really tough. I can't put my finger on it but it's almost like things have to get worse (sometimes real bad) before they get better. That seems to be a recurring pattern and was extremely frustrating. Hope to hear from you soon. Good luck.