Hello Everyone
Just wondering if some of you can give me your thoughts on whether Omeprazole might actually be contributing to my symptoms rather than helping them.
I've been on Omeprazole for about 3 years now, and was prescribed 40mg a day (20mg morning and 20mg evening), initially for suspected Gastritis / Stomach Ulcers. I was experiencing severe upper abdominal pain, like the top of my stomach was being scratched or torn apart, plus my bowel movements were very dark, tarry and smelly. After a few days of taking them I noticed my symptoms improved greatly, no more upper abdominal pain and eventually my bowel movements looked normal again.
The thing is, even though my symptoms improved, my doctor didn't seem to be in any great hurry to take me off Omeprazole, and has said to me in the past that they are pretty harmless really. So thinking I needed to take these constantly, I've never really addressed the issue of coming off them. In recent months I've read from others that this medication can actually do more harm than good.
From my point of view, I have been diagnosed with IBS with lots of bloating, burping flatulence, random abdominal pains. I've had endoscopy, colonoscopies, many blood, urine and stool tests in the last few years, all coming back normal. I have to take other medications and as such have to take these with water. I was wondering if my IBS symptoms are not IBS at all as my bowel movements are generally normal, albeit I only go every two to three days, but I'm putting this down to being on a low residue diet. I have this suspicion that I'm lowering my stomach acid levels too much, then diluting the acid with water, making the acid in my stomach ineffective in starting the digestion process. This has led me to wonder if I actually have partially undigested food going through my bowels, which in turn could cause the IBS symptoms.
I hope this makes sense, I've tried to explain as briefly as I can without waffling on, and I'd be interested and very grateful to know what you think of this theory.