Prilosec caused severe anxiety which led to major depression.
Posted , 15 users are following.
Hello,
I was prescribed prilosec approximately 3 years ago for the symptoms of mild gastritis. Since then, I've noticed a gradual deterioration in my health. The symptoms I've been having include, but are not limited to severe anxiety and irritability, major depression, feeling of fear and dread, visual/eye focus issues, extreme sensitivity to light, and a complete inability to relax, similar to ptsd symptoms. I've searched the Internet and have gone through rigorous testing to figure out what could have brought all of this on as I have always had slight anxiety, but nothing compared to what I've gone through over the past 3 years. I could go on and on, but to make a long story short, I did a thorough check of all medications that I was taking and narrowed it down to prilosec, and began researching for myself.
After after noticing that there are so many others that have the exact same side effects did I realize that prilosec had to be the culprit, especially since that seems to be the amount of time that I have been going through what has been a complete nightmare. I immediately stopped taking prilosec cold turkey and went to my gp for a full blood count and had all vitamin levels checked. The results showed that I am now deficient in vitamins d and b12. I I have been off of prilosec for three weeks and taking supplements and seem to be feeling slightly better, although not nearly 100% at this point.
Has anybody had similar adverse reactions to prilosec or ppi's and if so, how long did you take it and how long did it take for you to feel "back to normal"?
Any information on this would be greatly appreciated as I am astounded that this drug could be the cause of of my 3+ year long nightmare!
0 likes, 33 replies
laura1234567 Groc69
Posted
Hi, I'm nearly 8 weeks off ppis. I was taking ranitidine to help sort out the mess that ppis made of my stomach and for the past 10 days I've been on no medication. I feel so much better; the anxiety has gone from severe to mild. I don't feel 100% normal but I'm getting there. Good luck to everyone recovering from these evil drugs.
Grant13 laura1234567
Posted
Glad to hear its gone from severe to mild Laura! Do you have any other symptoms associated with your heightened anxiety? Just trying to see what systems are being affected the most by this God awful "medicine"
laura1234567 Grant13
Posted
Hi Grant, I'm still having some sleep disturbance. I wake up around 5am every day and if I try to go back to sleep I feel nauseas. I had terrible insomnia on the ppis so I think my body is still recovering from that. I had terrible panic attacks and palpitations on the drugs but fortunately I no longer have these. I have a feeling the ppis wiped out the good bacteria in my gut which triggered neuropsychiatric symptoms. I still have feelings of dread that something bad is going to happen but I'm working through this using meditation. Hope you feel much better soon.
Grant13 laura1234567
Posted
I used to have sleep disturbances too, those have kinda gone away but now I cant sleep enough. So im hoping its in recovery mode now. I had a stool test done and it showed that I have a candida infection, and that can also lead to increased anxiety. I would recommend looking into getting one of those instead of guessing. And apparently when you kill off candida they release toxins that make you more anxious. I think that may be some of the problem, but only part. Hope you figure out your gut too!
laura1234567 Grant13
Posted
That's interesting as Candida is to do with bacteria levels. I'm taking probiotic yoghurt every day. I put a still sample in last week to check for inflammation but don't have the results back yet. I'm sure you still are in recovery.
Groc69 laura1234567
Posted
Glad to hear you're doing better Laura. Good for you! 😃
Grant, from what I've heard by talking to alot of people who are going through similar issues from this drug, most of the symptoms begin to really start improving from between 3-6 months after stopping the meds, which is very interesting to me because I also read an article on statins stating that withdrawal side effects can last anywhere from 4 weeks to 3 months. I'm thinking things should start getting better beyond the 3 month mark. You are getting very close to that time frame. Have you noticed any decrease in symptoms at all yet, and if so, what improvements have you noticed?
Groc69
Posted
Correction - When I mentioned statins in my prevous post, I meant ppis of course. Sorry, statins are for another forum! 😃
Grant13 Groc69
Posted
Laura, yes the candida was allowed to thrive as an opportunistic fungus due to the lack of good bacteria in my GI tract from lack of stomach acid. Im definitely still in recovery, I had a really good couple of days but can kinda feel anxiousness creeping back in today. What kind of probiotic yogurt are you eating? I know that alot of those are sugar bombs and might be doing more harm for your gut than good. Surprisingly my inflammation levels were good on my test, but my SigA levels were slightly low.
