Does Nexium Cause Diverticulitis?

ImaWaterBender
ImaWaterBender Posts: 516 Member
I suffer from diverticulitis. I just found out that taking Nexium or other proton pump inhibitors may cause this condition. I wanted to know if any fellow sufferers were on nexium, perhaps longterm, before onset of symptoms.

Thanks.

Replies

  • beckyjeanleemaddox
    beckyjeanleemaddox Posts: 154 Member
    Not me but I think the more PPIs I took the more acid I produced. I just had a hiatel hernia repair. I would vomit what looked like a quart of pure acid at night before my surgery. I had erosions in the gastric folds and I became so anemic I could barely walk across the floor.. I believe my obesity, coughing from the acid , and lifting.
  • beckyjeanleemaddox
    beckyjeanleemaddox Posts: 154 Member
    sorry caused the hernia I said all that to say this PPIs are great but they aren't w/o side effects. But I've never heard they could cause diverticulitis. But I could see how it could cause it though.
  • HerkMeOff
    HerkMeOff Posts: 1,002 Member
    Maybe you should ask a doctor?
  • ImaWaterBender
    ImaWaterBender Posts: 516 Member
    I plan to call my GI doctor and ask him. I just wanted to get some thoughts from people here. Thanks for the tip to check it out with a medical professional. :smile:
  • FrankJ3rd
    FrankJ3rd Posts: 10 Member
    Nexium shuts down the hydrochloric acid pump in your stomach sending half digested food into your intestines. I doubt that does your intestines and colon colon any favors. Nexium also causes magnesium depletion. Magnesium is vital to muscle function -muscle as in heart.

    Two thoughts on acid reflux; Clean up your diet. Avoiding the inflammatory sugar plus wheat and other grains made my acid reflux all but disappear. When I encounter reflux during strenuous exercising and bending, I pop a peppermint Tic Tac or Lifesaver. Works like a charm.


    Doctors are great at managing symptoms. Reversing disease is a bad business model. They manage symptoms and thereby maintain disease by compromising body organs that are working as designed to begin with. Most often, the problem is with us. That doesn't require a chemical foreign to our bodies.
  • ImaWaterBender
    ImaWaterBender Posts: 516 Member
    I believe it's true that in managing symptoms, we cause a lot of other health problems.

    I have started (with the blessing of my GI doc) to cut down my nexium to every other day. I also don't eat after 6 pm and I drink a lot of water. I am hoping this helps me control my diet without needing proton pump inhibitors.

    I have read that one of the serious side effects of Nexium is gallstones. I had my gallbladder out in 2007. I know it was probably mostly diet related, but still, not taking chances.

    Everyone I have talked to who has had diverticulitis has been on a PPI.

    I think that most of my problems with acid and GERD are caused by my weight, which I am working on reducing.