acid reflux/heartburn

[dennisprice]

hi

Just had stent ( Dec 13th ) am plagued with heartburn and acid reflux since starting on Clopidogrel. Any suggestions on controlling or eliminating it ?

am on Omeprazole but doesn’t seem to have any effect

thanks

Dennis

[Crochetwoman]

Hi! It’s been a few years since I took Clopidogrel but I remember having heartburn soon after starting the cocktail of pills post heart attack. Omeprozole was prescribed but didn’t do anything for me.

I remember reading on here that the humble aspirin can upset your tummy and the gastro resistant aspirin (£1:50 / month over the counter) would help. It helped in my case. Is Aspirin new to you too? Taken at the same time as Clopidogrel? Hope this helps.

[dennisprice in reply to Crochetwoman]

thank you so much , it’s all really odd . Had triple bypass ten years ago same drugs and absolutely no effects. This time it’s not good , will go look for gastric resistant aspirin

👍

[MarmiteB]

Hi Dennis,

Clopidogrel is known as "super aspirin" sometimes and it can cause issues with reflux, and must be taken with food. However, clopidogrel didn't give me reflux, it was themistakenly prescribed uncoated aspirin that did - if especially not taken with food. If you are on 75mg of aspirin (which I suspect you are) double check that it is gastro resistant, it will make a significant difference.

Also, I am on Lansoprazole which works in the same way as omeprazole but Lansoprazole has a faster effect on the relief of symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux. Have a chat with your GP/Pharmacist and see if you can get swapped over.

I went through a phase where I didn't want to take the Lansoprazole and a few weeks after I stopped I started getting reflux again so taking it does make a difference.

I hope that this helps

Rosie

[dennisprice in reply to MarmiteB]

thank you , positive comments, just checked aspirin is standard not gastric resistant . Going for a walk upto pharmacy in a while 👍

[MarmiteB in reply to dennisprice]

Ah ok, I am almost 100% on that being the cause for you An easy fix! x

[dennisprice in reply to MarmiteB]

had a walk up to chemist , and popped question to GP . Chemist had gastric resistant aspirin 👍

GP is issuing prescription for Lansoprazole , collect tomorrow / Thursday . Fingers crossed 🤞

Thanks for your help

[MarmiteB in reply to dennisprice]

Oh fabulous, glad you have had a chat to get it sorted. I lived with chronic heart burn for a good month when I had uncoated aspirin - it was so unpleasant! Depending on how many prescriptions you have it may be cheaper to , have a pre-paid certificate. You can have as many prescriptions as needed for a fixed price. It tends to works out cheaper in the long run If I paid normally I would be paying £46.75 a month.

The certificate covers all your NHS prescriptions for a set price. You will save money if you need more than 3 items in 3 months, or 11 items in 12 months.

The prescription charge in England is £9.35 per item. A PPC costs:

£30.25 for 3 months

£108.10 for 12 months

nhsbsa.nhs.uk/help-nhs-pres...

[dennisprice in reply to MarmiteB]

lm lucky being 73 helps

[CuriosiD in reply to dennisprice]

Hi Dennis,

My husband had been on Omeprazole for years alongside his usual heart meds. Following a heart attack and more stenting over the Christmas period he was put back on to Clopidogrel (plus Ramipril and Bisoprolol) and told by the cardio team specifically to stop the Omeprazole as it wouldn’t react well with the new meds. He was prescribed Lanzoprazole instead. I don’t know the specifics of it, but it was definitely emphasised as necessary.

Glad to see you have now got a prescription sorted for Lanzoprazole.👍

[Becdan in reply to CuriosiD]

Omeprazole has a major interaction with Clopidogrel which affects the blood thinning and anti clotting efficiency of Clopidogrel. When I asked my pharmacist about this interaction he said that this was on larger doses but I didn't want to take that chance and I am on Lanzoprazole instead.

[CuriosiD in reply to Becdan]

Thanks for that explanation Becdan, that’s really useful to know.🙂

[MarmiteB]

Ah yes, that's a bonus! Being 35 I'm still (happily) paying

[Jako999]

Talking about prescriptions a lot of people don’t realise you can get them free if you’ve had certain complaints, for me it was cancer 11 years ago but there are other reasons. You need to look into it because they don’t tell you.

[Hidden]

Oh yes. Heartburn. I dont miss that, or the sharp chest pains which came with it. I was on this drug for 2 years more than i was meant to because they 'forgot' to take me off it!