Has anyone else tried omeprazole?

[Sage321]

I got prescribed this by a Doctor but have an irrational fear of taking new medication, as I reacted badly to something years ago and ended up quite ill. Has anyone had a reaction to it? Does it help acid indigestion quickly?
Grateful for any replies/help to put my mind at ease. I'm desperate to get rid of this acid reflux. Think I just need a bit of encouragement to take it. Fully accept I'm being irrational.
Thank you x

Those are scary risks.
As predicted by a pp, it has come back worse than ever! I have Gaviscon but it doesn't really cut it. I had chilli yesterday which usually doesn't cause it, but I have had IBS type symptoms ever since. Even water is like drinking molten lava! I'm wondering now whether it's a virus.
I think like you say, I have to find other ways around it by not eating spicy foods and avoiding wine which always triggers it.
But omg it was so nice to have a month where I could eat and drink what I wanted..Maybe I should have waited until Xmas to take them!

If you read the article and the comments, the results are questionable and not as significant statistically as the study suggests.
The relationship between chronic reflux and gastro oesophageal cancers is much stronger/significant.

I have noticed that chocolate is my biggest trigger and although I’m not a big chocolate eater ( perhaps once a week ) it definitely triggers it.

I had it to protect my stomach from other medication. But it made me feel so ill I had to stop it.

I have taken omeprazole for over 10 years and have found it suits me well, no side effects.

I lasted about three days on them. I was very unwell, but I get reactions to loads of drugs, so not a surprise. My GP said I had every side effect he had ever heard of so I was just unlucky

Interesting reading as I started taking it 6 months ago and have managed to lose a stone as it cuts my appetite feeling of having to eat to make the acid feeling go away. I have no gall bladder but it does worry me trying to come off them as every-time I’ve accidentally missed one I started to feel really ill by the evening.

I've noticed chocolate isn't good for my gastritis, nor coffee - and I love both. 😭

I had to take it after a bad bout of gastritis, I also have h.hernia. I already have osteoporosis so was reluctant but it was necessary for the short term.
I stopped it two weeks ago and no ill effects. Will take it if I need NSAIDs but otherwise avoid.
It gave me terrible wind plus constipation but it did sooth my stomach.

I've been on it for years on and off for gastritis and reflux. I'm at a point now where if I get a flare up I just go back on it for a while.

The only thing that keeps my flare ups at bay longer - hear me out on this - is regular yoga. Just seems to calm my gut right down.

I've taken it every morning for years. No problems at all.

I take 20mg omeprazole every morning. It’s made a huge difference to my acid reflux

Excellent stuff. I noticed the difference from the first day I took it. No side effects, even 10 years on.

DH takes it and has no issues - if anyone was going to have issues it would be DH but nothing.

For the sake of full disclosure he forgot to order more and thought he would be fine.

He wasn't 😬

I've taken it for stomach ulcers before and it's worked really well with no side effects.

My ds is taking it for acid reflux. Tbh he says it doesn’t completely work for him-some days are still quite bad (he’s on his third month and doctor started him on 20mg but increased it to 40mg after first month). After a month on omeprazole without much improvement we changed his diet and pattern of eating and that’s made more of a difference. I joined a Facebook support group and the members there recommended the Acid Watcher diet book which is what we’ve been using. I also bought another recently from Amazon which has a lot more recipes in it but I can’t remember the title and he’s taken it to university with him!

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been re-introducing a few foods (1 per day) to see if we can identify triggers. He is awaiting a referral for endoscopy.

Interesting that some of you have experienced rebound symptoms in stopping omeprazole. I’ll mention that to him. He’d been feeling much better and was thinking of reducing/stopping the pills. It’s as well to be forewarned.

Take it 30 minutes before eating. Had no issues at all with it.

Hi everyone
Thanks for all your posts. It's interesting to read all the different experiences of taking it

Jellycat yes the acid is now even worse now I've finished the course. Rennies and Gaviscon do absolutely nothing and Gaviscon isn't cheap. I've taken to drinking milk all day and even that doesn't stop it completely. I would strongly advise either to not start them in the first place or stay on them if you are taking them. Awful! Back to the GP I go!

I was very circumspect about it but, after, ranitidine was withdrawn, I was taking insane amounts of Gaviscon so figured a medically controlled regime would be better. It really does work!

I have oesophagitis (I think; got a bunch of diagnoses at once) and have been aspirating food debris. Controlling the acid should give the oesophagus a chance to heal and, importantly, no reflux means less manky food getting into my lungs.

For most situations, omeprazole will relieve reflux until the cause of the problem goes away or is healed. Coming off it may mean taking lots of over-the-counter antacids for a few weeks, but then you should be able to tail those off easily. I already did that before getting my diagnoses. I'll probably be on it for ever now, as the aspiration will always be a risk.

@BooseysMom, you can buy esomeprazole at the chemist's. It's a related PPI, but amenable to use as needed (and less effective, though good). I took it while coming off omeprazole.

I went onto that as an alternative. Yes I did have rebound reflux for a bit. Now I find one of those and the odd glug of Maalox keep my GERD under control.

It works well but avoid long term use if at all possible. It has been strongly linked to B-12 deficiency and (more scary) osteoporosis. That applies to all meds in the PPI class.

After using it for several years for reflux I had a terrible time discontinuing it. Rebound acid reflux was a nightmare. I eventually tapered my dose a little at a time and after a rough few weeks was successful in getting off the stuff.

There are conflicting studies regarding PPI use and increased risk of stomach cancer, atrophic gastritis and dementia. Most gastro specialists are concerned enough about this that they warn against long-term use unless absolutely unavoidable.

Long term it can affect the absorption of nutrients as it effectively stops or limits your stomach acid production.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32718584/

GarlicGrace thanks for your post. You've had a rough time but good that you've found relief from the pain. I will try the esomeprazole I wish they'd never given me the omeprazole now. They said I'd only need a month's prescription and that should sort it...what bollocks!

LifesShortTalkFast thanks for your post. I should have never started it as the packaging should've been a warning in itself. It's the same as this really horrible strong antibiotic called Clarithymicin which causes awful side effects in me. The Omeprazole also caused a nasty taste in my mouth which still hasn't gone.

CherryMyBrandy
Thanks for the link.
The acid has finally settled after 10 hours of non-stop burning! I took 3 teaspoons of Gaviscon in utter desperation! I'm terrified the pills have caused my stomach lining to dissolve or something!!

@BooseysMom When I started taking it back in 2013 there wasn't much talk about the "rebound" effect where reflux is worse when you try to stop the medication. But now it is recognized as a side effect of long-term use and the result of having so little stomach acid for the time you are on the medication.

But I was eventually successful in getting off the med and while I occasionally get mild reflux it's manageable and I haven't touched a PPI in 5 years.

I hope you're able to get some relief!