I'm on 17mg of pred....been thereabouts since diagnosis 2 months ago. I've cut carbs and expected my digestive system to alter a bit whilst the change of diet kicks in.
But 2 months in and I find I experience significant bloating every time I eat, regardless of what it is I eat. Also despite drinking copious amounts of water every day and adding high fibre seeds and supposedly high fibre foods to my diet to compensate,constipation is chronic ☹
I've been taking lansoprazole...15mg daily before brekkie,as prescribed.
Has anyone out there actually ditched this med to no ill effects? I'm tempted to try skipping it and seeing what happens. I take adcal too,but had these side effects before I started on that,so I'm presuming that's not the culprit.
Any tips?hanks all
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Newplodder
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Don’t worry about asking any question… many will have been there before…PPIs do seem to upset some people -doing the opposite of what they are supposed to…
Others will be along shortly to advise, but many take tablets with yogurt and don’t have gastric issues. Others swear by kefir…
If it were me the first thing I'd try is stopping the lansoprazole - but preferably not overnight, reduce the dose first nd then miss odd days, stopping it suddenly can result in a rebound production of acid. The lack of acid with a PPI can cause all sorts of problems - it was unbelievable what they did to my husband!! You are also taking a calcium supplement? That adds to the change in pH in your stomach - it is also an antacid so may be enough to replace the PPI in the shortterm - nt that lots of us take them at all.
You MAY have added too much fibre all at once - that can cause bloating. My mother used to moan that her healthier diet with fruit instead of biscuits did it to her. I don't find water makes that much difference to constipation but it can cause bloating if you are drinking far more than you used to - dietary changes are best made in small steps to let your body adjust.
Yes, I have wondered about the water, but I don't get why that wouldn't help with constipation?. I really watch my salt intake and don't add any or eat anything salty. ...have had no processed foods at all, pretty much fresh food from scratch. I just have what occurs in the odd tin of fish! And that is only occasionally.I've started to eat chia seeds, but again, I've had the 2 symptoms from day 1 I'd say. I think I have a remarkably healthy diet at present...not a cake, biscuit, sweet, alcohol, potato etc etc for 2 months. Lots of salad veg, brassicas, seeds, some nuts, some cheese, fish, chicken, hummus etc etc. Should live forever 😉...
I'm with your mum on this!
I'll have another look at lansoprazole and see if I can come off it. The adcal feels innocuous, but what do I know! Thanks again for your prompt reply
I have bought a squatting stool that enables optimum bowel movements by positioning your body correctly. Like people do in Eastern countries. It was cheap and tucks discreetly under my loo. Basically you put your feet up on it. I am amazed at how much more efficient my body is able to be, with no laxatives or special diet. Just giving the colon some space.
My nurse daughter apparently sang their praises to the paramedic daughter - who bought one!
I remember many years ago being taken aback at the lack of height of Venetian loos and at the time holes in the ground/footprints in the sand type toilets were still very common in both Italy and France so it must have been a compromise! But in China you get a lot of holes in the ground loos and many residential area in cities have public toilets for locals to use because houses don't have adequate plumbing for toilet waste - and there you see ancient grannies squatting perfectly happily! They can barely walk - but manage the toilets!!!
I've used many a hole in the ground over the years, from France, to former Yugoslavia to Egypt. If it's good enough for the French, it has always been good enough for me!
I never minded until I broke my leg skiing 27 years ago - since then, squatting is a rather risky occupation! I might fall down the hole or not manage to stand up again!!!
Hi, my tummy issues pre date my GCA. I was diagnosed with gastritis and duodenitis and put on high dose PPI (after many of the usual investigative procedures). Personally, I would not start taking them unless there are initially mild symptoms which have the potential to develop. (I have no medical training, this is just my personal experience) My gastritis was pretty miserable, with no apparent cause. In December 21, I switched to famotidine, an H2 blocker after A&E doc said they are marginally ‘safer’ but gastro docs say not as effective. I am stuck with them now as I get rebound symptoms if I try to reduce. My diet before gastro issues was not bad, I was just unlucky. However, I have now cut out a fair amount of stuff which I know irritates my tummy - basically, everything nice to eat, but cannot do without famotidine, will try again when off the pred. So, constipation, I agree that too much water and fibre can mess with your system if not done in stages. My ‘secret weapon’ is ready to eat prunes from tesco - at least 5 a day or more if needed if you know what I mean. Not the tinned ones. They have lots of essential vits too. They are actually really nice on bran flakes/porridge/yoghurt. My sister swears by a strong black coffee followed immediately by cold strong orange juice but I have only needed to go to ‘stage 2’ a few times! I have cut down on carbs but cannot do high fat since gallbladder removal a few years ago. This is my experience, hope it helps. as if we don’t have enough to put up with!
Thanks for your reply. I may have to try the prune route....I have only avoided them so far because of their sugar carb count...but may be worth a try. But the more I read, the more I think I should get of the PPI if I can. Thanks again
I stopped taking Lansoprazole but for the opposite reason, chronic diarrhoea, all day, every day. Had a colonoscopy which was clear, but I suddenly found an article stating that Lansoprazole could cause diarrhoea after about 3 months of taking it. I stopped it immediately, no side effects at all, and like magic my bowels went back to normal. Good luck.
