Has anyone successfully weaned themselves off omeprazole?

[Fairslice]

I've been taking it since last May, 20mg a day (prescribed- I broke my arm and needed strong painkillers for a while and theyve just kept renewing it). When I stopped taking it, the acid reflux was awful, so I carried on. Spoke to the GP and he said don't just stop, taper off by taking one every other day. So I've been doing that for a few weeks now and at the weekend I stopped altogether. The indigestion is really bad and I've been using gaviscon a lot.

I've googled long term omeprazole and read lots of horror stories about malabsorption of nutrients and dementia.

Anyone else?

Mm ok. I'm not sure my GP is trying to kill me.

Because the emerging possible risks of Omeprazole are less damaging than a stomach ulcer or persistent GERD. The drug might worsen some of the risks of old age - or it might not. Chronic gut disease is very likely to worsen your chances of reaching old age.

Everything's a balance.

Or alternatively ask your pharmacist for Peptac liquid. It has the same formulation as Gaviscon advance but costs around four quid a bottle

If you ask for Gaviscon Advance to be prescribed prescribing guidelines will mean you get prescribed Peptac and if you pay for your prescriptions you'll be paying double for something you can get over the counter

What your suffering with is called the rebound effect my teen nearly got that a couple of years ago he was put on omaprazole due to his acid reflux by A&E they told him to take it for a few weeks forgot the part where we shouldn't just stop dead or you will end up in twice as much pain 🙄 he cannot come off them

My son is trying silica gel I think it's called. He gets flare ups when very stressed with work.

Exactly. I take it for gastritis, and while it doesn't always work I'm prepared to risk the side effects rather than return to the miserable existance I had before taking it, when I had pain almost every day and was living on Gaviscon and paracetomol.

What if you have a hiatus hernia causing the reflux & omeprazole helps it.. if you stop taking it the hiatus hernia doesn't go away & the symptoms continue.. my doc says better to protect your oesophagus getting damaged due to acid reflux than worry about potential long term side effects....? Any medical professional on this thread can advise??

I have a 5cm sliding hiatus hernia. Came off them. But I am very careful with my diet.

I stopped taking Lansoprazole recently as I thought I was taking it to counter the effects of Naproxen which I have stopped taking. I had awful acid reflux and heartburn so started taking it again. I thought it had been masking these effects not causing them. Am I wrong, is that what you are saying?

Actually, just googling it it says they inhibit of the effect of clopidogrel, which I am also taking following a TIA. Should I be worried? I am at the moment!

It gave me bowel incontinence. Awful drug.

Not enough people know about this. It is particularly implicated in hip fractures.

I came off it with great difficulty, by tossing down tonnes of antacids. Now have a 10mg formula for rare occasions when it seems necessary. Hope to never have to use it regularly again. I got horrible reflux for months after I came off it, but it was worth persisting with the dietary restrictions I made, and all the antacids and glasses of water. It really is a nasty, if helpful drug. Lost a lot of hair after being on it, also, as it blocks uptake of misc. nutrients and minerals...

The only thing that stopped my acid reflux was stopping drinking and losing quite a bit of weight.

Long term use is also heavily implicated in kidney disease...

I just read you're supposed to stop eating AND drinking 3hrs before bed. I thought it was just eating and down lots of water just before bed 😅

PPIs do have long term implications but like all drugs you have to weigh up risk v benefit.

I was prescribed it last year for gastritis. I was happy to take it short term but didn't want to take it long term because of the link with osteoporosis (which I already have). I took it for 3 months then stopped. Have occasionally taken it for a week but stick to gaviscon or cheaper generic versions if I can.
Nexium is also a PPI but can be bought over the counter.

I started mine due to heartburn from a sliding hiatus hernia too, and the doc asked if I could reduce them years ago, and I tried and failed.
if I had realised the significance them I would have tried harder back then and hopefully avoided the osteoporosis.
it was only when I totally shattered my shoulder after falling from only 1 stair up, and lost over an inch of arm length due to the bone crush that I knew I had a problem, and at that point found that my previous back spasm was actually a spinal fracture.

Yes I did, I was prescribed 40mg daily for life after my Whipple procedure, I stopped last year and felt so sick for a month I lost a stone in weight.

I came off lansoprazole earlier in the year, it's in the same category of meds. It took a couple of weeks with a fair amount of heartburn, but I managed it. The heartburn eventually settled down and now I've been off it ever since.

I had to take 10mg of Nexium last night.

Off to boots today for Gaviscon advance/peptac

Alcohol is terrible for my acid stomach so I rarely drink. I could lose 1 or 2 stone ota true.

This woman has some good tips for gastritis:

The Calm Gut - How to heal Gastritis naturally

Also, I use the Gaviscon tablets, rather than the liquid, and just buy them when on special. The surgeon who did my last endoscopy said Gaviscon was good.

Boots own brand is the same as gaviscon but cheaper. Also try good old fashioned Rennie's and Andrews liver salts.

PPIs - all ‘azoles’ are the devil’s work.
I stopped taking a few months ago, I told my go they made my reflux worse and she said ‘double the dose’ - I came off them and am no worse and I’m slowly improving.

Your acid levels should go back to normal after a couple of weeks - take gaviscon advance and eat a low acid & bland diet.

I would rather take the risk than spend the rest of my life eating a bland diet! For me it was a choice between Omeprazole or living on paracetamol - Gaviscon alone doesn't work for my gastritis.