Omneprazole

Do you mean you know its the omeprazole?

If so - I assume you always take your pred with food (you should)? In the middle of a meal is best but I know a lot of people take the pred early in the morning and take a sandwich and a glass of water to bed with them, take it early with the sandwich and then cuddle down under the warm covers to let the pred get to work before they get up. That helps avoid the stomach discomfort.

Many people have had trouble with omeprazole and instead eat yoghurt to line their stomach and it works very well! It needs to be a good live one and preferably plain and not fat-free. The "diet" ones aren't a good idea - far too much sugar and rubbish in them! Some say on them they have probiotic cultures added, some people find them better, but as long as it is a yog that needs to be kept in the fridge it'll be "live". Letting it stand next to your bed overnight won't hurt it - or you can just dash to the fridge and go back to bed!

If you have palpitations anyway and they seem to be worse since you have had PMR please get your GP to check it out. It happened to me and it turned out to be atrial fibrillation - it can be caused by autoimmune disease and pred can make it worse. Best to be safe.

Jenni

I actually suffered a bad stomach from the Omeprazole! They tried me on another drug from the same family but that also caused problems. So I started taking a 'live' yoghurt each morning with my breakfast and before taking the steroids and all remained well through my years on steroids.

It's quite common to feel "dizzy and shaky" on the high doses - I ended up in A&E when on 40mgs with a pulse all over the place and it turned out that the steroids had caused an irregular heartbeat to kick back in. Palpitations can also be a side effect of the steroids, but get checked out with your GP to put your mind at rest.

MrsO

Hi Jenn,

I am pretty new to this site. I have been taking omeprazole for a few years and find that I do not have the burning stomach. In fact I recently had an endoscope to be sure there was no irritation or ulcers and thankfully there was not a problem at all.

Diane

Thanks. I only take 20mg in the morning.

The steroids have not caused any other heart rate problems and I pray they do not. I was crippled by heart palps for 2 years and fear going back to that state of affairs. Please dont let the steroid take me back there.

I think the palpitations I have are due to acid. After I take the omnprazole I get a sort of burning feeling. But its this shaky feeling and dizziness that is not good.

I will try the yoghurt again. What breakfast did you eat? Would porridge maybe help me?

Eileen thanks for your response. I will try the yoghurt again. I did try it but one did not work and one did seem to. The one with vanilla in seemed to work.

I have had numerous 24 hour holter monitors with show ectopic beats and svt. I had it completely under control by eating a more alkaline diet - however, its the stomach tat always sets them off...so in a way, steroids seem to be the cause but not directly.

I don't think it matters what you eat for breakfast - it just needs to be something proper so you aren't tricking the stomach to make acid because you've only had a biscuit and the tablets! Food will soak up the excess acid better. A biscuit is NEVER enough to take tablets with that are supposed to be taken with food!

If that doesn't work you could ask your doctor if you can try something else - more old-fashioned like Zantac. Omeprazole and friends, the PPIs, have their own downsides but doctors have been totally converted to using them because they are supposedly so good (good marketing strikes again!). Zantac of course is OTC so you could try it easily anyway.

Thanks so much. I may also ask about coated pred - I may try zantac if the yoghurt does not work for me. The odd thing is, I had no pain in my esophagus which is where I generally suffer...the pain came late afternoon and in my mid to lower stomach - maybe 6 hours after taking the pred.

I've just been dropped from 20 to 15 mg Preds and after 3 weeks I'll (hopefully) be going down to 12.5.

For some years now I've been suffering from PHN, resulting from shingles and have been taking amitrityline and tramadol to manage the pain. now I've got PMR to top it off and am taking Preds and Omeprazole,my bed side table resembles a regular pharmacy.

For the first 3 days on Preds I was hyperactive and sleepless but that seems to have settled down and I am back to sawing logs all night long, and I don't seem to be suffering any side effects (apart from feeling much better that is)

The odd thing is, the medicines don't seem to clash, in fact they compliment each other to the extent that I find I am taking less tramadol and that must be a good thing.

My GP seems to think that the PMR will probably burn itself out in a year or so and I do hope he's correct. My brother suffered a few years back but after 15 months of medication is now pain and Pred free. Am I hoping for too much to be the same as him? or is it usually a life sentence.?

No Steve, it's not usually a life sentence at all! Bear in mind that the people who appear for a long time on forums are the ones who have had less simple journeys - we've had longer to collect the experiences to pass on to you!

The literature says that about a quarter of patients with PMR get off pred in under 2 years - are, however, at a higher risk than others of having a relapse so rushing to get off is not a good idea! About half need pred for up to 4 to 6 years but do get off pred eventually. The other 25% may need pred at a low dose for much longer, a few for life. Some of those patients probably are suffering from an adrenal problem of some sort, not just PMR.

The tramadol won't do anything for the PMR - at least that's what most of us find - and once the PMR pain is sorted out you should require far less in the way of painkillers. All of them have their own side effects - a low dose of pred is probably safer than high doses of many painkillers whatever the scaremongers would want you to believe. In PMR pred is the most effective painkiller. That's why it is used.

The comfort for you is that men tend to progress through PMR differently from women - quicker and simpler more often than not. Whether there is a hormonal reason isn't clear. It is just so. Maybe in men the PMR often goes in a year or so - but the figures I've quoted show that is a low estimate. It will go when it is ready - that is the hope that keeps many of us going

Ooops - forgot to say: don't rush Steve! Top experts have said for years that the rate of reduction should never be in steps bigger than 10% of your current dose. If you drop too far and the PMR flares it is often more difficult to get things under control again and subsequent reductions are trickier.

20 to 15 in one go is probably OK, 15mg is the normal starting dose, but to head to 12.5 after another 3 weeks is fast. How long is it since you were diagnosed - I can't remember - but it isn't long is it?

Hi Steve - seems you get on okay with the omeprazole. Maybe you have some questions that would merit a new thread so that anyone who can relate to you, picks it up.

Just to say the feeling is now wearing off. So should I keep on trying?

I have bought yoghurt and some porridge as that seems quite substantial and has no wheat - which Id prefer. Jen

Hello again Jen

Ectopic beats - Snap! A few years ago, my ECGs read "Abnormal" due to Supraventricular Ectopic Beats. I had 3 such readings over about the same number of years. However, the latest one last year reads "Normal" and that was after 5+ years on steroids starting at 40mg a day. So hopefully you will have a similar experience.

My breakfasts are either a high quality organic muesli to which I add apple and Manuka honey (good for the immune system and can also help with esophagus problems) plus the small carton of 'live' (probiotic) natural yoghurt. I hope the yoghurt helps you.

MrsO

Hi Steve

Good to hear that you are feeling so much bettr.

I have come across a few people who have recovered from PMR in a year and, as Eileen has said, these lucky people don't tend to look for help on the forums. I also know a couple of people who have been on a low 5mg maintenance dose of Pred for many years, and they are both men, in spite of the fact that many men seem to recover more quickly than us ladies. However, as your brother was lucky to have a smooth journey to remission in just 15 months, let's hope that you will have the same experience. Good luck!

MrsO

Jen - Just read your other post and wanted to add that I did have enteric coated Pred throughout my days on steroids.

MrsO

Jen - Sorry also meant to add that as enteric coated pills are not available in 1mg doses, then of course I did have to add the odd non-coated ones once below 10mg - so for the 9mg dose, one 5mg coated pill plus one 2.5mg coated pill plus 1 1/2 non coated (the half with the help of a pill cutter purchased from the pharmacy).

MrsO