Are you or somebody you love suffering from heart burn?
Have you been taking over the counter Prilosec or the generic version omeprazole for a while
but wonder if you should?
Has your doctor recommended that you take it but you are concerned about possible long
term effects?
If so, then this is the video for you.
Keep watching to help you understand what you need to know most about taking this medication
Welcome to Family Med, I'm Dr. Richardson and this is your home for practical and accurate
information to help your family make healthy decisions.
This is the channel that focuses on bringing better health to your home.
On today's episode we are going to be going over one of the most common medications that
is given for acid reflux named Prilosec or even now more commonly known by its generic
name omeprazole.
Omeprazole is a medication that is used to treat problems in the stomach related to too
much production of acid.
These are conditions such as acid reflux or the technical term GERD or Gastric Esophageal
Reflux Disease.
Most people just call it Heart burn.
We also use it to treat stomach ulcers, a certain kind of bacterial infection in the
stomach and some rare conditions where there is a significant amount of excessive acid
produced in the stomach.
But most people taking it are just looking for a little relief from that persistent burning
in their stomach and chest.
Omeprazole belongs to the group of medications called PPI's or Proton Pump inhibitors.
What these medications do is work on the little acid producing pumps in the stomach to decrease
or even stop acid production.
Out of all the different acid type medications that are out there, omeprazole and the other
medications in this same class have the benefit of lasting longer.
For most people the effects of this medicine will last about 24 hours.
The most common condition that we treat with this medication is your typical heat burn
or what we call GERD.
GERD is a condition where the acid contents from the stomach will come back up into the
esophagus past a protective muscle called the sphincter.
The esophagus doesn't have the protective coating that the stomach does so the acid
will irritate and burn the esophagus causing that all familiar pain that you are dealing
with now.
So how do you know you have heartburn?
Well, most people with heartburn say that it feels like a burning chest pain beginning
behind the breastbone and moving upward to the neck and throat.
Many people say it feels like food is coming back into the mouth leaving an acid or bitter
taste.
The burning, pressure, or pain of heartburn can last as long as 2 hours and is often worse
after eating, lying down or bending over.
There are other symptoms that aren't quite as common like nausea or vomiting, tooth decay,
bad breath and even a cough, but I don't recommend you self diagnose these symptoms.
Talk to your doctor about what you are feeling so you can get an accurate diagnosis because
other things can cause this too.
Once its determined that indeed you have acid reflux there certainly are a lot of options
that you have to treat it but discussing all of those is out of the scope of what I'm covering
here today.
Just know that for a good percentage of people, just making some simple diet changes, can
make a big difference in controlling and even eliminating your symptoms.
Even with diet changes though we can't always control all of your symptoms.
So let's say you've talked to your doctor and they are recommending that you take omeprazole
to treat your heartburn.
What should you expect?
First of all, omeprazole usually comes in a capsule of either 20 or 40 mg.
The 40 mg dose is by prescription only whereas the 20 mg you can get over-the-counter.
This medication is designed to be taken on a daily basis.
It is not as fast acting as some of your other medications like Tums or Zantac so if you
are only having occasional symptoms you may do better with one of those.
Omeprazole tends to take a day or two to start working to its full potential.
If you are taking this medication on your own and not under the direction of your doctor,
it is recommended that you limit its use to 2 weeks.
The reason for this is not that you can't take it for longer, but that you do not want
to be taking it thinking that you are treating acid reflux when something else more concerning
is going on.
So it is always a good idea, that if you are having persistent abdominal symptoms that
you feel might be acid reflux, you should talk to your doctor about it to make sure
you know what is really going on.
One other really important thing to understand about this medication.
We have found that if you are on this for a while and abruptly stop it you can actually
get a rebound production of acid that can make you feel like your symptoms have gotten
worse.
What I have found with my own patients is that they will come into me feeling that they
need to stay on this medication because every time they try to stop it they get really bad
acid reflux.
The problem is not that they are producing too much acid but that they stopped the medication
too quickly.
