Acid Reflux and Prilosec questions.

ckfox95
ckfox95 Posts: 73 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My Dr. recently put me on prescription Prilosec due to waking up with reflux pain in the middle of the night. I've lost 44 lbs since December so I would have thought that the weight loss would have helped me so I am not sure why this is happening now.
In any event I was wondering who else is on this med and is it helping? Also do you feel it is making you retain water or gain weight at all? Do or have you tried any natural remedies that have worked? I am not big into taking prescription pills plus I would hate to have to take anything that would cause me to gain weight that I have tried so hard to take off. On the other hand, I am very uncomfortable with this pain. I am open to suggestions. Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    ckfox95 wrote: »
    My Dr. recently put me on prescription Prilosec due to waking up with reflux pain in the middle of the night. I've lost 44 lbs since December so I would have thought that the weight loss would have helped me so I am not sure why this is happening now.
    In any event I was wondering who else is on this med and is it helping? Also do you feel it is making you retain water or gain weight at all? Do or have you tried any natural remedies that have worked? I am not big into taking prescription pills plus I would hate to have to take anything that would cause me to gain weight that I have tried so hard to take off. On the other hand, I am very uncomfortable with this pain. I am open to suggestions. Thanks in advance!
    I used to get very bad indigestion and took prilosec as well as nexium and a few others. They never interfered with weight loss. I don't get the indigestion anymore and attribute that as much to weight loss as I do to the changes in my diet.
  • tincanonastring
    tincanonastring Posts: 3,944 Member
    I've been on omeprazole for the entirety of my weight loss efforts and it doesn't seem to have presented any issues with that loss. Take the meds...chronic acid reflux can be dangerous.
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    I'm on another one but I've been on them all. I have found these to be a family of drugs that has little to do with weight gain or bloating.
  • Cricket1515
    Cricket1515 Posts: 153 Member
    I am weaning myself off of these type of medications (proton pump inhibitors), as my stomach became dependent on them to keep acid in check. This can happen if you are on them for a while. My doctor recommended Deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) to help stimulate the production of healthy stomach lining. It definitely tastes like licorice though, and you have to chew it. So if you don't mind the taste of licorice then ask your doctor if he or she would recommend it for you.

    Weight is only one risk factor for acid reflux. Have you worked on reducing the other potential causes?
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    I have been on omeprazole off and on for years. I get acid reflux although it rarely happens now that I have lost weight. I only take it every third day and I have not had AR in a long time.

    First: if you are having pain, take it. I avoided it for a long time and ended up in the hospital to receive 4 units of blood thanks to the intermittent bleeding from stomach erosion and the severe anemia it caused.

    Second: if you take any medication or supplements, do NOT take your prilosec at the same time. It can slow down or even prevent the absorption of the other medication/supplement. Take it a few hours before or after whatever you are taking. (I take everything at breakfast and my prilosec at dinner).
  • tincanonastring
    tincanonastring Posts: 3,944 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    Second: if you take any medication or supplements, do NOT take your prilosec at the same time. It can slow down or even prevent the absorption of the other medication/supplement. Take it a few hours before or after whatever you are taking. (I take everything at breakfast and my prilosec at dinner).

    I was unaware of this and normaly take my omeprazole with my other daily meds/calcium. Will have to check it out. Thanks for the tip.

  • InCHarmsWay
    InCHarmsWay Posts: 103 Member
    I take omeprazole daily, and have taken that or nexium every day for the past 7 years. No matter what I eat or what weight I am I have severe acid reflux, so must take it. Haven't noticed any changes while on it that relate to weight or bloating. For me, I'd rather take the pill than cut out caffeine, alcohol, spicy foods, chocolate, carbonation, etc.... but to each their own!

    Was also not aware of needing to take it at a different time than other meds/supplements! One thing I have noticed is that taking the omeprazole did cause me to have a B12 deficiency (a common side effect) so I do take that daily. Just might want to have your doctor check for that during routine blood testing.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    tincanonastring wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    Second: if you take any medication or supplements, do NOT take your prilosec at the same time. It can slow down or even prevent the absorption of the other medication/supplement. Take it a few hours before or after whatever you are taking. (I take everything at breakfast and my prilosec at dinner).

    I was unaware of this and normaly take my omeprazole with my other daily meds/calcium. Will have to check it out. Thanks for the tip.

