Quote:
Originally Posted by RainMaker
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?
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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.