Press give me stomach problems so have tried a new way

Actually empty pill capsules are very cheep  on the Internet so perhaps this is a way forward... DIY kind to the stomach remedy I am just lucky the Preds fit in just right

No it doesn't - that was the case (sort of) when the edict was issued that enteric coated was to be restricted. The enteric coated then was approx. 17x more than ordinary white tablets. As soon as NICE issued the edict, the manufacturers put the price of ordinary pred up so there was no longer the differential.

The current (12 months ago) relationship is about £1.30 for 1 month 5mg ordinary pred, £1.80 for 1 month 5mg enteric coated pred. Then you have to add the £1.80 for 1 month's supply omeprazole (as the cheapest PPI, if you can't tolerate it and need a different one it is more). And then you have to add the dispensing fees: pred plus PPI is x2, enteric coated x1. In the end enteric coated is cheaper. 

To top it all - the NICE edict included the get out clause that if a patient required enteric coated because of intolerances the patient was to be allowed it.

In fact, during the consultation many GPs felt it was fair enough and agreed to the change. Within a year of the change they had had so many patients like Christine who couldn't tolerate pred plus PPI and developed stomach problems that they said that they wished they had objected at the time.

Shame Christine has such an uncooperative GP.

Hi Christine,

It is a great discovery you made.  If it continues to work it may be a good solution to taking all the other drugs for tummy troubles albeit it bit of a nuisance filling the capsules.

I hope the rest of your day goes as well as the beginning.

Hugs,  Diana🌸

Your GP should not be allowed to get away with this.

Go to your Practice Manager, tell them exactly what has happened and what you have had to resort to and ensure that that situation does not occur with anyone else. 

Elderly people, and I am one, would not have the skill to open and empty a capsule and insert their tablets.  They would also not have access to the internet or perhaps could not afford the cost.

By the way,  Ranitidine (new name for Zantac) is the best PPI if you have to take one.

A remedy for acid reflux, which works as many people taking pred have tried it is  a lemon placed in the microwave for 1 minute, juice squeezed out of it, taken three times a day in water  - result no acid reflux. Remedy courtesy of MrsO and well used.

Thanks yes I have been to all of the people in the practice but have been labelled 'trouble' so they take no notice of me.

I am having my lunch now and still hardly any indegestion so I think I have discovered the cause... from now on, as you say I will put all plain meds in capsules, This has been a hell of a pain trip the past six months. , but today no acid stomach yet and the headaches have susided a bit too so some of that may be due to the stomach sensitivity. I dont think I am ready for a full meal or some of the less plain items yet...still very sore but optimistic. I have just finished the upstairs wallpapering I started two years ago and had to give up when PMR developed. Not such a bad day at all...

Hi Christine,

I agree with Lodger, I don't know if you've tried the lemon juice and water, and I know it seems strange,  but it really does change the ph in your stomach and does work. I have it every morning to clean up my system a bit and I've never had a problem with my stomach.

My son who suffers from acid reflux swears by "mother" Apple cider vinegar.

Have a happy tummy day!

The acid in lemon turns to alkali when it is drunk.

Perhaps that is the same for Apple Cider.

Cabge your GP and report that practice to the Commissioning Group in your area.

I would have to change the wole practice.. we a remote and rural. The next practice is 4 miles away and run by the same group of doctors... they each open 3 days a week.

If I upset them any more I will be struck off...so the receptionist says.

The next practice is over six miles away and they wont take us as too remote. When you are old some places treat you very badly...you are a nuisance unless you curl up and die quietly... Its not as easy as when you are younger

 

Oh Dear

Perhaps you ought to move to about 10 minutes away from the best hospital in  your area. 

I suspect that if you were struck off that other practice who say you are too remote might be instructed to take you on! But I don't think the receptionist has any right to say that anyway! 

But it is a disgusting set-up altogether.

