Weaning off from Lansoprazole

[KLuni]

Staring from today I am weaning off from yet another drug. A propranolol withdrawal is still here, so taking the second slowly, to not get too much side affects at the same time, so no cold turkey for me. I take 15 mg of lansoprazole/per day for about 2 months. Propranolol messed up my whole body pretty badly, including rashes, higher blood pressure, stomach problems, exaggerating my acid reflux, memory problems, bad vision, palpitations, chest pains and so on and on... Now Lansoprazole is probably adding some other stuff into all of this and can't wait to be free of this one too. 10% cut done today and hope that at least this journey will be smooth and without much problems. I also have both ear infection with swollen lymph nodes on my neck. Just literally have enough and I am scared, scared that the acid will come back, that lansoprazole will make some bad stuff to my body like propranolol did and that I will lose my hearing. Feeing very tired of all of this and anxious. If you have any similar experiences, or want to share a story of yourself weaning off from these two drugs, feel free to share or give advices.

[jayjay10000]

Hi there, welcome, and thankyou for your post. Very interesting reading. I have also been suffering with palpitations and fast heart rate too since March 2023, iam still waiting to see the cardiac team at the end of March 2024. I took propranolol for around 5months and in the end it didn't agree with me. My blood pressure kept on going dangerous low and I kept on feeling light-headedness. It was a complete nightmare. The doctor said iam suffering from chronic Anxiety and that's why iam having these episodes of high blood pressure and fast heart rate .

[KLuni in reply to jayjay10000]

Sorry to hear about your situation. One thing when I was still on propranolol I had moments when my blood pressure went really low and really high. One thing I can assure you that propranolol is a culprit. It is a nasty drug and it gave me a lot of pain instead of helping. One thing it taught me: never let doctors persuade you that you have something else than your intuition is telling you. I did so and got propranolol to help palpitations, which I said that I have them only when acid reflux is going up. The doctor said that anxiety caused it all. 3 weeks after on 40 mg propranolol menegable acid reflux skyrocketed to very nasty one, where I couldn't eat and sleep and by that time I wasn't eating anything for already 3 weeks to cause it. And then chest pains more palpitations and so on followed. However, now I am in second week of withdrawal and I was weaning off it for 3 weeks and still got withdrawal.

[Lowerfield_no_more]

You should only stop taking medication with the input of your GP or whoever prescribes medication for you. As far as lansoprazole is concerned it is commonly prescribed to lower stomach acidity for those who have reflux disease or a hiatus hernia to prevent indigestion type pain and damage to the oesophagus. But it is also prescribed to 'settle the stomach' for those who take a cocktail of drugs. So if you have reflux or takes lots of meds it is prescribed for reason and stopping may do you harm. However if you suffer side effects from lansoprazole or don't have reflux or take medication which can upset the digestive system there may be reason to stop but you should discuss with your GP. And I have taken a PPI currently lansoprazole for nearly 20 years for reflux and fortunately have no ill effects.

[KLuni in reply to Lowerfield_no_more]

Thank you for your reply Everything is consulted with GP. Lansoprazole is giving me some infections, I mean not the drug exactly, but that holding stomach acid is not a good thing for longer time.. it actually can give a lot of infections to some people. So I just hope I will be done soon... like in a month or so and won't get any acid reflux back. My endoscopy came normal and I removed the main trigger which was exaggerating my acid reflux - propranolol. 10 days without it! and feeling much better so my body starts to calm down, but it is still irritated and it is time to remove lansoprazole as well. I have some rash as well, not so much like with propranolol, so it is good for my body to get rid off all medications and just go with natural things to complete the healing. And I do agree with you some drugs are needed when there is still problem and they don't give any bad side effects.

Wishing you al the best and a lot of health ❤️

[polenta]

Weaning off of the lansoprazole is the best thing to do because if you just stop taking it cold turkey,it can cause havoc on your acid reflux and MAKE you think you need it. Those medicines are not for long term use but I know so many people who have been taking them for years. My Daughter had to be weaned off of them years ago. Take care

[KLuni in reply to polenta]

Thank you ❤️❤️ hope the journey will be smooth and without acid reflux coming back. I read a lot of successful stories when people slowly cut doses and they didn't have any rebound. So hoping weaning off and my recent weight loss will help in sparing me the horrible horrible acid reflux suffering. I am glad your daughter is off the medication❤️

Wishing you both a lot of health ❤️

[wischo in reply to polenta]

Generally they are not advised for long term use but for those that have severe acid reflux GERD, hiatus hernia, dual antiplatelet medications etc they are prescribed long term with little or no side effects. I have been taking them for over 20 rears with no ill effects whatsoever. As with all medications the advice is to take them as short a time as possible but most people on this forum are on medications long term as per their conditions. A decision to stop medication should be decided on by a medical professional and not an artical on Google or similar.

[Lowerfield_no_more in reply to polenta]

As wischo has indicated PPIs are widely prescribed for a number of conditions including reflux disease, and for good reason. My acid reflux disease without PPIs was causing me havoc over 20 years ago and if I had continued to struggle without taking them the Barrett's Oesophagus I was told I had would have likely developed into oesophageal cancer. Further, when I reduced the dose a number of years ago (under GP supervision) I apparently reduced the dose by too much since my symptoms came back but when I upped the dose one notch my symptoms became under control again, and that is where I have stayed. However no-one should welcome taking medication, I certainly don't, and if I could drop PPIs, I would. All that said PPIs are also widely prescribed 'to settle the stomach' when taking lots of medication and in my view there is always a strong argument for trying to do without in the first instance, under medical supervision of course, before their need is justified.

[LouiseGardener]

Hi there, so sorry you are feeling rotten and hope you feel better very soon.

I recently weaned myself of omperazole. For several weeks I just took it every other day and then every two days for another few weeks. I didn’t experience any issues throughout the process and am doing fine not taking them at all. Good luck with it all.