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pantoprazole, omeprazole bad side effects - need help please what next?

Posted , 10 users are following.

james_anderson
james_anderson

HI eveyone

Sorry for all the long text, if you dont wish to read the wall of text, then my question is

anyone has bad side effects with omperazole but when they tried nexium they did not experience any?

I need some advice regarding my gastritis that has been going on for almost a year. I went a long course of steroids and antibiotics that caused gastritis which i was not aware of for u months, at the end of january i was diagnosed with gastritis and given pantoprazole 40mg x 2 a day and zantac 300mg x 2 a day, after the first week my reflux got much improved but that was replaced with horrible stomach pains, a stinging pain that would prevent me from sitting or standing, almost like my rib cage was rubbing on my stomach and making it sting and making me reflux acid by inducing a cough. So spent 12 weeks in bed only getting up to eat once every 2 hours. I was too scared to come off them or change so 12 weeks of hell and finally did and endoscopy that said no gastritis was present or helicobacteria. Since my diet for the last 12 weeks had been chicken and only rice decided to try some home made fruit juices and this seem to make the pain under my rib cage return and felt like my gastritis had flared up a bit, at this pint was so fed up and specialy the pantoprazole that made any gastritis pain amplifly. I decided to change to omeprazole and tried first only 20mg but started to get pains in the back of my kidneys like a burning pain, then tried 40mg but that was not covering me for whole day so upped to 60mg worked well too well, i was having breathing issues like as is someone had put weight in my stomach just under my diaphragm, very hard to explain, so went back to pantoprazole.

At  this point i was so fed up and still believing the doctors that i had no gastritis i decided to cut the pantoprazole cold turkey just could not bare the pain any longer, so i cut the night time dose at 9pm by 2am i was on the floor with horrid stomach pains and acid reflux, i was having sever burning pains in my stomach where i had felt gastritis in januarry. Anyhow my gastritis went from bad to horriddddddde, i could not breath well for 7 weeks after and went back on pantoprazole and now the stomach pains caused by it are 10x worse than before. i am refluxing constantly because its like aomething is touching my rib cage, its a horrible stinging pain like someone is rubbing salt into a cur and it cases me stinging pains to shoot into my left lef and back and sometimes into my heart and this is much worser if i stand or sit. So i am now 100% bed ridden, before by laying on my left side i could avoid all this pains but now that only reduced a little and i get constant reflux burning my osaphagus and its painful but also triggers my asthma and constant breathing problems. I am so desparate that i wish i could just go back to the way i was before i stooped the pantoprazole.

The consultants thinks the endoscopy results are still correct and i dont have gastritis even though i have all the gastritis symptoms and refuse to send me for another endoscopy. They refuse to believe fruit juices flared my gastrits and the pain could be my nerves in the stomach got burnt by huge acid rebound by me stopping ppi. This does not make sense since the fruit juices causing me gastritis pain was before me stopping the pii.

I think i had a little gastritis from the fruit juices and stopping ppi just made it hell.

I am desparate for help but feel like i have been left to heal myself, the GI refuse to change me from pantoprazole and next appointment is 3 months time. My GP is thankfully supportive and has agreed to help me change ppi.

I have been given choice of nexium and lansoprazole. I want to try nexium or osemeprazole as its called. But was wondering if anyone has had side effects with omperazole but not nexium(osemeprazole)?

the reason i ask is because i know they are similar chemical composition but one is S enantiomer only (nexium) so am scared it might cause me similar side effects as omeprazole.

an worried they both might not work and that is it there is nothing wlse left to try. Zantac does nothing for me and fear of getting gastritis like i has after i stoped omperazole has put fear into evey cell in my body. I am going through nighmare of a time, not sure i can put up with pantoprazole pain anymore. I dont know what to anymore, i have fallen behind my univeesity studies by a year and lost my job practically. I cant get off the meds but cant live with them.

also scared that nexium might take 5-7 days to work so i might be in the gutters with bad gastritis worsening which is another fear.

I cant afford to go private for another endoscopy or to GI so not sure what to so here. 

I am so fee up of eating every 2 hours upnto 12x a day everyday for last 6 months almost and laying down all day and being bed ridden.

i sometimes feel like ending it all, really cant continue like this anymore sad

really have no hope left anymore, these ppi and steroids are evil drugs, i am much worser than when i started off. I would of never taken them if i knew this is my future on them. I would drop ppi and tollerate the pain no matter how bad as long as it did not triger my asthma, if they could remove my stomach i would and if i dont get better i might just start asking for this, because i cant take this crap anymore. Its the breathing problem that freaks me out.

thank you all for reading and any help you can offer.

regards

James

 

2 likes, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • rob77399
    rob77399 james_anderson

    Posted

    I tried Omezeprole for acid and has not done much. Have heard nexium is good though. I guess it's a question of trying them both. 

