Help with gnawing hunger pains/meds

Hi everyone,

I'm new here, so thanks for listening! about 4 weeks ago, I began experiencing heartburn after I had been taking NSAIDs at night for about a week. So I started with Tums. Got worse, so I went to the doc. He put me on Protonix. It seemed to do the trick, at first. After a week of feeling normal, the gnawing pain and heartburn came back. I realized I hadn't been taking the med properly (1/2 hour before eating in the morning), so I began doing that, 2 - 40 mg Protonix per day. Then I added Prevacid at night on top of the Protonix. SLIGHT improvement, but it almost seems like its worsening again. Confused as to why it all got so much better then blew up again. Do I try a different PPI? Am I taking too much? This constant hunger pain is wearing me down. Advice and help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,
Kyoko

Kyoko:

While taking NSAIDs can cause stomach issues, a week isn't a long time to be on them. Although it seems like forever, 4 weeks is very recent as far as your symptoms are concerned. And sometimes, the medication takes a while to work. Did you doctor tell you to add the Prevacid while still on Protonix? Have you adjusted your diet at all since the onset of your symptoms? No alcohol, stay away from anything spicy, acidic, containing caffeine, chocolate, etc. Please remember we are not medical professionals, and can only offer advice from our experience. At this point, you should contact your doctor with your concerns. He can better advise you about your medication.

Sharon

Hi! I was on Protonix (sp) for 2 weeks & didn't get ant relief. Now on Prevacid, not working that great either...now taking one in the morning & one in the evening & supplementing with over the counter acids reliver chewables. This is depressing... Waiting for something to work and get back to normal.
Did your doc change your medication? Are you feeling any better? Hope so!

Hi there,

I know people vary hugely and triggers are different person to person, but for me that awful "false hunger" constant rumbling discomfort turned out to be caused by the PPIs. It wasn't until I successfully changed over to Ranitidine 2 years ago that I finally got stable. Not cured, but stable. On PPIs I had lots of flare ups and I think they gave me as many symptoms as they relieved. After switching I realised that horrible false hunger was a drug side effect!

MMM

Hey Kyoko, just wanted to see how you (or anyone else) is doing now. I also felt way worse on the Protonix (was taking two a day for 80mg total for about a month). Just got off them about two weeks ago and am dealing with what is probably acid rebound (burning in stomach, constant ache throughout the day). My GI doctor though wants to label it was functional dyspepsia.

I never had these issues before taking the PPI and antibiotics for H Pylori.

Anyways, hope you are all well!

Not taking any antacids at the moment.