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PMR, OMEPRAZOLE.... AND GOUT??!

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Dinah54
Dinah54

I have had PMR for exactly two years (yay happy anniversary to me) and on steroids for 22 months. For the first six months I was happily taking the steroids with yogurt and experiencing no gastric problems but then the rheumatology registrar persuaded me, against my better judgement, to take Omeprazole. "When you drop dead from internal bleeding, the coroner will want to know why I didn't prescribe it" were his exact words...

I was down to 5mg steroid at the beginning of the year and dropped to 4mg in May (again against my better judgement as the consultant told me to do alternate days rather than the much more gradual tapering that most of us now do, thanks to Eileen and Mrs O). I had had a swollen knee for about six months ("knees are not involved in PMR" was all I got from the consultant - you are probably spotting a theme here...)but it got much worse after the drop in steroids and then my calf swelled up and my heel which had been painful became numb - and still is. 

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the registrar finally aspirated my knee and found gout crystals in the fluid. I am about as far from a typical gout sufferer as you could imagine - and I have been on a low purine diet since my husband developed it five years ago - so I found this odd to say the least. And then I suddenly wondered whether the Omeprazole might have caused it. There have been a couple of papers written on the link between Omeprazole and acute gout attacks, so it has obviously happened to other people.

So I am stopping taking the Omeprazole - which I think I should never have been on anyway as I have borderline osteoporosis in my spine and it impedes absorption of calcium - to see if it is has any effect. My question is, should I be tapering off the Omeprazole? My doctor gave me 10 mg instead of 20mg capsules which I took for a week and then I opened the capsules and removed half the dose for 2 days, but yesterday took nothing and had my first ever experience of indigestion.... Nothing that I can't put up with though. Just wondered if anyone who has been through similar has any advice.

Oh and guess what - the registrar is now saying maybe it was gout all along which is ridiculous. I have witnessed gout attacks and know how agonising they are. The first three months pre-steroids, were all about muscle pain/stiffness, tiredness, loss of appetite - not a hot swollen joint in sight!

Sorry this is such a long, rambling post....

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  • wardy
    wardy Dinah54

    Posted

    Yes I did exactly the same but just stopped I was experiencing pains in my thighs when I asked the GP he said "O yes they will make your legs ache what are you still taking them for anyway to" which I replied"because you keep prescribing them" I had a couple of days indigestion then it went away. 
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