    I was unaware too. I found out about it when my Dr. prescribed a few meds when I got out of the hospital, including prilosec and high potency iron, and I entered everything into CVS' drug interaction checker. They give drug to drug interactions, drug to lifestyle interactions (like alcohol and tobacco use), and drug to food interactions (like I should not have calcium at the same time as my iron).

    The only other thing I needed to change was not eating yogurt for breakfast (because of the calcium interacting with iron). I had to start eating it for lunch instead, which is actually working out much better.

  • tincanonastring
    tincanonastring Posts: 3,944 Member
    courtenaymichele wrote: »
    I take omeprazole daily, and have taken that or nexium every day for the past 7 years. No matter what I eat or what weight I am I have severe acid reflux, so must take it. Haven't noticed any changes while on it that relate to weight or bloating. For me, I'd rather take the pill than cut out caffeine, alcohol, spicy foods, chocolate, carbonation, etc.... but to each their own!

    Was also not aware of needing to take it at a different time than other meds/supplements! One thing I have noticed is that taking the omeprazole did cause me to have a B12 deficiency (a common side effect) so I do take that daily. Just might want to have your doctor check for that during routine blood testing.

    I'm the same way with my symptoms. While the severity of my reflux can be exacerbated by my food choices, it's always there and I haven't been able to link any prevelance of attacks to my weight. In my case, it's tied to an underlying disease, so it will never go away.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    tincanonastring wrote: »
    courtenaymichele wrote: »
    I take omeprazole daily, and have taken that or nexium every day for the past 7 years. No matter what I eat or what weight I am I have severe acid reflux, so must take it. Haven't noticed any changes while on it that relate to weight or bloating. For me, I'd rather take the pill than cut out caffeine, alcohol, spicy foods, chocolate, carbonation, etc.... but to each their own!

    Was also not aware of needing to take it at a different time than other meds/supplements! One thing I have noticed is that taking the omeprazole did cause me to have a B12 deficiency (a common side effect) so I do take that daily. Just might want to have your doctor check for that during routine blood testing.

    I'm the same way with my symptoms. While the severity of my reflux can be exacerbated by my food choices, it's always there and I haven't been able to link any prevelance of attacks to my weight. In my case, it's tied to an underlying disease, so it will never go away.

    Yeah, my AR has pretty much gone away but I still have occasional stomach pain from a hiatal hernia which will always be there (not just stomach pain. The pain can mimic a heart attack including pain radiating to my left shoulder and down my arm). Mine is a sliding hernia (the most common and least dangerous kind) and prevention is the only way to deal with it. I need to eat more frequent, smaller meals and cannot binge on hard to digest stuff, as I discovered the night I decided I wanted a big bowl of steamed broccoli. A few hours of agony and one bout of vomiting a small amount of food later, I was fine and dandy.

  • InCHarmsWay
    InCHarmsWay Posts: 103 Member
    tincanonastring wrote: »
    courtenaymichele wrote: »
    I take omeprazole daily, and have taken that or nexium every day for the past 7 years. No matter what I eat or what weight I am I have severe acid reflux, so must take it. Haven't noticed any changes while on it that relate to weight or bloating. For me, I'd rather take the pill than cut out caffeine, alcohol, spicy foods, chocolate, carbonation, etc.... but to each their own!

    Was also not aware of needing to take it at a different time than other meds/supplements! One thing I have noticed is that taking the omeprazole did cause me to have a B12 deficiency (a common side effect) so I do take that daily. Just might want to have your doctor check for that during routine blood testing.

    I'm the same way with my symptoms. While the severity of my reflux can be exacerbated by my food choices, it's always there and I haven't been able to link any prevelance of attacks to my weight. In my case, it's tied to an underlying disease, so it will never go away.

    And one little pill is a whole lot better than the damage that acid can do to your esophagus and stomach!
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    courtenaymichele wrote: »
    tincanonastring wrote: »
    courtenaymichele wrote: »
    I take omeprazole daily, and have taken that or nexium every day for the past 7 years. No matter what I eat or what weight I am I have severe acid reflux, so must take it. Haven't noticed any changes while on it that relate to weight or bloating. For me, I'd rather take the pill than cut out caffeine, alcohol, spicy foods, chocolate, carbonation, etc.... but to each their own!