Groc, are you referring to the PPI rebound hypersecretion withdrawals? I had those REALLY bad starting at about 2 weeks after stopping, to the point where my teeth and esophagus were constantly hurting if i even looked at any food wrong. Since then I have pretty much eaten only salmon/cod and veggies, so I cant say whether its completely gone or not. I will say I feel much improved in that area though. Im not quite sure how long the side effects like anxiety take to go away. From what I've read on these forums it can be anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months to go away to near normal levels. I guess this depends on genetic predisposition to anxiety and what actions youre taking to correct it.
laura1234567 Grant13
Posted
Grant it's just activia bio live yoghurt I'm taking, you're probably right about the sugar. Maybe you should start to experiment and introduce different types of foods and see how your digestion copes. I was very cautious at first but am now eating relatively normally; eating healthily but still having treats. I haven't returned to alcohol or red meat yet but that's not a bad thing!
Grant13 laura1234567
Posted
Honestly, I can pretty much eat anything and not worry about it. I havent gone crazy with food, but I havent had any bad reactions when I cheat a bit on my diet. But I do notice that my symptoms get worse when its raining/humid and at night time. Ive read that happens with fungus, so I dont think it would be wise to try and go back to normal just yet until I can get confirmed to be rid of these nasty things
Joa89 laura1234567
Posted
Are you healed? 😃
DMZABO Groc69
Posted
GROC69,
I KNOW THIS POST IS OLDER AND I HOPE YOU HAVE GOTTEN OVER ALL THOSE NASTY SIDE EFFECTS? PPI's are just pure evil for some that is. i was taking protonix and that ppi gave me the worst anxiety in my life. i was starting to question my sanity. i stopped cold turkey 10 days ago. and i only had one episode of high anxiety since. i was taking that PPI for 3+ years. the crazy thing is when i went to see my doctor of 17 years he tried to put me on an anxiety medicine. lucky for me i figured this thing out before i would be stuck taking another pharma drug that wasn't necessary . that ppi drug did more damage to me than good. the crazy thing is i don't think i should of stayed on it for that long to begin with. like i said i went cold turkey and i haven't had any rebound issues with my GERD as of yet? And if anyone that has anxiety issues while on ppi meds comes to this blog post just know that YES YOUR PPI CAN BE THE REASON YOU ARE NOW EXPERIENCING HIGH ANXIETY AND STRESS BECAUSE OF IT. Best of luck to all !
fahad90517 Groc69
Posted
Hi Groc69!
I can confirm that my Pantoprazole (a different ppi which I took for 2 months) was responsible for various anxiety like symptoms. I was lethargic almost all day and the worst was a tingling sensation that I felt on the tips of my hands. This is a well known symptom of calcium/magnesium deficiency. I used to be a strength athlete and for 2 months I was feeling the weakest I had been.
Its been a week since I've tapered to a lower dosage, I only feel slightly better. I have a terrible sensation in my throat area, as if something is stuck.
arielle84298 Groc69
Posted
I was prescribed a PPI (Protonix) by my Dr because they insisted the symptoms I was having was stomach acid due to stress. A couple weeks later I found out my symptoms were from a liver reaction to a new birth control pill I had started. I stopped the birth control pill but my Dr wanted me to continue taking the protonix and also added on pepcid with it. Long story short I was taking it for about 3 weeks and started to get EXTREME anxiety. I've had an anxiety disorder for years and have never experienced this intense of anxiety before. I was shaking/tremors, feeling of fear, would throw up sometimes, warm sensations in my chest and down my arms and rapid heart beat all at the same time. I finally googled and did some research online and found others with the same exact reactions. So after 5 straight days of extreme anxiety and finding the info I finally stopped taking it. I'm only on day 2 of not taking it but am curious how long it took the anxiety to go away for everyone?! I'm not sure how much more of this I can take. My Dr's answer after an appt today was to take Xanax 2-3 times a day for the anxiety and if I still don't feel better after 4 days to call him and it's "something else". I've seen some people say it took them 6-8 weeks to feel better. I was only on the protonix for 3 1/2 weeks. Any advice would be great. I'm also trying acupuncture tomorrow. Oh and I am a 32 year old female.
becky11704 Groc69
Posted
Hi all
I just wondered how you are all getting on? Ive been off pantoprazole for 18 weeks and am still experiencing anxiety which my anti depressants arent touching . Ive now been given ativan and been put on lamotrigine to try and treat the anxiety. Its been truly awful
Khris2fer becky11704
Posted
Hi becky11704 I know this has been a min. I wanted to reach out and see how you are doing with your recovery from this? I've been off of ppi for almost 5 months and still dealing with anxiety. I hope you are doing better now. Thank You