another ppi failed

  • Thread starter Thread starter melkon
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melkon

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Writing this in the middle of the night, as I lie awake again with my chest/back/throat on fire. For 12+ years I was on prilosec/omeprazole 20mg which worked wonderfully to control my GERD, but about 4 mos. ago it basically stopped working. My doc had me bump up to 40mg, which didn't help.

Now for the last two weeks I've been on protonix/pantoprazole 40mg which isn't helping much either. I've also been trying acupuncture and supplements (magnesium & calcium) which isn't helping much. I guess the next PPI to try is prevacid/lansoprazole. I'm getting really scared as I feel I'm running out of options.

Why did my wonder drug prilosec stop working? Am I just not responding to PPIs anymore? Did my condition just get alot worse since I'm getting older and I've had this maddening condition for so long?

I guess I'm just looking for some kind of hope that I will be able to get some kind of medication therapy that will help me. I'm very scared that I won't be able to get back to how good I felt for the last decade. I feel miserable now and I can't work/sleep/eat. Getting horribly anxious about it all and suicidal thoughts are starting to creep in. I'm very dubious about the surgical options and don't want to consider those except as a total last resort. What am I to do? (Thanks for listening, sorry to rant, I just feel very alone and hopeless right now.)
 
Hi, Prevacid is a good one to try. I was on Prilosec for years when my insurance would not pay for it anymore, but they would pay for prevacid, so that is what I went on. It worked wonderfully. Do you take it at night when you go to bed? I think the trick is to take it an hour after eating, on an empty stomach and at bedtime. I have been doing this for years. It usually works well for me, not always but most of the time, I do think as you get older the more trouble one has. The other thing to keep in mind is no eating after 6pm. Hard to do, but it works.

Sunny
 
Have you asked your GI doctor about adding Zantac 300mg before bedtime in addition to your PPI . My gastroenterolgist did this with me and it has helped quite a bit. If you are having no luck with Protonix you may want to give Dexilant (formerly Kapidex) witch is the Rx successor to Prevacid. Greg
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. Glad to have this forum as a resource as it helps not to feel so alone in all of this. I'll ask my doc about trying prevacid/dexilant and possibly adding zantac to the mix. Hopefully I can get the right corabo of meRAB to get functional again.

I know there are folks here that want to get off PPIs due to side-effects and long-term use issues, but I personally would give anything to just have prilosec work like it used to (in spite of my strong suspicion that it gave me IBS).
 
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