Any side effects from stopping Nexium capsules after taking for several years?
- Posted:
- 25 Jun 2012 by bdskelton
- Topics:
- nexium, gerd, side effect
Answers (3)
kaismama
AquariusA...26 Jun 2012
If you had heartburn and the Nexium rid you of it, then expect it to come back with a vengeance! I was on Omeprazole which is the same type of drug, a PPI. I was on this like you were the Nexium, about 12 years. So many side affects I was not aware of such a shortness of breath and was treated with prednisone for a year... now I find that it was the Omeprazole that caused it. Went off the meds and I am rid of so many problems such as sinus infections, urinary tract infections, neausea every morning, muscle aches, and gout along with other problems which have all ended when I ended the meds. BUT I can hardly deal with the heartburn which scares me for fear it is going to damage the esophogus... doctor wants me to have the procedue done where the hiatal hernia (which is usually the culprit) is tucked in the stomach but I hear this does not always work! So I am taking the Omeprazole every other day or so, depending on how bad the heartburn gets.
meyati26 Jun 2012
It's my understanding that GERD meds work 2 different ways. Nexium, prevacid, prilosic reduce the production of gastric acids. Librax, etc neuturalizes the stomach acids. If you stop taking any of the GERD meds you have a chance of GERD returning with a vengeance-especially the ones that reduce the production of gastric acids. Diet-not eating late-not having alcohol or carbonated beverages-so that lets out our evening champagne and beer, and then sleeping propped up will help reduce the reflex from coming out of your nose. They now say all GERD meds can cause oesteoprisis or loss of calcium in the bones. I use Librax- It works best for me.
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Hi Meyati,
Thanks so much for your input! I am going to try Librax to see if it works for me although I have tried Zantac which is similar and it does not help at all. I get heartburn if I bend down since I have a hiatal hernia. I agree that all the messy stuff we have to do when we aren't on some kind of medication is just that "messy"... the omeprazole for me was great cause I could do all those things I cannot do without the meds but the meds have done a lot of damage to me in other ways, such as not being able to breath (shortness of breath) bones ache, etc. So we have choices in life and right now I am choosing to not take the omeprazole every day to see how it works for me. And I will try your medication Librax.
Thank you,
Anne
OMG- zantac Zantac-I was just answering a question about Librax- and I absentmindedly said the wrong thing-- Zantac. It takes about 3 weeks at 2 a day to work good. Take a Zantac before eating or an hour before you go to bed, as it takes about an hour for it to take effect. My throat is thoroughly burnt, etc. I began having trouble this fall with nausea-a med set it off, but it didn't clear up. In May, my doctor had me take 2 Zantac religiously-one in the am and one in the pm- here I was vomiting from the nausea-and doing this-stopped the vomiting and then the nausea. I'd have spells where I felt good and I stopped taking the Zantac for a few days or a few months. My doctor says that because I don't have the esophigocal valve-extra air gets into my stomach when I eat-and it set off a chain reaction of nausea. Somebody else in this notice was asking about Librax-which is good for other stomach problems, but not good for GERD.
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I'm 70-and have had GERD since the 1980s-actually before they came up with a fancy name for it. I'd try to take Tums or Mylanta- and it really burned so much. But after a few hours my stomach got better. i got a doctor that put me on Zantac, and he said that the reason the other stuff burned my throat is that it has so much damage from acid reflux. One doctor gave me the gastric acid reducing pills- I ended up in the Er from dehydration, It dried up more than stomach acid.
Hi Meyati, Oh, so what you are saying is it is not the Librax you were recommending but the Zantac? This does not really help me that much but then I do not take 2 tablets, I take one when the heartburn hits me badly. I find if I wait a bit and really relax, the heartburn will diminish. My fear is that it can be destructive as it does burn around the heart area which may be the esophagus but I feel it seems to be near my heart. I am fearful of damaging the esophagus with the acid and more so I am concerned that when I am asleep what and where this acid is going. I had a lung problem 2 years ago (shortness of breath) and the CT Scan showed my lungs were like shattered glass and the lung specialist was baffled! Said he had not ever seen such a thing. I was on the omeprazole at the time. I wonder if the medication caused this problem? or did acid backup into my lungs while asleep? The GI doctors do not know.
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I have very bad side affects from medications so I am careful with what I take. I am on a diuretic Triamterine and Propranolol for familial tremors 40mg 1 tablet a day but I have a hearing loss problem which I am told could have been caused by Propanolol... so what choice do I have? The omeprazole was a wonder drug but it sure was taking it's toll out on me with side affects that I blamed on "lung problems"...
Thanks for all your information you give.
