sparklypickle: prozac and omeprazole tapering

[sparklypickle]

Hello all. Another update if anyone is interested! I'm still having cbt but my anxiety is better under control. I've taken prozac back down to 2mg and feel stable. Now the next challenge is that I've been on omeprazole for nearly a year now and feel it's time to get off it as I still have daily nausea. I halved my dose from 20 to 10mg daily and nausea had got so much better and I don't have as many lower abdominal pains. The only problem so far has been the sore throat which I guess is from acid. How long will that continue? I'll go to my gp to discuss soon once I can confidently report that I'm doing better on 10 than 20mg omeprazole!

[sparklypickle]

Hi all. I have a thread about tapering off fluoxetine (now on 1.8mg) but due to having gastritis I was prescribed omeprazole (20mg) which I have been advised to keep taking for almost a year.

I didn't think it was causing any major problems but I did note that when I took 40mg daily I developed rectal fissures which have caused me agony ever since.

My gp told me to keep taking omeprazole after I was clear from helicobacter Because she felt that my stomach problems were being exacerbated by anxiety. I have made dietary changes, cutting out coffee, alcohol and acidic food and drinks.

My anxiety levels are much lower now, so unsatisfied that I was taking a medication for no clear reason, I tried reducing my dose from 20 to 10 mg. My rear end became much more comfortable (this may sound really gross but it is almost like when I take 20mg or more, there is no lubrication for my number twos and they just scrape like broken glass all the way out...ouch!). On 10 mg my daily nausea (that I had thought was caused by chronic gastritis) was also relieved and I generally felt a lot better, however I developed severe burning pain in my throat and was advised by my gp to go back to 20mg. After a few days my throat went back to normal, nausea and painful toilet trips returned.

 

I never had real symptoms of reflux before I took omeprazole as it was prescribed for gastritis, so I asked for referral for a gastroscopy. If I really have to take these tablets for the rest of my life I want a good reason for it, and if I can get off them, I may not need the rectal surgery that I'm currently lined up for.

 

The problem is that for a gastroscopy I need to stop omeprazole for at least a couple of weeks before the procedure, but how do I cope with the immense burning in my throat during that time? I am trying to gradually wean off to see how bad it is but after four days of alternating 10 and 20mg I already have a mild sore throat!

 

I'd like to be able to switch to ranatidine if possible but when I took it before it made me feel absolutely dreadful.

 

Anyone with any advice would be really helpful.

[cymbaltawithdrawal5600]

Yes you have a thread and all your information goes into that thread so your story has cohesiveness.

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/8533-sparklypickleprozac-tapering-for-mirtazapine-switchover/

 

There's only one thread per member in the intros forum, this will be moved there and a mod will add helpful links and comments I am sure. All I know about those infernal stomach drugs is that they have to be tapered and they cause a lot of unintended problems.

 

No such thing as 'Better living Through Chemistry' in a lot of cases........

 

PS. I love your handle, 'Sparklypickle'. Makes me want to buy a huge kosher dill and pour a bottle of glitter on it and just stare at it.

[sparklypickle]

Thanks! Sorry I wasn't aware of the one thread per user rule (should read the rules again!)

 

Hehe, regarding the glittery gherkin...i agree exactly

 

Is there a way to change the title of my thread because I actually never touched mirtazapine in the end...

[mammaP]

Hi SP, omeprazole and other PPIs cause rebound acid and soon have us hooked!  The topic that CW has left the link to has recommendations for tapering. I tapered omeprazole after many years by removing the beads in the capsule very gradually, I think it took about 2 -3 months but can't remember exactly. 

I also kept a food diary and logged everything I ate and when I had heartburn so I could pinpoint any offending food. eventually I just stick to a balanced healthy diet and I soon know if I have gone astray because the acid comes back!  Magnesium is very good for the stomach and very calming too, it would help with your bowels too.  I take magnesium glycinate,it is gentle,  and found Tesco magnesium in the womens health section was quite good too and way cheaper but not available in my local store.  

 

What would you like to change your title to? 

[cymbaltawithdrawal5600]

Nope, that link was to Spark's intro thread, I am on a tablet and it's hard to look for links and copy them without a mouse. I can do it but I tend to weasel out of it if I think a mod can do a better job. That topic starts with "tips on tapering off stomach acid blockers" a google search will find it. I think it is in Symptoms.

