Side effects and withdrawal advice

Treatment and medication
1

Hi All

Apologies if this has already been covered in various discussions, but I just want to confirm my doubts about Lansoprazole. 

Just over a year ago I started getting chest pains and a fluttering or spasm in my diaphragm that only lasted a few seconds but it would make me heart go like the clappers or at least feel like it was. This mainly happened happened why lying in bed at night, but I'd also get a few weird bouts of it during the the day. This carried on for some time then around September last year my GP put me on Lansoprazole 30mg. All seemed great to start with, chest pains seemed to ease off drastically and for a little while I felt almost 100% again.

Then gradually over the past few month the following has started to happen. 

• Stomach pains isolated to just below the left or right ribs, lasts a few days or so then swaps sides, goes for a few days and then starts again. I'm not doubled up with pain and can still function but it's an annoying constant dull ache which gets aggravated by sitting upright. 

• Pains on my ribs, I can press specific spots on my chest and lower ribs and it feels like small bruises. 

• Muscle pain after the gym that now lasts for weeks, it feels like my muscles don't seem to want to repair and my body has shut down or gone into slow mo. I normally train 4 to 5 times a week, but now I've had to cut down and can't lift anywhere near my normal weights without causing weeks of pain. This again seem most isolated to my chest, upper stomach and back.

• Then just before christmas I've started getting this really weird head feeling. It's not dizziness as such but for a few fleeting seconds, kind of like a dull ache. I bit like when you wake up with a hangover. Seems to happen most when driving for some reason or looking down.

• Also I'm now getting bouts of gas about 2 hours after eating and if I have filtered coffee or chocolate I feel like I'm having a weird anxiety attack and just need to get out of where I am. Plus I'm getting acid reflux I can actually feel which I never felt before taking these.  

I've been back to the doctors who just looked at me like I was a mad man and to be quite honest I did feel like a hypochondriac. He sent me for an ultrasound which was all clear, got test for H Pylori, again all clear. Got my eyes tested for the head issues, all fine there as well. Went and had a few sessions with an osteopath, helped a little by putting my mind at ease about not having a heart attack but generally didn't solve much else.

So a 5 days ago I stopped taking Lansoprazole and I have to say I felt pretty crap.

• Stomach pan under left ribs much worse than before.

• Bad pain under left shoulder blade that radiates through to my chest.

• Odd moments when I feel like my chest and back muscle just tense up for no reason, like when you're really cold. This is normally accompanied by my throat or jaw going numb and tingly for a few seances or so. 

• Shooting pains across my chest and feeling a bit light headed. 

So with all that in mind I really just wanted to try and find out how many of my symptoms may have been caused by using lansoprazole and which symptoms do people get coming off it and how long should these last for.

Many thanks for any advice or help on this worryingly weird and hopefully short journey!

• 

2

Hi Mumbojumbo,

I have had GERD more or less my whole life and have been on Lansoprazole for the last 9 years. I also get chest pains and anxiety when my GERD is bad. I've been told by doctors that a lot of patients go to A&E thinking they are having a heart attack from the chest pains and it has actually resulted in bad acid re flux!

Have you had an endoscopy? As it could potentially be ulcers?

If you find the lansoprazole usually works, I would say that it sounds like your acid has 'flared-up' potentially due to stress or other life events...? Mine often flares up if I drink too much!  

​I would (personally) up your lansoprazole to 45msg for a week to allow the acid to calm down again and then go back to 30 (usually works for me!)

RE coming off Lansoprazole ...

I wouldn't advise trying to come off Lans if you are feeling under the weather... rather, wait until you are feeling pretty good otherwise you could only be putting yourself back. Especially if your esophagus is inflamed by the acid (i.e chest pains/ heart burn).

Even when you do feel well enough to come off lansoprazole do not just stop straight away i.e cold turkey! As this can cause a sudden burst of acid which may make your symptoms come back, instead try and cut back slowly 30 one day and then 15 the next, then 30, then 15 etc… until again you feel fine doing this. Once ready, you can then begin to cut back to just 15 every day. If you feel fine after taking just the 15msg for a while, try 15 one day and none the next and so on again until you feel fully able to come off completely.

Nevertheless, I would 100% discuss with your GP 😊

I hope this helps!