Anne
Don't take cholestral medication-that's one of the things it hits-constant upper respiratory problems, pnuemonia, bronchichittus. I have scar tissue from chemicals in my lungs. Zantac isn't known to bother the lungs. I know where you are coming from. I took a cholestral med and was poisoned from it-statin toxicty-it ruined my Achilles tendons, my muscles are canabalizing theirselves which also causes kidney damage-and so on. I'm allergic to Tylenol, cough syrup, neosporin, bandaids, NSAIDs, had bad side effects with Previcid-severe dehydration that hospitalized me, I can't take blood pressure medication. Steriodal medications are useless and worhtles for me. I know about meds causing hearing loss-it was a sinus med. My body is pretty much stuck in the medication of the 1970s. I'm suspicious about meds. My bones are in great shape-I just had a stupid bone density scan. My bones are like the bones of someone in their mid-30s.
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I had a hysterectomy in the 1980s. In 2002-I submitted to a scan-as they were concerned- My bones had the density of a 20 year-old. I told my stupid doctor that, but I did it again last year. I take an allergy pill when needed. It's supposed to be taken daily if I need to or not. I told the doctor that I didn't want to take meds when I don't need them-no wonder people are so sick. I'm going to try to talk you into taking a Zantac in the evening, right after you eat for 6 weeks. I finally began taking it like that, and I'm so darn stubborn that I waited until I had motion sickness when I walked and was throwing up. If I get strep throat, it goes all the way into my stomach, because there isn't any valve to stop the strep like normal people. If you take the Zantac regularly-it will stop having that nasty burning taste in your throat, because the acid won't be boiling over. Your body is stressed out and that's why you're having so much acid reflux. Zantac is one of the few things that hasn't hurt me, and it plays well with other meds-
I don't mean to hound you-but our bodies sound pretty much the same. I've even been prescribed meds-and the doctor wanted me to come back. It's in my military chart that I throw full pill bottles at doctors while I'm cussing them out. No matter what you do, I understand your suspicions-and good luck.
Okay Meyati, you talked me into the Zantac. I have 2 bottles of it and I am going to try taking the 2 a day you suggest. You say 1 an hour before I go to bed, then when do I take the other? I may have missed when you told me that. Yes, our bodies are very much alike as my bones are pretty strong too although I fell in the office a hundred years ago (well, maybe not that long ago) but many years ago when I worked and then arthritis developed in the hip so I had a hip replacement and the doctor screwed up (so what else is new?) and I have a difficult time walking very long... my lower back starts hurting. Then I kept bumping my knee against the desk with my swivel chair and ended up tearing the meniscus and damaging the cartlidge and of course developed arthritis and had my knee replaced and no problems at all with that... other than that my bones are fine.
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It is my muscles from the horrible Lipitor I took for a while (was talked into it by an endocrinoligist who said he would keep a good eye on me... well, guess you heard, that now the tests they have been taking for the CPK levels are no longer valid!!! so my muscles were leaking for months and he did not know it until suddenly I could barely walk I was in so much pain!!! from the lipitor and my urine turned dark brown! my rib cage was in so much pain! I was a mess... put me through so many tests but tests for muscles damaged from statin drug does not show up!!! It is a horrible situation and nothing can be done now... my thigh muscles are a mess. Then omeprazole does a number on the muscles too. So between my hip being messed up, medications damaging the muscles, I have no idea what caused it but my legs will not move like they used to. I weigh much too much and cannot seem to lose weight even though I have water exercising classes twice a week and I watch everything I eat! But then I am Italian background which doesn't help... I am 84 years old but most of my friends are in their late 60's early 70's as I am very active even with all the problems. I even have friends who are in their later 30's and 50's cause I love people... how can we email each other? who do we give the email to? It is difficult to write all this online in a support group.
Goodnite for now,
Anne
Take one in the morning with your breakfast or morning meds. That will help keep your stomach acid in control-where you'll be more comfortable during the day-can eat-take another one- and in about 2 weeks-depending on what you eat-you'll get where those 2 am episodes of acid going up into your nose become almost a thing of the past. Okay- I stopped reading at the Lipator-the main ingrediant is "Statin". Statin is made from black mold-That's why you have the lung trouble-you need to tell your doctor that. You just got to treat each symptom as a separate issue, and realize that your body is good, but statin is poison. It also made my GERD worse. I finally got where I could drink a cup of coffee in the morning-I have really bad IBS-I seldom took Zantac-maybe once a week if that. But-In July I finally began taking simvastatin- In Oct I began having seizures and peeing blood. Statin goes into old injuries-which we both have plenty of-but it does the stomach too.