That sounds grim. I think you've inspired me to come off them myself. Been on them for 2 months now. I've never had acid reflux or dodgy tummy issues before, so I might get away with it 🤞.Thanks for your reply
I changed from the chewable version of adcal to adcal caplets to help with bloating issues. I tried porridge for breakfast to help with this problem. I take one omeprazole before breakfast.
I also have constipation - something I’ve never suffered from before - which I assign to lansoprazole like yourself. I already have lots of fibre in my diet, so nothing much to be changed there. My least favourite symptom of all that I have experienced with PMR meds has been waking up at 4am with (sorry, this is probably more info than most of you want) an urgent need to open my bowels. I’m holding out for getting off the meds altogether (currently tapering from 3mg to 2.5) - not particularly helpful to you, I know. Ho-hum. It’s good to have this forum with others who understand
I am more the other way but apparently dried apricots are amazing for shifting your bowels. I take 15mg Lanzoprazol every day but you have to take it at least 15 minutes before you eat if not more so make sure you are leaving plenty of time between taking that and having breakfast for it to line your stomach. You can get the coated tablets in 5's and 2.5's I know I have them so try and change to those for the majority of your dose, that will surely help.
Yes, I've been taking the lansoprazole well before breakfast...15mg like you. But I opened a capsule and took half a dose this morning and will do the same tomorrow. I'm then planning to skip the next day and see how my tum is. Good advice from PMRPro. If I have other repercussions, I'll see if the GP will prescribe what you have. Thanks for the tip
Fybrogel is a great & natural constipation relief…just mix with water & drink. Orange or lemon flavoured. Safe enough to be used daily as recommended by my GP….although now I live mostly in Spain rather than U.K., I don’t suffer as much! Must be the water!
Another goodie for me to look up! Thank you. I found an old bottle of syrup of figs at the back of a cupboard the other day, when I was very uncomfortable and everywhere was shut! Tasted ok so I took some.....something worked, so I may treat myself to an in date replacement....
Whether or not it's a good thing because of the sugar content but I have 4 dried prunes a day (morning and lunch-time) plus 3 probiotics (morning, noon and night). Those, and the soluble magnesium ensure I have no problems. I suffer from gastritis and diverticulosis so I have three sips of kefir (1 each morning, noon and night) and again, have managed to overcome the problems. I took omeprazole initially but ditched it in favour of more natural remedies. I really don't want to take any additional medication. Prednisolone is enough at the moment. Hope this helps.
Yes, thank you. More excellent tips. Kefir keeps coming up, so I'm going to try that too I think. Not sure if my local shops stock it, but it's on my list👍
Even here in Italy smaller grocery shops are starting to stock it - I saw it in the village supermarket this week and I know they didn't have a few months ago.
Diet,digestive system not happy.Everyone is different and responds in different ways.Could try ditching seeds and piles of raw food [salad].Small salads with oily dressing and some protein and some carbs otherwise cook veg.I would get constipation sorted use something like laxido oral solution of balanced electrolytes .Get this or similar prescribed from g.p or pharmacist.Should clear bowel and relieve bloating etc also can prescribe fybolgel[previous post] for maintenance.I use psyllium husks[ natural health 4 life..er,Amazon]1x scoop in my porridge/mueseli breakfast which suits me! It,s no good stuffing yourself with " healthy food" and expecting guts to do as they are told,much more subtle; smaller meals,do eat some carbs and not everything has to be high in fibre.Even fibre is different,some forms a nice glutinous gel whereas some is just plain irritant! Eat nice food that you like and things constantly change,I,m into small bowl of chopped apple and plums and other fruit at the moment with nice yogurt or ice cream , tum seems to like this whereas it suddenly violently rejected raw spinach which I was enjoying as salad.Ok i,ll cook it [stir fried with other veg] oh fine responds bowel! Really gut is a truly wild untamed natural creature .we have to get along together.This is not a professional opinion or advice just my experience as I have shared your experiences! good luck and happy eating ps don,t know your age but constpation is serious issue for older people and gp should help you ,I,ve just come out of hospital from joint replacement and they were very concerned with bowel activity etc .Dischaged with 3 different meds[ including Laxido] in case they are required to deal with constipation post op until normal activity resumes!!!
Hi. I did cut carbs almost immediately after starting pred, but I had bloating and constipation within a day or so. I knew my digestive system could react and take time to adjust, but it's been 2 months now, so something is amiss in that department. Also, I bloat immediately after eating anything, so difficult to pinpoint whether a particular food is the culprit. So I'm blaming lansoprazole or adcal.....and hoping it's not due to pred, since I can't ditch that!
Yes, I've decided to follow your suggestion ie taken a reduced dose of lansoprazole this morning and will do the same tomorrow. If that feels ok, I'll skip the next day and maybe take half a dose the next day....like the famous tapering! Going by what others say, pred having negative effects on the stomach isn't inevitable, and the more I read/hear about lansoprazole, the less I like the thought of staying on it
Newplodder, Lansoprazole didn't suit me but the other way, unfortunately I had bouts of diarrhoea. In fact all of the 'prozoles'affected me so switched to famotidine. Better but my digestive system is shot! Not sure if it's the prednisolone tbh
The patient information leaflet mentions constipation or slackness as a side effect of lansoprazole. I tried it and constipation was dreadful. So reverted to omeprazole and back to normal now.
That’s probably a good plan. My wife tells me omeprazole can cause problems with our bones, and as I’m on 2.5mg Pred I think I should ask for a lower dose.
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