 

MP will adjust your title if you tell her what you want it to say. Just shoot her (or any mod) your request in a PM, it does not have to be done by Alto.

 

(Well played on the 'glittery gherkin'!)

[mammaP]

Sorry CW, didnt look close enough! 

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/4361-tips-for-tapering-off-stomach-acid-blockers-or-ppis-esomeprazole-lansoprazole-omeprazole/

[sparklypickle]

Thanks for the link I'll give it a thorough look through.

 

I'm trying the 25% reduction per week to see how i go - I just got my gastroscopy appointment for 4th July so I have some weeks to sort myself out enough to cope without PPIs. I just want my digestive system back to normal - these damned tablets may have healed the gastritis but gave me fissures, nausea and ibs...and I STILL can't have a glass of red wine or a black coffee.

 

Any idea how much gaviscon a person can take before it causes problems? I'm gonna have to take it or rennies to cope while I taper, but all that calcium might be bad on my bowels.

 

I'll talk to my dietician about magnesium supplementation  

[mammaP]

 You have 24 days  till you need to stop it for the procedure, you could taper  5mg every 5 days to get off completely instead of having to go back on after.  

Magnesium is very safe, and any excess is excreted. We get magnesium from our food but modern farming methods mean that many are deficient. 

[sparklypickle]

That is a good plan Mamma p. I will try that. It's seems more sensible than the horror of cold turkey stomach attempting to dissolve the rest of my body...

[sparklypickle]

I started taking gabapentin 100mg at night for back pain and found it vastly improved my sleep quality and anxiety levels. Great stuff. Doctors were happy to keep on prescribing long after back pain subsided because it was such a low dose and it was helping me sleep etc. Only, I don't think this is a drug I want to be on long-term at any dose, so I have tried a few times to come off it, following my GPs instructions. 1) just stop, it's a low dose you won't have any withdrawal (massive fail) 2) try taking it every other day then stopping (fine for a week then pretty big fail). 3) try skipping every 3 days (nope, 2 weeks later I needed to get some sleep and had to crawl back to the usual dose). I was afraid to try again because it was a horrible experience.

 

Then I remembered this site and how it helped me finally get off prozac.

3) I came up with my own plan. I dissolve the capsule powder in 80ml of water, and remove a certain number of teaspoons each day to reduce the dose (tastes horrid to drink but it's safe to do this) and I wait at each dose reduction for minimum 5 days, or as long as it takes for any side effects to go away. So far I got down to 40mg a day, and I can practically feel my brain at each step trying to figure out what to do about this neurotransmitter imbalance....it is not impressed and I am fed up with the onset of unwanted anxiety, palpitations and insomnia. I hope it is worth it in the end and my brain isn't just monumentally and irreversibly broken and drug-dependent from taking Prozac for so many years.

 

Has anyone come off gabapentin and felt ok anxiety-wise eventually?

 

I don't care what Drs might say, if you take even a very low dose of this drug for years, it can still be difficult and unpleasant to come off it!

 

 

 

[Altostrata]

Good to see you again, @sparklypickle

 

It sounds like you're tapering too fast, you're not sneaking off gabapentin and your nervous system is onto you. For now, if I were you, I'd stop tapering and stabilize on 40mg. Wait until the odd symptoms have gone away before tapering again.

 

See Tips for tapering off gabapentin (Neurontin)

[sparklypickle]

Hi Altostrata! Thanks for the reminder, I agree wholeheartedly and I'm sticking here for a while, maybe even going back to 50 if bodily woes don't stop. I found I could go down the taper ok at this rate without too much issue, then suddenly hit a wall of withdrawal effects and have to stabilise for a couple of weeks at least before the next step. I'm not someone who can "power through" things like unexpected anxiety or lack of sleep. A silly mistake I made was improperly adding magnesium at the same time as tapering, I anecdotally found if I take it a couple of hours afterwards it is beneficial, but some days I either forget to take it, or end up having it too close to gaba (doh!). That all makes sense considering the gabapentin absorption interaction vs effect on gaba production! Phone alarms, that's the ticket. 

 

I was led to believe that 100 mg was too low to really be doing anything...but I don't think this is a placebo effect withdrawal.