    Also do you smoke? I've gone 24 hours without a cigarette and my symptoms have improved a little bit. Not quite as much pain and acidity in my throat. Just stress from nicotine withdrawal.

  • rob77399
    rob77399 james_anderson

    Posted

    Also James always believe in hope. Life can drastically change for the better very quickly. I've been through some very dark times. Things can get better! 
  • sane
    sane james_anderson

    Posted

    James, I so feel for you and the utter desperation you are experiencing.  To help you understand where I come from, I have no medical training, but I am a terrier when it comes  to reading up and researching things about health. Part of this research includes following forums such as this one. It gives you an insight into the number of people suffering form the ailments and the relative succes or otherwise of the drugs prescribed. From this aspect, I feel I sometimes have more knowledge about certain ailments than  some GP's who simply churn out the same old scripts and then double the dosage when they don't work. In the end, I believe we all have to take responsibility for our own health and try to understand the medicines we are taking and how they work.  A lot of drugs simply mask the symptoms  and do nothing to fix the problems long term. I'm going to jot down some dot points of my thoughts in the hope it may help you in some way but , before I get shot down in flames by others more enamoured with the medical profession than I, I emphasise that these are my beliefs that I live by and may be totally incorrect for others. I may be wrong in what I say but I am doctoring myself and no one else..

    * The drugs you mention are all similar in function and are marketed by different Pharmaceutical companies under different names in different countries eg Omeprazole (prilosec or losec), Lansoprazole (prevacid), Pantoprezole (protonix). Esomeprazole (nexium).  These are all proton-pump inhibitors (ppi's) that block acid secretion in the stomach, giving ulcers time to heal. Drugs such as ranitidine (Zantac) and cimetidne (tagamet) are from an earlier group of drugs called H2-receptor histamine blockers and limits the acid in a different way, I presume. The point is that I personally feel that changing between drugs in the same group may not be of much use - my opinion only!

    * Your stomach needs to produce acid to digest your food and if you block this action, your stomach will try harder and if you come off the drugs suddenly, your stomach will overproduce and the pain will be much worse ( explained to me by my gastroenterlogist). You need to come off very gradually  by slowly reducing the dosage and frequency taken and accept that it will take a while for the balance to be restored.

    * There apears to be wide acceptance now that long term use of ppi's is not an option due to side effects  especially osteoporosis leading to bone fractures.

    * In my case I was diagnosed 5 years ago with gastroparesis (slow emptying of the stomach). I refused the drugs (anti-nausea drugs) because of the side effects and just monitored what I ate etc. 18 months ago, I was suffering the hoarseness and acid reflux to the throat so well covered in the LPR parts of this forum. The ENT found my oesophagus was inflamed and asked me if I had digestive problems. I mentioned the gastroparesis, so she immediately diagnosed LPR and prescribed Pantoprazole. Went home and researched all info on this drug and found on the American Gastroenterologist Assoc website a comment stating that ppi's must not be prescribed for people with gastroparesis as it will aggravate it. Waited to see the gastroenterolgist about this  who shrugged and told me to decide which was the lesser of the 2 evils and treat the other one with the appropriate drug.  He did however decide to do a follow-up gastroscopy given that I had lost too much weight ( which I later discovered is relatively common for LPR sufferers). This showed that I did not have Barretts, my UES sphincter muscle looked healthy and there was no longer any sign of gastroparesis. When I asked abou the acid throat he simply shrugged so I left and decided I would take care of myself. I personally feel the medical profession are great for diagnosis by procedures eg endoscopy and then its up to me to fix it through lifestyle choices.

    *James - no 1 advice - try to RELAX! - easier said than done but I have found stress  and anxiety to be the biggest contributor to my reflux problems. I find that taking 500mg of Vitamin B1 three times a day, preferably with food, helps enormously. I cut this down as I improve and up it again when stressed. Seek professional help with relaxation if necessary.

    *Eat bland food in small quantities  to start with and then monitor what food aggravates you more as you try stuff. General belief seems to think the worst culprits are coffee, chocolate, alcohol, acidic foods etc but you need to find out what affects you.  I find high fibre foods are bad for me (google  Fast Tract diet).  If it was me I would also start weaning myself off the drugs  but that is entirely your choice.

    * There is lots of stuff in books and on the internet which can be of help but accept that there is no quick easy answer. Western living and the consumption of processed foods full of sugar and chemicals have severely contributed to our  the ill health and previously unknown ailments, and drugs are certainly not the solution.

    Hope this has been of some help - at least you are not alone with your problems.