If you have been on it for more than a couple weeks you should taper down off of the medication
slowly to prevent this from happening.
Okay, so now for the question that probably brought you to this video.
What kind of side effects can you expect?
Well, the most common answer to this question is really not many.
Omeprazole is actually very well-tolerated with not very many day to day side effects.
But, as with any medication, if it can have effect in your body, it can also have a side
effect.
Some of the more common side effects that we notice from this medication would be things
such as: Headaches, abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting, and sometimes some excessive
gas.
There are also some rare side effects that you should be aware of.
These are not common but being aware of them is valuable.
First of all, just like any medication you should watch for any kind of allergic reaction.
Also, there is a possibility that it can cause decreased kidney or liver function.
It can cause something called pancreatitis where your pancreas in your abdomen can get
inflamed and make you sick as well as it can increase your risk of having a certain kind
of bacterial infection in the colon.
There are also some newer concerns about these medications that have come to our attention
more recently, and we think it has something to do with how these medications work.
Remember, Proton Pump Inhibitors like omeprazole decrease your body's ability to produce acid.
Well, one of the things that is needed to absorb certain vitamins and minerals like
calcium, vitamin B12, iron and magnesium is acid.
So when you decrease how much acid you have you can possibly affect how much of these
vitamins and minerals are absorbed.
Were not exactly sure about the clinical significance of this however it is something to be aware
of.
It's possible that being on these medications long term can put you at risk for low vitamin
b and iron levels as well as increase your risk for getting brittle bones and fractures.
Again we aren't totally sure about whether this actually translates into problems in
our own bodies but its important thing to be aware of.
One thing that we do know is that they can affect on the bodies ability to absorb magnesium
increasing your risk of developing a magnesium deficiency.
This can have an effect on many parts of your body including your heart and nerves.
Many now recommend checking magnesium levels for those who are on these types of medications
long-term.
The last thing you need to be careful with when taking omeprazole is that the way the
body processes and breaks down this medication is similar to a lot of other different medications.
Why this matters is that when two medications get processed through the same pathway in
the body that creates interactions.
Omeprazole out of all the antiacids tends to have more interactions.
Common medications out there that you need to watch for are blood thinners like Plavix
or clopidrogel, blood pressure medications and some antidepressants.
There are a lot more so I'm not going to go through them all.
Just remember that if you are taking medications make sure you check with your doctor or pharmacist
to make sure that they are safe to take together.
So what to do with all of this information and how do you decide what to do?
The first thing you need to do is really look at making some significant lifestyle changes.
Look at your diet, exercise habits and work on stopping smoking.
Watch your portion sizes and when you eat and pay attention to what foods may make things
worse.
It may not fix it for everybody, but many times I have seen in my own patients that
just by making some simple changes to your diet, living a healthier lifestyle and losing
some weight they were able to significantly decrease or even stop the amount of medication
they had to take.
When that is not working, you really need to be talking to your doctor if you feel omeprazole
is something that you may need to be on long-term.
Talk to them about the likelihood of these long-term side effects and how that compares
to the risk of not treating your acid reflux.
Long-term untreated acid reflux not only leads to a poor quality of life but it can also
cause significant problems including changes to your esophagus which can lead to a certain
kind of cancer.
So as you can see untreated acid reflux is also dangerous.
That's why its important to not be on long term treatment for this condition unless its
under the direction of your doctor so they can monitor for any side effects and help
you decide the risks and benefits of each decision.
Acid reflux is one of the more common things that we see in the doctor's office.
It certainly can make you miserable but luckily when diet and lifestyle changes do not work
there is a medication like omeprazole that can make a significant difference in treating
this condition.
Well, I hope that after watching this you are a little more informed about a great option
for treating this bothersome condition.
Omeprazole is one option that can help but there are many different ones out there.
I'd like to hear about what you have found to be helpful in treating your acid reflux.
So comment below so we can all learn.
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So until next tine, this is FamilyMed with Dr. Richardson and remember to take care of
your body because it's the only one you have.