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PPI use and side effects
Ive been on 40mg of Pantoprzole for 4 weeks and my RBC count, Hemoglobin,Iron, Hematocrit have gone abnormal. Anyone else having these types problems?
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So, long story short, two weeks ago I took an antibiotic course + esomeprazole to treat my H pylori infection. Throughout the ten days of treatment my digestion improved a lot, as before that I was dealing with severe delayed gastric emptying with food sitting in my stomach for as long as 8 hours. I was barely able to eat, cause I would get extremely full and bloated just after a few bites, throughout the day I would keep regurgitating food, constant acid reflux and the nausea was unbearable. It was a total nightmare that caused me to become severly underweight and malnourished. So during treatment all these symptoms had improved a lot and as soon as I finished the treatment, my digestion slowed down again so I started thinking what could be the cause of it and I realized that my digestion had improved on the same day I started taking PPIs which was a few days before starting the antibiotics. So I tried taking then again and guess what, digestion improved again. But this makes zero sense to me, because two years ago I tried taking PPIs and they made my digestion way worse which makes sense since that’s actually a known side effects of PPIs given that they suppress the acid needed to digest food. The only theory that I came up with is that since I have severe diffuse gastritis (diagnosed through endoscopy and biopsy) the PPIs might be calming down the inflammation and allowing the stomach to digest better and faster… does this make sense to anyone? Has anyone experience anything similar?
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1 ReactionNot a doctor and don’t have gastroparesis, but my understanding of it is that it is related to the muscles that move the food along, not acid production . If your stomach is full because food is not moving seems to me that the acid is building up behind it and you have an excess in smaller space? Which would then cause acid reflux et al. Just thinking. I could be way off.
Is your slow stomach emptying due to low acid or paralysis of the muscles?
Would think that would make a difference.
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3 ReactionsMakes sense to me. Gastritis is inflamation and the PPIs might very well be helping with that. Talk to your doctor as it sounds like a daily dose is a good idea for you.
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2 ReactionsThat is interesting. I went to a GI for random lower abdomen pain and diarrhea. For other reasons they did an endoscopy and said I had esophagitis…this being unrelated to what I went there for. Anyhow, they gave me pantoprazole for the esophagitis, but it immediately resolves my lower abdomen issues. With the PPI, I no longer had bloating right after eating, no more stomach pains and no more diarrhea. However, I was very concerned about long time PPI use and stopped after 3 months. I then had awful acid reflux. I seem settled down now, taking kefir and Pepcid or tums as needed. Still feel much better than I used to, but not as good as I felt on the PPI. Wonder if there’s something similar that has the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of a PPI without the acid suppression?
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1 ReactionHas anyone done any investigation into ways to ensure enough nutrients are being absorbed while on PPI's? I have always been vigilant about healthy food intake, but being on PPI's indefinitely greatly concerns me. Thank you.
I was on antibiotics for other health reasons, but relate to many of your symptoms (primarily due to a history GERD). As antibiotics are known to affect normal bacteria flora too (And my guess is G.I. preps do as well), I just assumed that my normal flora was undergoing rebalancing to some degree. I turned to seasoned acupuncturist for help with this, and have been feeling more like myself.
I'm not sure there is much that will counteract the suppression of the acid environment in our stomach that is needed for proper breakdown and utilization of our food PPIs were never intended for long term use. They were to be used for acute situations such as ulcers. For long term use it is much safer to take H2 blockers like Zantac but even those should ideally not be used long term.
Has a physician prescribe PPI's for you?
I have been taking Histamine 2 blockers for 2 1/2 years for pre-cancerous cells in my stomach. My physician first prescribed PPIs and I told him I wouldn't take them, but agreed to the Histamine2 blockers (Zantac) . I don't feel I can take the risk of taking nothing. But I think, if people have less serious issues, it probably would be best to first try diet changes and something like Tums.
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1 ReactionWould blood tests for vitamins/minerals do the trick?
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1 ReactionYou could certainly monitor with blood tests, but then if you needed supplements, you then get into the how well would they be digested and absorbed.
What I have noticed after 21/2 years on an H2 blocker is that my finger nails are not as strong as they used to be. They chip really easily now when they never did before.