Son took Prilosec for 5 years. No one told us about acid rebound or that is was extremely hard to get off of. We tried 4 times over 2 years to get him off this med. Finally did it but it took time and many steps. What we did was very very slowly decrease the dosage. Eventually I would open the capsules and remove some of the little white balls inside to reduce the dosage more and more each week. After about 2-3 months we then switched to H2 blockers over the counter. Then after about 4-6 weeks we switched to Pepcid Complete....then slowly tapered off the amount he would take....and the last step was switching to only Mylanta...and then slowly reducing the dosage and frequency. I also gave him some natural supplements from the vitamin shop: glutamine (to soothe and protect the stomach lining), DGL licorice, aloe vera juice, mastic gum, and sulforaphane (broccoli extract). The key for us was to go very slow as you taper.

This thread has been very helpful. I was put on omeprazole 40mg daily by my doctor to deal with reflux and mild oesophagitis. Prior to going on the drug I had very little issue with my stomach, just a persistent heartburn feeling in my upper left chest. After I had been on omeprazole for thirty days my symptoms resolved but when I tried to come off the medication I experienced terrible acid rebound. I was advised by the doctor to go back on omeprazole and take it for life. The acid rebound never completely went away at that dosage and I experienced a number of unpleasant side effects. I have now been on omeprazole for 12 weeks and am trying to taper off it on to ranitidine. I halved my dose, then took it on alternate days, and have now been omeprazole-free for one week. The first five days were manageable but during the last two the acid rebound has become fairly unbearable. For anyone who has successfully weaned off the drug, how long did it take for the acid rebound to stop? Did you find that the rebound effect lessened over time? Any information you can share would be very helpful...

hello Nightingale, i am on omeprazole, it's been at least six months i am on it, i was taking 2 a day but still on it i take one a day, my problem started with diarrhea, stomach pain, right side pain, i had done a colonoscopy it was fine, and a gastroscopy i had h-pylori i have taken a lot of antibiotics for 2 weeks and the next 2 weeks prevacid, but that pain on my side never went away i had done another gastroscopy and i had a stomach ulcer i was given omeprazolo 2 a day 20mg each, it's already six months but that pain on my side never goes away.i watch what i eat, also my stool it's yellow always i have told my family doctor he said that it's nothing, but reading on google does not look too good, i was wondering if anyone had or has close to my symptoms, i really appreciate an answer, ty so much

I need help getting off omeprazole slowly.help.karen

@karenvanderwerken
I was told that when you want to stop a pill you have to taper off or you will get side effects & that did happen to me once. What you do is start every other day & then another day in between & so forth. That is how I got off the Gabapentin. That stuff made me to tired & sleepy.

I got off Omneprazole 2 weeks ago. Doctor thinks I got pancreatitis from it. Was on it 16 years. He put me on Zantac twice a day. Think it's working because I don't get heartburn or anything. Omneprazole is toxic and causes many problems.

Welcome, @tk11 – Thanks so much for sharing your insight. Have you noticed a difference with the new dosage?

@kanaazpereira: a doctor unaffiliated with any Pharma companies and the founding editor of NEJM's Journal Watch - Gastroenterology, wrote a piece called "Why Are PPIs Used in the First Place" over at NEJM. I'm unable to post links as I'm not a moderator.

The New England Journal of Medicine has long been one of the most respected journals in the world. Please, do your research.

Hello @eleanorm,
Thank you for calling attention to the physician-pharma association in the article I had cited in a previous post – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3995199/ – but first, I’d like to extend a warm welcome to you and sincerely look forward to getting to know you better, as and when you are able to share more about yourself.

You are absolutely correct in saying, “...you should be completely transparent in the information that you are posting, particularly as moderator of this forum.”
As a moderator, I want to communicate in a clear and professional way each time I put something in public view – it is a reflection of myself, of the community, and of course, my employer. But, I would be remiss not to mention a few observations:

1) When manuscripts are accepted, disclosures of conflict of interest, relevant financial interests, activities, relationships, and affiliations, for each of the authors are published in the Acknowledgment section of the article, or the Biography section of the article...and thereby disclosed to readers.
**With regard to the author of the article in question – Dr. Pandolfino (Chief of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Professor of Medicine, Northwestern University) – the exact disclosure(s) is clearly stated under “Footnotes” in the Biography section of the article.
**I thought – and am still of the opinion – that the inclusion of such statement/footnote suffices for transparency. However, if I were citing an article authored/published by Mayo Clinic, I would be certain to specifically mention any external association in my post.

2) PubMed Central® (PMC – the ‘resource' for the article) is an archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature at the U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine (NIH/NLM). The presence of an article does not reflect an endorsement of, or concurrence with, the contents of the article.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/about/disclaimer/
**Gastroenterology and Hepatology journal publishes peer-reviewed original papers, metaanalyses, systematic reviews, and editorials concerned with clinical practice and research in the fields of hepatology, gastroenterology and endoscopy. It is one of several reliable and authoritative resources for GI-related interest groups – on par with the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), which includes variety of medical-interest groups.
https://www.gastroenterologyandhepatology.net/about/
3) As you correctly stated, M. Brian Fennerty, M.D. is "a doctor unaffiliated with any Pharma companies and the founding editor of NEJM's Journal Watch.” But might I request you to keep in mind that this standard applies solely to the ‘editors’; and not to ‘authors’.
"No NEJM editor is permitted to have any financial relationship with any biomedical company.” https://www.nejm.org/media-center/integrity-safeguards
**Here again, I thought you might wish to read about Dr. Fennerty’s disclosures and association with pharmaceutical companies, prior to his role as editor:

– https://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/457393_3M Brian Fennerty, MD
M. Brian Fennerty, MD, Professor, Section Chief of Gastroenterology, Oregon Health Sciences University
Disclosure: Consultant/Speakers Bureau: AstraZeneca, TAP, Wyeth;
Research Grants: AstraZeneca, Eisai Inc, Janssen Pharmaceutica

– https://projects.propublica.org/d4d-archive/search?utf8=✓&term=M.+Brian+Fennerty%2C+MD&state%5Bid%5D=&company%5Bid%5D=&period%5B%5D=&services%5B%5D=

@eleanorm, our community members should feel safe, which is why we monitor the conversations AND rely on community members like yourself to report if you felt anything was amiss – I hope this (very long) explanation is helpful.
You can also read more about why and how we moderate on Connect: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/about-our-moderators-and-mentors/ Please don’t hesitate to connect with me:) with any further questions or concerns; I do look forward to hearing from you.

@harper7745 You do know that Ranitidine is facing recall? Zantac (ranitidine) Safety Alerts, Recalls & Warnings https://www.drugs.com/fda-alerts/1991-1283.html