I Am Back On Omerprazole

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7 years ago I had severe diarrhea and one of the tests I had was an upper GI endoscopy. It was done by a general surgeon because there isn't a gastro near by. He said I had a hiatal hernia and told me to take prilosec by Rx at that time. I finally got into a gastro and she said oh no don't take that it causes diarrhea. At the time I also had awful pain and bloating. It turns out I am intolerant to fructose so that problem was solved. Meanwhile she put me on Nexium. I took that for several years and then I started reading about the bone problems. So I put myself on Ranitidine. My reflux has gotten ever so much worse in the past few years. Swallowing issues sent me to my family MD. He made an appointment with the general surgeon (different one) The very first thing he did was write down stop ranitidine and take omeprazole 40 mg a day. I said doesn't that cause diarrhea? He said not that I know of. I did follow his advice about the drugs. He did schedule an endoscopy for tomorrow. I told my MD the above story and he at least took the time to explain why the bottle says take 20 mg a day for only 14 days and why he thought it was a good idea. I have been on it for 5 days. Meanwhile I did not read about the side effects right away. But yesterday I started having real knee pain and worse back pain. Also have started having stomach pain and bloating. The good news is that I have had no reflux. The first time that I have not had awful throat pain in years. So for now I am going to keep taking it. After I get the endoscopy if I need any treatment I plan to go to the university hospital although it takes a long time to get in...unless you have a serious problem.
Is there any truth to the things I have read that reflux makes the problem worse because the issue is not too much acid but not enough. I have read a lot about that online.

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Hello, Oma! How are you?

No, there is no actual medical research to show that is true about not enough acid. All medical tests show it is due to having too much, which is why the medications used to treat it are those that reduce acid or inhibit its production.

As to the diarrhea, most medications can cause that, except for narcotics. It's just a hazard of taking them, but you can't know ahead of time whether or not you will experience it. And yes, it can also cause some of the other aches and stomach pain that you're experiencing, I had similar problems with it.

But as to your reflux getting worse, what type of foods do you eat? Do you drink coffee? Alcohol? Other caffeinated beverages?

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Thank you. The endoscopy showed that I have a "large" hiatal hernia. The young general surgeon who did the scope was all set to do fundoplication. I told him no way. I will go see a gastro in a few months.

I am down to two prilosac a day along with two ranitidine at night. It is working, hard to stop it when I am free of throat pain for the first time in years.

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