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PPI's, Omerozole long term use

Posted , 4 users are following.

patrick00766
patrick00766

Im 55, a kidney transplant patient and have been taking Omeprozole for nearly a decade. My life has been horrible for so long, long periods of severe diarrhoea, leaving me weak and unable to face food, resulting in tiredness, depression, foggy thinking and frequent thoughts of suicide. I've had a stroke and cannot work because I'm just too unreliable. I've approached my renal consultant and GP about coming of the PPI as I've read so much about the dangers of it's long term use. I've become Lactose and Fructose intolerant and truly desperate. Neither physician is willing to change the drug and smile knowingly at my requests - offering no hope for my future of exhausted hours on or near a loo and chronic pain at night, which they have labelled as Fibromyalgia. Any advise is welcome about how to get them to review my drugs.

0 likes, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • marianne10595
    marianne10595 patrick00766

    Posted

    Good morning Patrick, i am so sorry you are and have had such a bad time with so many issues. I can understand how you are feeling, there will be help for you, its a matter of finding it, thats not easy at times. Have you thought of asking for a referral to a consultant for another opinion. It may be that you have to go out of your area to find the right specialist. That happened to me, i had to travel down the country to get the expertise i needed for a different problem, and you can be referred on the national health too, its the patients right.

    I do hope you are able to research the right consultant on the internet, to find the right person. Chin up, you can do it, and life will be good again for you. Best wishes.

  • Barretts
    Barretts patrick00766

    Posted

    Hi Patrick,

    I know all these fear stories about PPIs and have read the research rather than sensationalised press stories and the sites that would prefer you to buy their untested "natural" products.

    I understand your concerns but want to reassure you that actually PPIs are amongst the afest drugs around. They have been used worldwide by millions of people for 30 years. However, they are powerful drugs whose use should be monitired by doctors to ensure you are taking them correctly at the lowest possible dose for the shortest possible time (which, for some, may be a lifetime).

    The side effects of PPIs themselves are rare. What are usually reported as side effects are actually from the induced hypochlorhydria (too little stomach acid) resultant from over use of the drugs - malabsorption of essential minerals and reduced imunity to certain bacteria.

    Other recent studies have shown, amongst patients with heart arythmia there are a higher proportion who take PPIs; Amonst patients with Chronic Kidney Disease, there are a higher proportion who take PPIs; Amonst patients (over 95) with dementia, there are a higher proportion who take PPIs. None of these studies has suggested the PPIs are a cause of the co-morbidities. They are a correllation. As one eminent professor recently put it, they are more likely a "characteristic of the patient rather than the drug". Those with those inderlying conditions may also be those needful of the acid suppressants anyway.

    But there is increasing evidence thes drugs have a probable chemo-protective effct to prevent progression to oesophageal cancer.

    • patrick00766
      patrick00766 Barretts

      Posted

      Thank you for that advise. I know the Internet can be a dangerous place to educate yourself, I see now that my issue is more to do with the relationships I have with my 'health care professionals' than anything else. In the 7-10 minutes allowed for each appointment to delve into the complexities of my case is frankly ridiculous. I remember asking as consultant if they would rather see a patient with some degree of knowledge or with none at all, which would they rather have. The answer was of course none at all. Simply not enough time to explain and answer questions. And that's another subject all together. I fear that my health will continue to deteriorate, but I wish for another era when drugs are seen for what they are, the scatter gun of medicine, until genetics takes over. Thankyou again.
    • Guest
      Guest Barretts

      Posted

      Sir, is it possible to find this quote about this professor somewhere on the net?
    • Barretts
      Barretts Guest

      Posted

      I do always like to provide links to the research or papers I quote but that's not really possible on this forum as any links have to be moderated which takes a time.

      I cannot at this moment find the article I quoted. I know it was i response to the scare mongering about the spurious links between PPI usage and incidences of dementia about a year ago. By talking about "the characteristic of the patient", the professor was saying that those with particular ailments are more prone to using certain drugs.

      I do keep a large archive of research links on the www BarrettsWessex org uk website.

      In a private message, I'll send you links to that archive and to an article about PPI dangers including a link to the meat-analysis conducted on all the research that has been done about PPIs and cancer progression that showed a 71% reduction in risk associated with PPI usage.

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