Omeprazole 20mg for bloating

[Ozzone]

Hi everyone,

My bowel movements have slowed down from mid December and I have been feeling bloated throughout the day. I have never had heartburn or acid reflux symptoms. Doctor initially told me to use peppermint oil and gaviscon to ease bloating but that didn't really help, tested for h pyolri which came back normal.

I have now been prescribed omeprazole and after doing some reading it seems like its main use is against stomach acidity/reflux, which i've never had. I brought this up with doctor but I am worried they prescribed this to me anyway.

I have taken it for 3 days only so far but I am worried it might not do any good to me. I haven't had any side effects apart from some headaches but am tempted to stop taking it and go back to natural remedies (low fodmap diet, lots of water, exercise)

Has anyone here had a similar experience?

[Ellie-Louise]

Have you tried taking probiotics daily? They certainly keep things very regular and are very good for you.

These are what I take. (Smile is the charity giving side of Amazon, perfectly safe to look at in case you hadn’t heard about it).

smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/produ...

[Ozzone in reply to Ellie-Louise]

Thanks Ellie, i haven't but will take a look. I asked the doctor about them and they dismissed them completely saying they aren't scientifically proven to work but where i come from in italy they are quite popular.

[Ellie-Louise in reply to Ozzone]

Doctors don’t like anything natural because all they want to do is peddle drugs!

[Fencinggirl]

Yeah I don't think Omeprazole is going to help with your symptoms if you don't have heartburn. It can also make you more constipated if you suffer from IBS C (not in all cases, I seem to be OK with it, but everyone is different). At the same time, I'm not a doctor so I can't advise you to stop taking them. Would you feel comfortable going back to your doctor and questioning why they proscribed Omeprazole?

[Ozzone in reply to Fencinggirl]

Thanks for your reply! I asked why and i think the mentioned it was appropriate even if i don't have heartburn as it could treat other issues like ulcers. I've decided to stop for now and see if i can improve things by making diet changes (eg. Cutting out gluten/dairy, following low fodmap) and maybe trying probiotics.

[Fencinggirl in reply to Ozzone]

Still seems a bit strange as your h pyolri test came back normal. Yeah I guess see how you get on with changing your diet. As I mentioned, I'm on it, but that is because I have dyspepsia as well as IBS.

[Hidden]

I was given that made me worse turned out I had gallstones not dyspepsia as they had been prescribed for x