     

  • lynn_23719
    lynn_23719 james_anderson

    Posted

    Well, I took Omeprazole once and started with diarrhoea. I stopped taking it. But the damage had been done obviously and I started feeling like my hands and feet had been smashed with a mallet. Went to A and E! They couldn't find a reason and wouldn't accept it was the drug. I did some googling and read a paper some pfoffesor had written that said the drug had certain properties that the statin drugs also had and too much of that could cause nerve damage in the extremities so shouldn't be prescribed together. I also took statins. So I stopped those as well. The pain stopped. I have solved both my problems naturally now. The operation for the reflux and going vegan for the high cholesterol. I couldn't be fitter now! Good luck James with your problems smile 
  • chloe05506
    chloe05506 james_anderson

    Posted

    This discussion is a year old and I hope you found some type of solution that works for you. I am struggling with what is believed to be bile reflux for the last 3 years...I simply cannot function without meds. Nexium worked great for me but watchlist for joint pains, it was not a side effect they talk about but it was VERY clear in my situation that Nexium was causing it (I did on/off test multiple time and without fails, the joint pain got worst/or got reduced).
  • Ziggyandjinx
    Ziggyandjinx james_anderson

    Posted

    I found comfort with rebeprazole (generic name) know as a aciphex in US and Parit in Europe
  • terry33577
    terry33577 james_anderson

    Posted

    Hello James. I am so sorry that you have had so much health problems. My doctor recently asked me to quit taking the generic Prilosec ( omeprazole ).  He said it had some issues . I saw on t.v. that it can cause kidney problems , and even cause kidney failure !!! He later had to give me a script for Pepcid ,because of the gas I was getting after stopping the Prilosec.  And he wants me to quit taking the generic Protonix too. It has problems with it too . I JUST PRAYED FOR YOU , SIR !!  HOPE YOU GET WELL SOON SIR !!  , Terry .
  • chris24m
    chris24m james_anderson

    Posted

    Hi James,

    Really sorry to hear of your distress.

    I too have had some bad experiences with PPIs. About 5 years ago I underwent an endoscopy that showed a stricture in the oesophagus, caused by years of gastric reflux. The specialist put me on Nexium with no time limit specified for the treatment.

    After about 6 months I began to get multiple sties on both eyelids of my left eye, such that I could not open the eye at all. After weeks of futile treatment I came across an article that said it could be a rare (1 in 50,000) side effect of Nexium. I ceased taking the stuff and the problem quickly resolved. But then the reflux came back and I was switched to another PPI called Pariet, which I took for a couple of years without noticeable side effects for a couple of years. Eventually it became ineffective at dealing with the heartburn, so my GP switched me to Somac (Pantoprazole). I have been taking 40mg/day more or less continuously for about 2 years.

    About 6 months ago I started having problems with my left leg from the hip down; severe cramps in the thigh and calf at night time, nerve pain down my leg, twitching in the foot, and severe pain in the buttock. It got so bad I was dreading going to sleep at night and unable to walk more than 100 yards. My doctor ordered some scans, which showed severe arthritis in both hips, but could not explain why only the left hip was causing all the problems. He basically said to take Paracetamol (useless) and Lyrica for the nerve pain (worse than useless!).

    I went back many times to see him with a range of symptoms that included diahorrea, nausea, extreme flatulence, blurred vision and episodes of confusion. He never once suggested that these various symptoms could be interrelated and never reviewed my list of medications, but kept issuing new scripts for Somac.

    Only in the last few weeks did I think of carrying out my own review and found the long list of serious side effects associated with Somac, many of which matched my symptoms. I tried going cold turkey but had the worst rebound reflux. I then read that you must wean yourself off this stuff gradually over a few weeks. I have now cut down to 20mg every 2 days.

    I went to an excellent website called EarthClinic for an alternative treatment for gastric reflux and found apple cider vinegar and honey in a glass of water, three times per day, half an hour before meals. I improvised it to a tablespoon of organic ACV in a small glass of equal parts apple juice and water to make it more palatable.

    The very best advice I can offer you James, based on my experience, is to read all you can about the side effects of the PPI you are on and decide is it really worth the risk. There are a number of diet changes you can make to minimise the occurrence of GR, and as I said, the ACV really does work for me. You just need to find your own path to good health.

    All the best,

    Chris

     

  • agnieszka7719
    agnieszka7719 james_anderson

    Posted

    I was diagnosed through endoscopy with non dysplasia barrett's esophagus at age 40 last year in December. The only symptom l had was spitting up bright blood and clearing my throat. I was put on prilosec 40mg twice a day x 14 day then once a day only. About 2 months ago l got new side effects from prilosec felt like l have throw ups in the back of my throat. Was switched to protonix 40mg once a day developed massive gas pains in my upper stomach was switched to nexium 40mg. I am so scared. My condition has worsened. I felt a lot better before ppi's. My next f/u endoscopy is this December to see which direction is going.

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