3

Mumbojumbo,

Why did your doctor put you on :Lansoprazole?  As I read your post, I am just shaking my head b/c I have experienced/am experiencing about 90% of the symptoms you detailed.  I got the same reactions from my PCP and my GI doctor that these symptoms were not due to the lansoprazole I didn't experience pain so much but tightness especially in my upper back which just radiated everywhere (chest, shoulders and even down to my legs).  I also experienced the brain fog that you wrote about along with bad episodes of vertigo. 

I still can't confirm that all this is due to lansoprazole but I can't see what else would be causing it.  I took lansoprazole for 3-4 years and stopped about 2 years ago.  I have been experiencing symptoms for the last 1.5 years.  The brain fog and vertigo have gone away but I still have muscle tightness issues.  Currently these symptoms are not as bad as they used to be but I still have good and bad days.  Lansoprazole eliminates acid production and as a result can deplete essential vitamins and minerals your body needs.  Typically magnesium, calcium and potassium.  If you have not already done so, please get your levels checked.  Ask if the doctor can prescribe an intracellular blood level check.  I have been really focusing on a lot of massage and muscle trigger point release to alleviate much of the tightness.  I can feel a lot of muscle "knots" that needs to be addressed.  It is uncomfortable but I feel much better than I used to.  Probably not what you wanted to hear but I hope your journey is a lot shorter than mine.  It was very debilitating for a while.  I didn't even feel like doing any sort of physical activity.  At least I am back in the gym now and getting in some cardio.  Let me know if you have any other questions.

Best of luck!

4

Must admit I didn't have all symptoms but was very determined to get off lansoprazol as had read so much evidence against it.  I did manage it but only very slowly - I tried going cold turkey and as  amhy21728 said I wouldn't recommend!!  It was awful for two days and I then went back on as I couldn't take a third day.  Took 4 months, reducing the dose by openning capsule and tipping half out, and so on until I was on very little and stopped completely.  My symptoms of gerd etc. have not gone completely but are much better following several courses of Silicolgel (it doesn't cure the problem but certainly helps re-educating your gut.) I still use Gaviscon sometimes to deal with gerd.  I definitely have flair ups after eating foods which I know I shouldn't!  The ones that everyone mentions, coffee - dark chocolate - fried foods - tomatoes - indian food.....I try very hard to eat live yoghurt and unprocessed foods, hardly any bread as this seems to set me off.  My doctor suggested I try Ranitidine to see if this would help re-educate my gut.  I have found that very good - its not a PPI so less of a potential problem.  Having got onto a better diet (most of the time!) I am now concentrating on more exercise.

Good luck - it can get so demoralizing that its hard to stick with diet etc. but definitely helps so keep going.  

5

sorry cant help - I just got diarrhea with lansoprazole - I took it for 2 weeks and came straight off it. I have heard that if you've been on it a while , coming off it too quickly can cause a rebound effect where you make even more acid.

 

6

hi, just been researching my symptoms after taking 30mg lansoprazole for 8 weeks.

They appear to be identical to yours.

I have even been taken to A&E thinking it was a heart attack.

Can I ask did get pains and aches in your legs? Especially calfs and quads?

Also when did you start to feel 'normal' again after you stopped taking the lansoprazole?

7

hi everyone, i know this forum may be a little bit old but its the most important information i have found since i have been struggling with lanzoprazole. i have taken this tablet for 4 months being wrongly presecibed it for acid reflux which i never had !!! 3 months down the line of still feeling extremely unwell, nausea, vomitting and not eating i was tested for h pylori and it was positive. i completed my treatment of antibiotics and then carried on with lanzoprazole for a week. after feeling no better i came to google for answers. i became extremely anxious for no reason i couldnt leave the house, still nauseous everyday, just feeling generally sad. i realised lanzoprazole could make me feel like this so i stopped it cold turkey. i have just experienced the worse 5 days of my life. dizziness, chest pain, aching arms, extreme nasaua and vomitting, crying for hours with no reason. rang GP and i was told twice this medication could not do this... I COMPLETELY DISAGREE lanzopraole is poison. Hoping to feel better soon

8

How are you feeling now - I'm in a similar position and I've found all sorts of relevant info online about how awful ppi's are. I stopped 2 weeks ago but still having anxiety, heart palpitations etc

9

ive been on them for three days and stopped and bow 7 days later i get muscular pain all over my chest especially where the heart is and shoulder and i have a tight feeling on my muscle on the back left. the doctor did an ecg and said my heart is all fine.

