Stomach upsets.

[Fastbike]

Hi everyone. Had a "minor " heart attack 12 months ago. Angiogram revealed I needed an urgent triple bypass. Kept me in for the op which apparently went well, but I had post op AF which was resolved before I was discharged. I've always struggled with anxiety, so suffered badly for about 6 months. Doing well now but something bothers me.I am on the usual meds, Atorvastatin 80, Bisoprolol 3.75,Ticagrelor 90×2, Lansoprazole 30, and Aspirin 75mg.

I am often having upset stomach and smelly wind which I think may be caused by the meds. Has anyone else experienced this problem and did you manage to narrow it down to any particular med. Thanks in advance.

[Blackcatsooty]

Dear Fastbike

Welcome on board.

My surgery has a phamasist who specialises in medication. The local chemists likewise.

They can give lots of alternatives.

I get along very well with aspirin but long term I take clopidogrel which I find doesn’t upset stomach in the way aspirin can do.

I think you could benefit from a review of your medication. I take nine tablets, which is nine more than I would prefer. But they have settled over the years.

Sooty

[Fastbike in reply to Blackcatsooty]

Hi Sooty. Thanks for your reply. We don't have an attached pharmacist but I suppose I should ask for a review. My doctor seems reluctant to change meds, he seems to prefer doing tests to see what's going on before he does. It just means everything drags on and takes more time.

[Hrty]

Always best to talk to your GP about medicines and side effects. It can take a while to get the balance and exact dosage right.Lansaprozole, despite being prescribed to protect my stomach from the aspirin and clopidogrel, gave me terrible problems. I was forever in the smallest room. That settled down when it was stopped and I now take famotidine. Hopefully that will stop when the clopidogrel stops.

My atorvastatin was upped back up to 80mg following my recent angiogram to "hit my cholesterol hard" even though it's down to 2.2. I don't seem to tolerate this higher dose so, with agreement from GP yesterday, I've gone back to 40mg and after a couple of days feel much better.

As for the wind, I keep thinking of getting a dog so I can pass on the blame 🌪🐶

[Almafra in reply to Hrty]

Hi there

I ended up in hospital due to a month getting steadily worse diarrhea with Lanzoprolol. I read through comments on this site about the “zole” meds which are proton pump inhibitors and had caused many people stomach problems. I was fine on my half dose of Entresto but as soon as it was raised to the full dose the diarrhea started and worsened week after week. I was so pleased that I had this site to refer to. I was changed onto famotidine and have never had a problem since.

[Hrty in reply to Almafra]

The "irony" of the very tablet that was prescribed to protect my stomach having somewhat explosive side effects wasn't lost on me. 🌋🌋🌋

[Fastbike in reply to Hrty]

Getting a dog 😆😆 good idea Hrty !! Can you get one on prescription !! I might ask my GP if it's worth giving an alternative a go such as famotidine, instead of Lansoprazole. I suppose it could be any of them . I've just been told I can stop taking Ticagrelor any time soon which will be 12 months after surgery. Even that may help. Thanks for your reply.

[tangotese]

Hello, tricky but constant diarrohea can be debilitating as well as making going out a problem. I too found problems with Lansoprosole (reported via yellow card system) and similar meds - changed to Famotidine but still difficulties which may be more due to Diverticulitis. On-going with Clopidigrel as had a post op stroke.

[Fastbike in reply to tangotese]

Thanks tangotese. My problem certainly isn't constant, that must be terrible. I started having problems right from the start of being put on all these meds, but you have enough on your plate when you get home after the operation, so I put up with it for a long time . It's only nearly 12 months later that I feel like making the effort to get the meds sorted.

[thecatandus]

Atorvastatin at 40mg gave me terrible stomach cramps, even with lansoprazole. Switched to simvastatin 20mg and that's fine - nobodies said anything about cholestorol (plenty of blood tests since) so I assume is ok.

[Fastbike in reply to thecatandus]

Thanks thecatandus. Yes could be the 80mg Atorvastatin. My set of meds gave me a deranged liver at the beginning but all they did was stop all meds for a while to see if it recovered, which it did, then build up the meds slowly instead of banging the full doses in abruptly. I hope I can isolate the one that's responsible for my stomach discomfort.

[Dossy]

Hi I had other side effects on some of those medications like an annoying cough which stopped once I put on a different one. Atorvastsatin 80mcg caused very painful leg cramps.I suggest you Google all the tablets you are on to see if any of them show ykur symptons as possible side effects

[Fastbike in reply to Dossy]

Yes Dossy. Googling is good . As long as we remember it doesn't make us experts, but it does give us enough knowledge to ask questions. Thanks for your reply and stay well.