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Statin would be why you have such incrediable pain in your joints-we all do-but joint replacements make it worse-lots worse. Most women really complain about the hips-I think that's from pregnancy-child birth and -yes-even sex- I'll say one thing-- I can tell that the statin hasn't ruined your mind. Many people get dementia from statin-we might be spending billions on millions of people that would be able to regain their minds, if they stopped taking statin. It's so sad--- in one of my earlier comments I said something like don't take statin-it'll make your problems worse cuz it makes those problems. You want to hear something funny- I'd call and try to get an appt. with my doctor for a statin problem-then go to an approved Urgent Care-the system got after me for going into Urgent Care-and I was told that if I was really ill, I'd go to the ER. The next time I got sick- I was peeing black again-I went to the ER-they had a $7,000 bill compared to a $250 bill. Now I can go where ever I want. I was dehydrating- Keep in touch with me-let me know how it goes- I'll friend you and you friend me. That way we can talk here or privately-which ever you want when you want-another thing statin causes premature aging- I'm 70 already- you know-I just didn't need any help in aging-- Talk to you later--- you might want to chart how you do with the Zantac-it might help you to make up your mind---
I'm aquarius too Jan 27
My birthday is January 27th... isn't that such a coincidence! By the way, what mg of the Zantac are you taking. My pills are 150mg the maximum strength and you know that it is Rentiidine. I have the Costco brand rather than the Zantac name. Perhaps I should purchase the other? I buy something that I am hoping is not quite as strong since I am so sensitive to medications. Let me know your opinion. I took the pill last nite (hour before bedtime) and now I am going to take one with breakfast.
Thanks so much Meyati
AquariusAnne
I get mine at Costco- 150 mg. FYI- a person and safely take about 2,800 mg of Zantac a day. I was that bad, where I took that much. abusive husband-divorce, etc. Then I got much better until I took the statins .
I tell people that I have the same birthday as Mozart- and Dave-of "Dave and the Chipmonks" then they see why I like to laugh and joke. I was the class clown-which befuddled my teachers, as I got good grades too.
Your system should get used to it in about 10 days-that sounds better than 2 weeks. You get a reaction from the stomach acid getting under control-and your system getting used to it. It's like a cattle stampede, you've got to ride hard and fast to get it under control-but you will get it under control. I don't know if you have stomach problems/pain- but I used to tell doctors that it helped kill pain-the doctor that put me on it used the term-Anestheize the stomach-others doctors said- what?- now my young current doctor said-it will help you with stomach pain-it anesthezes the stomach and kills pain--I just smiled at him-and wondered why I was so stubborn in restarting the regular use of this wonderful stuff. You'll feel different and then feel better, but it does take time-and our personalities hate being tied to a medicine-I want independence from meds and doctors, but I enjoy my cup of coffee and I enjoy not having pain and early morning stomach acid. I'd get it under control-then stop- My bad--
Hi Meyati, so sorry but when I looked at my post, I realize I wrote my birthday was January 27th and it is January 24th! Guess I was thinking about you writing that date. No, I do not have pain in my stomach only the horrors of the burning around my heart when I get the heartburn bad! I need to lose weight and it is difficult to do when walking is a problem. I do go to the pool which I am ready to do shortly but it isn't enough. I was on Prednisone for a year with the lung problem and that surely gets the weight ganging up on me. I take two meds a day which are triamterine (diuretic) and propanolol which is for familial tremors. I have bungy type blood pressure but most of the time it is in the 120's over the 70's but then it suddenly can shoot up to 150's over 90's so the diuretic and the propanolol which is a beta blocker helps the blood pressure.
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I started taking probiotics due to a recommendation of our vitamin here in town and that seems to have helped me so much. Without omeprazole every day, I do not get the sinus infections or the urinary tract infections anymore or the bad cough with so much mucous... by the way, I have had no heartburn today so far!!! I took that zanac last night. Thanks so much for your good advice!
AquariusAnne
darling-the 24th is good enough for us to have the same stubborn streak-at least you aren't connected to "Dave and the Chipmonks". Did you know that Mozart played the spinet with his butt, like Jerry Lee Lewis? And people wonder why I find life funny- Keep taking the Zantac as a preventive-as when it hits the acid it dissolves -and it's harsh when that happens in the throat. It's easier on us to have it dissolve down in the stomach-and we can be comfortable. The extreme acid and not having that valve in my throat with the air coming in, causes me to bloat in the chest, which causes pressure and burning around the heart. The Zantac will take care of that and reduce other medical problems caused by excess stomach acid. In 4 months you should be feeling better in many ways-they were slow in developing-then Voila!! you'll realise that you feel better.
Thanks so much for the input... will keep you up to date on what goes on here.
Have a wonderful day!
AquariusAnne