so discouraged, twice a day ppi not working....

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Hi, I started prevacid 30 mg twice a day about 6 weeks ago. I am so discouraged because this is my 2nd attack since I started. I usually get one a month, and now Im getting even more when Im on the twice a day...it just doesnt make any sense. Any ideas? Also, Im noticing that when I get these painful attacks I feel like food is stuck in my chest/throat....this is a new symptom (ive had gerd for 13 years) .....
Does anyone else feel the pain in their back? It is almost like a spasm, it is So painful I often cry.
(attacks not related to diet, Im on a serious Gerd free diet!) I also have a small hiatal hernia...
 
I am sorry you are struggling with Prevacid. The information I read on the drug says that there are side effects and perhaps you are one of the few people that can't take this particular drug. Call your doctor or go see him/her and tell them this drug is causing you a lot of pain and perhaps you need a different one and also haven't they given you something for the pain? You have been on Prevacid long enough now for it to have stopped all that pain/indigestion. This is not a long term drug so if it hasn't worked by now I seriously doubt that it is going to so if it were me I would stop it and see how you feel. Of course you need to go to someone ...maybe someone else to see what they suggest? You say you have struggled with this for 13 years....what other treatments have you been on that have failed?
 
Ann,
Thanks for the post....I have been on Ranitidine in the beginning...then put on Prevacid 15mg, bumped up to 30mg once a day and was on that for 6+ years. Recently put up to twice a day.
The problem is I usually get reflux once a month....not just heartburn pain behind the sternum, the very painful type that goes through my back and up to throat....Each medicine seems to have the same effect...I still have one attack a month. In the beginning I used to take just gaviscon when I had the problem and it seemed to work about as good as now, when Im on the prevacid twice a day. I never had daily heartburn. I dont know if my condition has progressed and I would have that now and the drugs suppress it? My husband wonders if since I feel food coming up, I feel a stuck sensation in my chest during a attack that maybe Im not digesting my food properly. When I had the pillcam procedure, your not supposed to eat 3 hours before..well I didnt I ate 4 hours before (granola cereal) and when the pill hit the stomach my stomach still had food in it, so he said I might have gastroparesis....but I think that 4 hours after a higher fat content meal like granola might not be fully digested. ANyways, I also have tried all the natural methoRAB you can buy. They dont stop the heartburn attacks like Gaviscon. I know my acid is lower because of the prevacid, so what is this intense pain? Food coming back up perhaps? Im just so tired of this. Every time I have an attack, the next day I am just bummed out...I just want it to go away!
 
Gaviscon is an excellent drug as it forms a seal around the valve. I am going thru a really bad time right now and need to dig that out. Many Doctors rotate meRAB, 3 months on one then 3 mnths on another so you don't build up a tolerance to them. You might try one of the other PPI's.
 
If I have no side effects on Prevacid, I shouldnt have side effects on another ppi, right?
 
I was on Prevacid 2x/day for years. It worked for years until it stopped being as effective. I spent last summer spending 30 days on double dosages of each and every PPI out there trying to find one that would work for me. In the end, I found that the Prevacid/ Kapidex was the best of the bunch for me personally. I also only had side effects with one of the PPI's. They were pretty bad unfortunately, but I didn't have problems with any of the others.

My GI doc said that most people find a couple that work for them. I think I was a bit abnormal in not having one that worked then. I was a bit abnormal with my symptoms too. The acid was irritating my lungs and causing me major breathing problems. I did later find that my LES was really not functioning well at all. With that, I needed to look at other options as well.

I will agree with a previous poster in that the Gaviscon supplemented with the twice a day PPI did help some.
 
No, you could have side effect on another PPI. some work better for one person than another and I know people that can't take one or the other. Don't believe what the Doctors say they are not all the same. You could have a motility problem which is gastroparesis. Unfortunately there is only one drug in the US that helps that and it has some not nice side effects. I have gone back on my motility drug(Motilium) as of yesterday and see a difference already. If you didn't take any PPI would you have a problem other than once a month. If not I don't think I would take a PPI all the time if I only had a problem once a month. I think I would take Zantac or something like that as they are now warning that the PPI's can cause osteoporosis.
 
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