    Was also not aware of needing to take it at a different time than other meds/supplements! One thing I have noticed is that taking the omeprazole did cause me to have a B12 deficiency (a common side effect) so I do take that daily. Just might want to have your doctor check for that during routine blood testing.

    I'm the same way with my symptoms. While the severity of my reflux can be exacerbated by my food choices, it's always there and I haven't been able to link any prevelance of attacks to my weight. In my case, it's tied to an underlying disease, so it will never go away.

    And one little pill is a whole lot better than the damage that acid can do to your esophagus and stomach!

    Yup. If I had taken my omeprazole like a good girl, I probably would have avoided a 4 day stint in the hospital which included 4 units of blood, 1 unit of IV iron, an endoscopy, a colonoscopy, and a final bill of $38,000 since I had no insurance.

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited August 2015
    ckfox95 wrote: »
    My Dr. recently put me on prescription Prilosec due to waking up with reflux pain in the middle of the night. I've lost 44 lbs since December so I would have thought that the weight loss would have helped me so I am not sure why this is happening now.
    In any event I was wondering who else is on this med and is it helping? Also do you feel it is making you retain water or gain weight at all? Do or have you tried any natural remedies that have worked? I am not big into taking prescription pills plus I would hate to have to take anything that would cause me to gain weight that I have tried so hard to take off. On the other hand, I am very uncomfortable with this pain. I am open to suggestions. Thanks in advance!

    Mom didn't want to take Prilosec and got her silent reflux under control by using some of the strategies in Dropping Acid: The Reflux Diet Cookbook & Cure.

    She lost weight, too, which was not a good thing for her as she is a pound away from being underweight.
  • rjmudlax13
    rjmudlax13 Posts: 900 Member
    I used to take Prilosec, but take Nexium OTC now. Nexium seems to work a little better and has little, if any, noticeable side effects for me. I've suffered from acid reflux since I was a teenager. There are many causes of it. Being overweight is one. Also, another major factor is stress so losing weight might not help at all. I've never had difficulty with my weight while on it. I do not believe it is listed as a side effect for either PPI.

    If your doctor prescribed it, I would take it. Leaving acid reflux untreated can cause cancer of the esophagus. There are no proven "natural remedies." However, changing diet can help such as avoiding trigger foods like tomato sauce, fried food, chocolate, etc. Did your doctor prescribe a special diet? There are other life style changes that can help such as exercising (to reduce stress), sleeping on your left side with your head raised, wearing looser fitting clothing especially around the abdomen area and waiting a few hours after eating before laying down.
  • WickedPineapple
    WickedPineapple Posts: 698 Member
    Strangely enough, my acid reflux started after losing the majority of my weight. I used to get it from really dark coffee or a specific type of beer only, then all of a sudden I was getting it all throughout the day. I haven't been able to link it to any specific food or drink; however, I think it might be related to consistent higher total fat consumption for several days in a row. So I'm trying to lower my fat intake a little bit to see if it helps. I also took OTC prilosec and it seems to have helped quite a bit, but I still get it occasionally, it's just not as severe.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    WickedPineapple wrote: »
    Strangely enough, my acid reflux started after losing the majority of my weight. I used to get it from really dark coffee or a specific type of beer only, then all of a sudden I was getting it all throughout the day. I haven't been able to link it to any specific food or drink; however, I think it might be related to consistent higher total fat consumption for several days in a row. So I'm trying to lower my fat intake a little bit to see if it helps. I also took OTC prilosec and it seems to have helped quite a bit, but I still get it occasionally, it's just not as severe.

    Higher fat is a very common cause of AR. You may be on to something there.

  • rivka_m
    rivka_m Posts: 1,007 Member
    Mine started after I lost most of the weight as well.

    I do much better when I avoid all coffee, chocolate and tea. My doc wants me to do an endoscopy before I go on long term meds but I'm resisting it, or at least trying to put it off to next year and do it when I'm due for a colonoscopy anyway. I did not have any water weight issues, etc with Prilosec when I did an eight week course of it though.

    Some people here have reported doing much better on a low carb diet. I haven't tried it, but it might be worth trying for you to see if it helps at all. Other than avoiding triggers I also use a wedge pillow which helps a lot. It's not the most comfortable way to sleep, but it's better than waking up at 1 am severely nauseated.

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