Hi, recently posted in gastritis but just wanted a moan really. Having been on esomeprazole for nearly 10 years now I have a endoscopy booked for the 18th and have to stop all meds including ranitidine which I take 150mg of along with 20mg eso. I cannot believe how hard this is, I really am concerned as to what these tablets are masking and have virtually convinced myself that the news will be bad. My dosage is really low but so necessary, this drug really takes hold and I now believe I will be on it for life. I have no acid or any problems apart from a little burning chest pain now and again when on meds, which goes with an extra 20mg, so how can it be so bad after just 3 days without anything?
I have been on PPI since 14 months and this drug made it worse for me after taking it for so long. I quit on 15th of November. Still having acid rebound, but everyday it goes a little bit better. Most of the times it's a long and tough proces. I'm using Gaviscon Advance every time I feel the burning coming up. That works very well. Hopefully that won't be necessary in a few months. For the rest I realy watch my food and I'm planning to continue that for the rest of my life.
Good luck and don't give up hope! There might even be a life possible without PPI. It has multiple disadvantages that are worth quitting for.
I have been taking ppis for alot longer and the way they work is they reduce stomach acid,so if you stop them suddenly the acid starts raging again giving you problems.If you were to attempt to come off them if that is possible for you,you have to do it gradually with help from your doctor,hope this helps and good luck with your tests,I think problems can seem worse if you are worrying.
I successfully weaned myself off ppis. The key is to do it very very gradually. I would pop open the capsule and pour the medicine out a little at a time. No acid rebound. It probably took about 2 months to completely stop the meds. Good luck to you.
Thank you for your replies. I wonder whether GP's actually understand about this rebound business as I only received the appointment on 31st December for 18th January telling me to come medication for 2 weeks, they just expect you to stop without weening yourself off gradually. I am trying but to be honest have had to take a ranitidine as it is unbearable. If I get through this without giving up I am going to try to come off altogether. Wish I had not started all them years ago but time whizzes by without you realising how long you are taking them for.
Hi, how long had you been on them before you decided to stop and what mg were you on? I really would like to come off them now that I have started. Thanks
I was on nexium 40 mg for about 3 months. I expeienced rebound before that and wanted to be extremely careful. I'm not anti ppis when they are absolutely necessary but they come with side effects and I wanted to see if I could manage by lifestyle changes. Super, super important that you stop very very slowly. I had no rebound the second time. The first time I did and I quit cold turkey. I wish you the best of luck!
Hi try taking zinc as it was mentioned to me and I started 3 days ago and cannot believe the difference. I cannot mention the one I am using as the moderator will delete it, just google zinc for reflux and it will come up.