Thank you for this tip Christine. I am going to try it as my GP wont prescibe coated pred either despite the fact that my pain was extreme enough to mimic heart attack symptoms requiring two days in hospital having tests!. She says the coated or uncoated in trials have been shown to have no difference. She seems to have an answer for everything however many I Have ready to throw at her!

well this is day two of the experiment. Last night I ate a small amount of meat for the first time for weeks... no acid or heartburn.. a little coughing but for the first time yesterday.. I am usually coughing constantly) my husband could not believe I had a day without coughing.. Have not had to take any indigestion relief for the past 24 hours. My puffy face has actually gone down a bit too. I wonder if the side effects of Pred can start by the reaction in the stomach ? I am going to have to buy some bigger capsule cases for when I reduce next as I will have to use the 1mg to get the numbers right. Would love to know if it works for you too.

I am so happy to have another day without pain and misery and not being able to eat anything.

Have just bought 100 empty new gelatine capsules at Amazon for £2.25. so that is the way to go I think.

I am certainly going to try it but really  it shouldn't come to this! I have lost weight and been referred to a dietician as BMI too low....but its not about the food is it? Just the ability to eat and digest it. 

exadtly and I am sick to death of being a pawn in policies and practices that are so far removed from care and help for the suffering. Since being on this forum I have learned far more than anyone I have had contact with who purprts to be a 'practicioner' about PMR I have proven, in my case, that Omneprazol causes heart arythmia, breathlessness and fatigue. Now I am sitting here without any pain or soreness in my stomach actually looking forward to a light lunch instead of  pain and fear of never eating normally again. Just a bit of innovation... a bit of imagination.. it works wonders...Brave people are not afraid of change... they make change work

The "no difference" isn't gastric tolerance - it is overall effects. I believe the trials were also done in Crohns patients - enteric coated weren't absorbed as well But they do have dodgy guts!

And as I said - the NICE recommendations were that any patient who really needed thenm should be allowed them.

When you see the dietician tell them about it - they may support your request for enteric coated pred to see if it helps. And if you are on omeprazole it may be that that is causing the problem.

 

PPI s are not tolerated by my system, so the GP has just prescribed ranitidine 300 mg per day but I'm just not convinced that acid suppression is the answer to the problem. Probably just me being difficult and having little faith I suppose! 

I have just eaten two slices of Lemon Drizzle cake straight from the oven still hot.... I could not have done that 2 days ago ! I know its not the best example but for me its a step into normality and enjoying life once more.

👏👏👏👏👏

I'm allergic to something in the structure of wheat - but that sounds worth itching for!

Why can doctors not use their deductive skills about these things?  Or did they leave that behind at school...

No, I don't think it is all acid suppression either. I suspect they sometimes can only think of the recommended approach rather than asking themselves WHY this patient hasn't improved on the current regimen.

There are other substances in the tablets, not just pred, which can also cause problems. That's why the data sheet always lists them and says you shouldn't take this product if you have a sensitivity to any of them. 

In the late sixties early seventies wheat growers started to use something called staw stiffeners... a chemical spray to stop the wheat from falling down in bad weather and rotting before harvest... since then there has been an ever increasing number of wheat allergies of one type or another. It was rare before. Another case of profit before health !

Wonder how that affected it - I can eat "soft" wheat, it's the hard durum stuff that causes the problems. Spelt, kamut, rye, all fine so it isn't the gluten as such - but I knew that since Juvela's "washed wheat starch" gluten-free flour did it too. We spent a week in France on a canal a couple of years ago and the "captain" had done shopping before we joined him so I had no input on food. A medic (a while back I admit) and friend who KNEW I had problems with wheat had stocked up on baguettes and pains au chocolat and raisins for the first 3 days (3-day-old baguette is disgusting) and it was a case of eating it or starving! I had no ill effects - and discovered something on the NHS coeliac site that this isn't uncommon, that French goodies are often OK for non-coeliac allergics. Still poking OH for a holiday in France...

Yes this is true..many coeliacs enjoy fresh crusty bread on French holidays which makes me very wary of British wheat and other imported wheat that use sprays etc. I always buy French bread flour for my home made bread.

I'll drop by when we're in the country   - sounds good! There is still nothing that beats a crust from bread straight out of the over with a dollop of real butter, preferably the salty variety...