Rheumy advises stopping my daily 15mg Lansoprazol now I am down to 3.5mg Pred (with Leflunomide). She says Ok to just stop. Anyone have experience to share please - is it best to do every other day for a while? I have been on it for over 7 years (with no problems).
Btw, my markers have been normal for 2 months, first time ever since 2015. Only problem left apart from very thin skin is one knee that swells up and needs draining every few months, scan showed damage to synovial membrane so it leaks. And +7 years of Anno Domini! Leflunomide affects my guts a bit but only minor nuisance Down Below.
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Roltuba
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No it is NOT OK just to stop! You need to taper or there is the risk of a rebound production of acid. Do they EVER look at the PILs for the medications they dish out?
Everything I have seen says take your doctor's advice about stopping, including the NHS stuff, which says they may advise just stopping. Rheumy said "if you get a bit of indigestion start taking it again". Tonight's curry may give the answer! Porridge so far ok. Btw there's nothing on the Lans leaflet about taking it with steroids, just NSAIDS. I will take it alternate days for a week.
All depends on how long you have been taking it. It is only supposed to be used for up to 2 weeks. You can stop after 2 weeks. Same as pred - take any dose for up to 2 weeks and it is safe to just stop. High doses or lower doses for longer (above 10mg) are a different matter.
I went cold turkey with Lansoprozole and had terrible acid reflux after 2 days. I'd only eaten really benign food too! I went straight back on 30mg a day until things had settled again, and then alternated between 2 and one capsules every other day for 2 weeks, and then between 1 and 0 capsules every other day for 2 weeks. Off it now and no probs. I have a fair few left for possible times of excess (xmas and the like 🤭)
My Lanso is 30 mg but its a capsule filled with granules....Don't know how to split it....I take one a day for the last 30 years. More like 40 years....used to take Zantac and many others until Lanso about 15 years ago. When I stop , heartburn is back in 1-2 days.
Yes, mine were 15mg capsules. I always found them really hard to pop out of the packaging, and I had a few mishaps where the capsules broke. Pesky contents went everywhere!
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