Omeprazole

[Jellycat70]

Hi , I’ve been prescribed Omeprazole for a month from my GP for acid , has anyone taken it for a month and stopped it without a rebound effect .

What rebound effect?

My friend took it & found it hard to stop she was in a lot of pain and had to keep taking them
I don’t think they are good long term they have side effects like most drugs which includes a vitamin b deficiency taken long term
I’d just like to take them short term

I didnt know about vitamin B deficiency, I know they leach calcium out ofyou and theres a risk of osteoporosis. I have to take them because I had a gastric sleeve, the surgeon says I need to be on PPIs for life so Im worried about that, I didnt know there was a rebound effect. Been on them 2 years now, but in hindsight I think I have always suffered silent reflux for decades now that I understand the symtoms.

Well, it depends what you mean about rebounding effect.
Omeprazole will lower you stomach acid. Presumably to help with your heartburn, or to help heal the damage to your oesophagus from acid reflux.

What happens after you stop it - hard to tell. Omeprazole does not address the causes of your heartburn, or increased acidity. Those you need to figure out on your own. There are some known triggers - coffee, oily food, spices, etc. You will need to figure out what causes yours and see if you can modify your diet or meals. Some people manage, some stay on Omeprazole for long, but long term usage has its downsides.

For me, I have been on Omeprazole for a bit, and the relief had been great. When I got off it - I probably used Gaviscon for a bit, and mostly made sure my diet changed. For me - introducing more fiber into my diet helped me manage my persistent heartburn.

I think they do generally cause a rebound effect which is why people get stuck on them forever. You could try a H2 blocker instead but if possible you want to try to address the underlying cause.

I moved into Guardium when I finished my course

I take omeprazole when taking naproxen / ibuprofen (not at the same time) which isn't everyday and have no ill effects from not taking it constantly

I've taken it for years, I have a very complicated digestive system. I stopped taking it about 18 months ago and got rebound nausea, it probably lasted a month or so, I lost about a stone during that time because feeling sick I had little appetite.

I have taken esomeprazole for years because I have Addisons disease and have to take steroids life long because of it. Most people with Addisons take some sort of ppi long term. It’s not necessarily a given that you develop deficiencies on them; I haven’t. And actually even if you did then b12 is fairly easy to replace, much easier than repairing an oesophagus damaged by stomach acid. Taking omeprazole short term is a very different thing anyway.

Having researched this to the nth degree, silent reflux is not much helped by diet apparently, reflux with heartburn on the other hand can be supported by dietary and lifestyle changes to some degree. Silent reflux is better treated by meds apparently. I am still going to try the acid diet at some point this year however to test this out.

You could try the acid watcher diet instead....I've been on it for a week and things have calmed down a lot. I take an esomeprazole every other day but find it lasts a few hours less than 48 hours. I always feel the acid kicking back in (and still do even on this diet) so I don't know how I will ever stop but I need to try because having no stomach acid isn't a good idea....it's there for a reason, to help digest food and to kill bacteria.

Many people say that reflux is often caused by low stomach acid, which causes undigested food to enter the duodenum, creating gas which pushes open the valve at the top of the stomach. I don't know how true this is but if I could go back in time I'd attempt to fix the low stomach acid.

Also remember that a lot of stomach issues are caused primarily by stress.

I think PPIs have their place but they're a cash cow for the pharmaceutical companies.

Hi all, joining this as I have been dealing on and off with what I think is acid reflux, or possibly silent reflux but not sure which. I'm 46 and have been on HRT for probs 2.5 years.

Mine presents as a persistent menthol taste in my mouth and throat, but with a bit of heartburn thrown in too for good measure. 😵‍💫
It's really starting to get me down. I've been on lansoprazol since last October and was doing loads better, but it's suddenly started up again.

I need to look into this acid diet that some of you have mentioned. I'm so fed up.

@ethelredonagoodday Have you looked into hrt being the cause of your reflex? Mine was a lot better when I lowered my oestrogen. Supposedly oestrogen relaxes the lower oesophigial splincter.

Oh I've not, but I suppose it could be related? Argh, just solving one problem and making others worse. 😵‍💫

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I've been on omeprazole for 8 years. As well as nausea and acid taste in my mouth I would periodically have the worst back pain spasms with acid reflux (think gallstone pain and you'll get the idea). I haven't had any adverse side effects to my knowledge. If the choice is agonising pain or not agonising pain then I'm going to keep taking it.

Edit: sorry have just realised this hasn't really engaged with the original post. I haven't stopped taking it so can't comment on a rebound effect. But as a response to concerns about long term use, I haven't had an issues. Whether or not 8 years counts as long term im not sure. I also take supplements anyway so hopefully that would mitigate any vitamin deficiency issues

I was on Omeprazole for GERD / slient reflux for a while but over time it stopped working for me and I switched to Lansoprazole. Same thing - worked for a while but gradually had to start increasing the dose (on GP's instructions) to get the same effect.
In the end I came off it by stepping down the dose over several weeks. I definitely saw an increase in acid reflux during that time but nothing debilitating. I don't think it is recommended to just go cold turkey.
That was several years ago now and my symptoms have more or less abated, but when I have a flare up I use Gaviscon advance (the stuff in the red bottle, usually sold OTC).

You're not supposed to just stop taking omeprazole, you have to reduce the dose. I've been on them since last summer