i literally got so scared. i just wanna know how long these symtpoms lasted for you and i got really bad depression from it to

please feel free to private message me

10

shawnlaconi, apologies for the delay. as of today, i still experience muscle tightness in my back, shoulders, ribs (especially on my left side). I have been feeling it a bit more on my right. like you all of my tests have come out negative so i am still chasing this "thing". Fortunately, I have not experienced any depression but do fight fatigue. I have my good days and bad days with this syndrome. I have read a bit more on chronic digestive issues. My rationale being that these PPIs have somehow affected the digestive cycle (or parts of it) which is affecting nutrient absorption. I take supplements but perhaps they are not getting digested and absorbed like they should be. Anyway, symptoms of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency include: muscle cramping, pain in the center of the stomach that radiates to the back, joint/bone pain. The pain is characterized as a dull/aching pain, which for me is spot on. So I am going to go to the gastro and see if I can be tested for that. In the meantime I do plan on taking pancreatin to see if I get any improvement over the next serveral weeks. Best of luck to you. Post or PM me if you need to.

11

hi - im late coming to this post but wondered how you are getting on? i was on lansoprazole 30mg each night for 4 months. i came off cold turkey as have to have a test and they dont like you on it. i'm 6 days in and still feel bad! nausuea, upper stomach aching, skaking! wonderinf how others have faired?

12

Unfortunately not great! I am now nearly 5 months after stopping taking lansoprazole. I am still having really bad anxiety & don't feel like myself at all 😔 Doctor was very dismissive and gave me no help, almost laughed when I mentioned a ppi side effect. I have signed up to 8 weeks of counselling sessions through work and am doing a computer based cbt course, and just keeping my fingers crossed. When I had the same reaction 10 years ago to Omeprazole it took 6 months ish, with cbt to go back to feeling normal!

13

im so sorry - but CBT in my experience is fantastic so hopefully that will help. did you have any other withdrawal effects? i hope they've all cleared up for you so you don't have even more to deal with x

14

I had heart palpitations, which have definitely reduced, more or less gone. I had leg pain in my right thigh which has now gone. But the main thing for me is anxiety & I feel like I'm not myself anymore - I've never suffered from mental health issues until I took omeprazole, luckily it eventually went away. I'm hoping this is going to be the same, it's probably worse this time due to covid and being locked down etc.

15

i was prescribed lansaprazole 2 years ago as i kept getting pain in my right side under the ribs . I was told i had GERD and this caused the pain. I am also on blood thinners and statins and so this drug was recommended to help with those as they can cause excess acid. I noticed after about 18 months i kept getting pins and needles in my left arm and hand, faster heart rate at night (where i could hear my heartbeat in my head!). muscle aches and pain, pain in right side under ribs and a lower back ache. i had blood tests, xray of back and ultrasound of gallbladder, kidneys, liver and spleen.. all clear!!
so about 3 months ago i decided to wean myself off the lansaprazole slowly and literally counted out the granules from the capsule 100 at a time for a week at a time. when i got down to the last 100 i stopped. i have now been off the capsules for about 3 weeks and i have started getting nausea each morning , waking me around 5am but going once i eat breakfast. i think this is withdrawal... what has stopped though are the pins and needles in my arms and the heart beating. i am also getting hot and clammy. the backache has gone, the pain in mu side has gone. i am going to perservere for a while and when i feel nauseous i drink fresh ginger tea and eat lighter meals. i will let you know jow things go.

16

i realise this post is two years old but i had to comment as ive has issues for so long with lansoprazole. i was on it for years and managed to get myself off it with apple cider vinegar, probiotics and eating things that i thought helped like fresh pineapple and greek yoghurt but i eventually then developed such bad and embarrassing issues that i count bare it anymore and went back on it as i could not afford and still cant afford to see an alternative doctor. Anyway my issues had resurfaced after about 18 months on lansoprazole so i, perhaps stupidly, went cold turkey off the lansoprazole and a week later im miserable, nauseous, afraid to go far from a loo and have reflux really badly im struggling to swallow. Just before i came off it id had a week of what i presume was colic from my gall bladder. I started taking TUDCA which very quickly worked on stopping my gall bladder pain and colic. Then ileft it a week or so and began taking betsin hydrochloride with meals and a digestive enzyme. im getting less pain and cramps but still feel very queasy and unwell and frequently need to run to a loo. Im getting so tempted to give in and take the damn medication but im also stubborn and ice gone a week like this now. Anyone know of a good place to go for advice thats affordable? I dont dare take probiotics as they can make things worse if thers any bacterial overgrowth issues but i dont know how to find out what the hell is going on in there 😞 hope someone sees this! 🤞