Taking Meds for Acid Reflux?
 

I know there are some here and remember some people talking about taking Prilosec every day. Came across this study that's making it's way around the news sites. It's a rather large sample size and while it doesn't show a direct correlation, it's pretty interesting.

Some heartburn drugs may boost risk of heart attack, study finds | News Center | Stanford Medicine

I've been on Prilosec for a couple years now and this scares me a bit. Thinking of moving over to Zantac even though I know it doesn't work as well.

I have to agree with your thoughts. I've been on Prilosec for a few years now and I'm with you, maybe it's time to switch it up. A 20% increase may not end up being that much in all honesty, you could be talking an increase in the tenths of a percent toward the increased likelihood of a heart attack. Similarly there are probably bigger risk factors that could be reduced like losing weight that would have a larger impact on reducing your overall risk.

My wife takes Protonix which is a prescription PPI. Thanks for the post.

I've been taking Prilosec once a day for about 10 years now. I've been suffering from acid reflux since I was a kid. In 2005, my GI found the beginnings of Barret's esophagus. I've had a few endoscopies since then and the condition seems to have done away.

I was supposed to have my first ever "stress test" tomorrow, but had to cancel. I will be sure to re-schedule it soon.

I just listened to an NPR piece about this, and while it does worry me, I probably couldn't function if it weren't for those PPIs.

My first trip to the Gastroenterologist (sp?) was in 5th grade. Upper GI and barium enema. Since then, I've also had 3 colonoscopies and 4 upper-endoscopies. I just had both on Tuesday. I have something called Barrett's esophagus, pre-cancerous cells in my stomach and a lot of polyps in my colon. I also have internal hemorrhoids that my gastro doc said that I need to have surgically removed.

So yeah, I might have a slightly higher chance for a heart attack, but if I didn't take these meds, I would likely die of cancer of some type.

I'll keep taking omeprozole twice a day.

I used to get reflux frequently, but since I changed my diet to include less meat and processed food, and more fruits and veggies, I rarely ever get heartburn. Just offering a different possible solution to the problem.

I take omeprazole and really cant function too well after missing them 2 or 3 days.
Had open heart quad bypass in 08 and two failed total occlusion surgeries this year... Could be connected but it also could be my diabetes, my light use of andro back in the 90's and my slightly fat self of 300 pounds.....

Yeah for some it seems the potential risk is worth it.

Worth noting that I spoke to my brother about this. He's a chemist who works for a major pharmaceutical company. He did say that the study doesn't mean PPIs are causing this. It could be a number of other factors such as people who use PPIs may more likely to be overweight or have other issues that can lead to heart attacks.

My biggest concern is how bad the acid reflux will get without Prilosec. When I've missed a few days in the past, I could start feeling it coming on strong. Has anyone had experience with Zantac?

Interesting timing for this thread as today has been the worst day I have ever had with acid reflux. I have gotten bouts of it now and again and while the times that I have gotten it in the middle of a meal has been much worse for the short term (feeling like there is acid in my throat to where I don't even want to open my mouth to talk) it had always subsided relatively quickly.

Today, however, never got to that extreme level but has been relatively bad for the past 7 hours or so.

The fact that correlations do not show causality is Statistics 101. It could quite likely be what's known as the third variable problem. Your example of overweight people taking PPIs is a good one. Another is that there is a positive correlation between ice cream consumption and drowning. Clearly eating ice cream doesn't cause drowning -- the third variable is hot weather.

My case of acid reflux is pretty bad, and I've been taking GERD meds for probably 10 years, maybe longer. I read an article sometime last year essentially stating the same thing -- that PPIs may lead to increased heart problems. After reading that I tried to reduce (and eventually stopped) the amount of Dexilant I was taking. After a few weeks I felt as if I was having breathing issues. I didn't even think that it was acid reflux related. I went to my doctor and he got around to asking if I was still taking my Dexilant. I told him no and mentioned the article about the PPIs and heart issues. He told me that that was one study and other studies had shown no such thing. This one linked in this thread is a new study, and now I'm wondering if because there's smoke, there's fire. However, since I've been taking the Dexilant again, no more chest (breathing, GI) issues.

The best course might be to take the H2 blockers if they work for you. I've tried nearly everything, I think, and Dexilant has worked the best. Protonix was good for me too, but the generic version did not seem to work for me at all which is why I was switched to the Dexilant. For me, it might be a case of picking my poison. So for now, I'm sticking with the PPI.

Im taking 40mg of omeprazole daily. I cant go much longer than 24 hours without it, I hate it so much and now this makes me even more worried being that ive had 2 heart attacks already and im only 41. Party!

I found out the hard way that I can't take Prilosec - it made every muscle in my body ache and I didn't even have the strength to turn a door knob. So, I switched to Zantac and now take the generic form of ranitidine. Unlike Prilosec, Zantac for me has been something to take only when I'm symptomatic. It mostly does the trick, but there's still that period before it kicks in when you have to deal with the discomfort. I've gone weeks at a time when I've been able to manage the problem strictly through diet and exercise and haven't needed to take a pill. Then there are months like this one, where stress and some bad eating have made me a daily consumer.

Another video related to reflux.

I've had mixed results over some 30 years worth of stomach issues.

For me, nothing ever worked as well as ol' reliable Tagamet (not even sure it's prescribed at all any more)

Zantac was, eh, it was alright on its best day. Often as not, compared to Tagamet, I couldn't tell I'd taken anything.

Not sure I've used Prilosec enough to have a read on it, but since it's an everyday thing whereas my issues are sporadic now, not really my thing.

Well I'm 2 weeks off Prilosec and so far, so good. Been popping Zantac occasionally as well as Tums. But I've really cleaned up my diet a lot and I think that's having a bigger role. Noticed my heartburn at it's worst when I'd eat a lot of garbage.

I was on a couple of reflux medications. First, Ratinidine(sp?) which helped for a while, then had to upgrade to pantaprazole which worked really well. Then I lost 60 pounds and was able to ditch the meds entirely for three years. Now my weight has crept back up and the reflux is starting again. Lesson learned is that diet and exercise is the best solution.