Very confused - ppis make me feel simultaneously better and worse!!!
Posted , 9 users are following.
Hi, I'm interested to hear other peoples experiences of PPIs. I'm booked in for an endoscope on the 20th March which can not come soon enough. The Drs were not concerned about about sending me for one but I kicked up so much fuss that I'm getting it. All other tests - liver, kidneys, blood count, heart, lungs, bone health, thyroid, no H Pylori, BP, temp - all fine. Feel anxious but I'm getting better at coping with it.
When I went to the Dr on the 14th February I only had 2 symptoms, slight discomfort in oesophagus when swallowing and pain between shoulder blades when eating. The Dr diagnosed silent reflux, ulcer or hiatus hernia or all 3. Now that I am on PPIs I can not come off them. During the day I am reasonably fine, appetite reduced but managing to eat but during the night I can not sleep. I will sleep for 2 or 3 hours then I'm awake either just wide awake or feeling sick. By 6am I am desperate to take lanzoprazole. I pop a pill, have some weetabix and in about an hour I feel fine. The thing I don't understand is my symptoms only got worse when I started the drugs? I barely had indigestion when I went to the Dr on the 14th February, I was eating and sleeping fine, exercising, going to work etc. Now that I'm on the PPIs I'm off sick from work, and feel debilitated by it. The problem is I can't come off them because I get acid rebound. What the hell has happened to me? I think if I could just get 6 hours of sleep in one night at least I could cope with this. Sorry for the long post. Laura
0 likes, 13 replies
joseph98786 laura1234567
Posted
hi laura, your doc should be more proactive especially given your present symptoms. im on lanzaprozole the past few years and i find it hard to come off them. although they do help with heartburn and reflux to an extent the side effects over long use of PPI include osteoperosis, muscle soreness and low magnesium leading to fatique. i would wait and see what comes back on your endescopy and maybe they will get your balance right and prescribe the appropriate meds. best of luck.
derek76 laura1234567
Posted
Did they not tell you not to take PPI's in the two or three weeks before an endoscopy as they can hide cancer. You should check on this with your GP. My wife was always told to stop them as other patients waiting with here had been.
catweasel derek76
Posted
this is what i was told as well.. unless you cant manage they said.. i cant go a day without one.
laura1234567 derek76
Posted
I know that the endoscope is on the 20th but I haven't had the letter yet. I'm seeing my Dr tomorrow, will see what she says. The Drs I've spoken to say they obvs couldn't rule out cancer but they aren't concerned. They put me down for one because i pushed and pushed for it. One Dr said there are various conditions such as the valve between the stomach and the food pipe not closing properly so it could be this. I am terrified but just got to keep going.
derek76 laura1234567
Posted
There are many possible causes and cancer is the least likely. Problem is often the don't find a reason for the problem as digestive ones are about the most difficult to diagnose.
Good luck on the 20th.
derek76 laura1234567
Posted
I forgot to say that I once had an appointment that was months away and phoned the consultants receptionist saying I was in pain and it was too long to wait. She got me an early appointment for the next morning. He welcomed me with 'So you think you have cancer' I said no but something is causing this pain. After all the tests he said 'You have a guts ache and you will have to learn to live with it' Eventually it did go away. My wife had something similar and I suggested Aloe Vera. It helped her but did not do anything for me.
laura1234567 derek76
Posted
Thank you Derek, that has comforted me. I need to try and stay positive right now.
catweasel laura1234567
Posted
hi, ppi's are the worst thing.. ive been on them from the age of about 23 so thats about 10 years now.. originally to treat a stomach virus to later find out that yiu can never take them for short periods of time.. so like i say started with heart burn. and was prescribed antibiotics with a high does of lanzoprazole. felt fine till intried to stop taking them! so after this period of 2 weeks i was sent for the endoscope and all they could see was redness. so prescribed more ppi.. two years went by and i was sick of being on them so i regretfully pushed for another endoscope.. now i have a slight hiatus hurnia!?!? im convinced they caused it or they made it up to shut me up and said i need to keep taking these ppi.. eventually went on to omoprazole as they are the least mg per tablet and the other actually made me feel so ill in the mornings they even prescribed me anti sickness tablet.. more and more money for the pharmaceutical companies! so 10 years in ive teied EVERYTHING.. and ive slowly redued my alount using micro scales to get down to 7mg a day but that didnt work.. doctors say that its fine to take them but they havent got a clue.. i now have mild IBS from them and i think im getting problems with my joints as they can prevent calcium intake.. and i get colds all the time as i thiks the reduced acid doesnt kill enough of the bacteria we are exposed to in life.. all in all im totally p****d off and im more worried of the long term use of them. tried herble tried everthing.. no way of going cold turkey either thats aparrently dangerous, they only time i noticed any relief was when i had gastroenteritis and i didnt eat for about a week and didnt take any tablets but i was ok till i started to eat.. and antibiotics sometimes stop the acid.. without ppis but that might just be me. all i can say is try to reduce your intake slowly and eat well before sleeping.
julie37508 laura1234567
Posted
I don't know if it's just me, but I have taken one form or another or acid reducer or PPI since the late 90's, I guess. I started taking them when I was working a very stressful job and always seemed to have heartburn or discomfort. I probably took 40 mg a day of Prevacid for a long time, then went to 20 mg. I stopped off and on, but every time I stopped, I got rebound and couldn't stand it. But, the last few years, I found a better way to take omeprazole, which is what I have been on for a long time now, and only 10 mg. First, I never take it first thing on an empty stomach. I always drink some water first thing, I used to do orange juice for years, but finally realized that was not good. I eat my breakfast, have my hot tea, wait at least 2 hours or more, then I take my pill. I also take supplements, especially magnesium. I am currently trying to wean myself off by switching off to rantinidine every other day. But I guess my main reason for answering is, I have never had any of these extreme problems with the drug. It is more the fear caused by these news stories and such that worries me most.
laura1234567
Posted
Thanks everyone for your support. To be honest I think I've lost a grip on reality. Yes I do have pain and the meds upset my stomach (it is a side effect) but I think I am making myself ill through anxiety. I am suffering from severe health anxiety and i need to speak to a psychologist. I'm sure there is something going on in my gut but my crazy brain is making it all worse. It's scary how you can make yourself get so bad? There appears to be 2 people in my head; a sane rational person and then the crazy one who is making me ill. I realise that I jump between the two over the course of the day/evening. I am a 'worrier" but I've never been this bad before, oh dear. Thanks for listening.
Lovelife1973 laura1234567
Posted
I've been on ppi medication for a long time for acid reflux, some time they work mostly they dont .had to stop eating weetabix as it made my symptoms worse ,I've now cut down on wheat/gluten and milk. you should try cutting out gluten see if things improve.
derek76 Lovelife1973
Posted
Strange I eat Weetabix four times a week without a problem but I don't like the new organic version.
laura1234567
Posted
I found this interesting article and I now understand what happened to me! The omeprazole side effects and withdrawal were worse than my original symptoms. I'm now tapering with lanzoprazole and I'm hoping with time I can get back to be a normal functioning person as I was before PPIs. What a horrible experience.
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