PPI's cause Anxiety

I've never had panic attacks in my life, but since last week i've had 5-6. Everybody struggles with anxiety at certain points in their life's, and some struggle with it every day.

PPI's such as Nexium or Controloc( the only ones i've tried ) have caused me anxiety. At first i really didn't know why i felt that way, but after reading their side effects i was astounded. Not only do they cause anxiety all by themselves, but they also lower your magnesium levels. Magnesium is among the most important things your body needs. A person with low magnesium levels can develop a cardiac neurosis which will give you anxiety like you've never felt before. You can also get chest pains, a lump in the throat sensation, tachycardia and other things. Each of these symptoms will fuel your anxiety like crazy. Just google "nexium side effects".

I felt it on my own body. After reading nexium's side effects i thought it was to blame for my anxiety, but wasn't sure. The last few days have confirmed that, at least for me, it does indeed cause anxiety. Yesterday morning i woke up, took the pill and ate something. 3-4 hours later i went to the store to buy something. I felt anxious and uncomfortable the whole way, but going up the stairs to my apartment on the 4th floor gave me a panic attack. I've been to 3 cardiologists and my heart is fine, and i've done sports my whole life. Simply climbing some stairs should have been nothing. Now today i had an appointment to see the GE. I woke up, didnt eat a thing. Felt my usual gerd pain, but no biggie. Went to the doctor at 11 and came home at about 13:30. On my way back i also stopped at the store and at the pharmacy. At the GE i did my first ever gastroscopy and even though some people told me it's painful and yada-yada, i didnt feel pretty much anything. I didnt have anxiety, i was calm. Even my way back home while carrying groceries went fine. Climbed to the 4th floor and felt like a spartan. It was 13:30 and i hadnt eaten anything so i had to take the nexium before eating something. I took it and 30 minutes later i ate. 2-3 hours later i started to feel anxious and then i connected the dots. It was indeed the nexium giving me anxiety.

Now i decided to keep taking it for another 6 days because i have small ulcers in my stomach and my GE said it would help. I will stop taking it after that and won't take ppi's ever again.

I decided to write this post because it might be helpful for some people that are struggling with anxiety and gerd. My advice is to read the alternative to ppi's post here on this forum and try changing your diet and maybe add some other routines that can be found there. Ppi's might be good in a short time frame, but in the long run they will do more harm than good.

Just read these 2 common side effects:

Chronic (lasting a long time) inflammation of the stomach lining (Atrophic Gastritis). Using NEXIUM for a long period of time may increase the risk of inflammation to your stomach lining. You may or may not have symptoms. Tell your doctor if you have stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, or weight loss
Low magnesium levels in your body. This problem can be serious. Low magnesium can happen in some people who take a proton pump inhibitor medicine for at least 3 months. If low magnesium levels happen, it is usually after a year of treatment. You may or may not have symptoms of low magnesium

The thing is i never had anxiety like this in my life. Sure there were moments of anxiety here or there like before an exam or stuff like that, but never like the one i experienced recently.

When i went to the dentist or just for a regular check-up at the doctor, they always complimented me on my pain tolerance and calmness.

This week when i got those panic attacks, i felt completely shut down. I felt like i was about to die in that moment, and the pain i experienced was like nothing i've experienced before. It didn't hurt so much, but it was debilitating. It scared me like i never got scared before. And it was exactly after i started taking the ppi's.

When i wake up in the morning nowadays, i feel great. After taking my ppi i start to slowly feel worse. Maybe they don't interact the same with everybody, but they really mess me up.

I am starting to get better day by day, but i still had a small panic attack this morning. I learned how to control them because i am stubborn and dont want to rely on xanax or stuff like that. I am still not 100% but i am sure that everything will be better when i finish my ppi treatment.

I've suffered with anxiety in the past, not as a result of PPI's, but it has been extremely bad at times so I like to think I know a bit about it. Its important to deal with it no matter what has caused it.

The most important thing is to stay relaxed. It sounds obvious but I went through so many problems trying to 'fight' the anxiety, but it just causes more stress and tension which makes you more vulnerable to anxiety. The best way to deal with it is to firstly, just accept it, it is likely only a temporary thing, but if you are accepting of it and try not to fight it then it will help. Remember that anxiety is your friend, it is there trying to protect you, its just that at the moment its not working properly. When you feel anxious take slow deep breaths, maybe sit or lie down and just rest for 30 minutes. I found it really helpful to write down anything I was worried about, and then put it to one side and kind of talk to my anxiety, saying it was ok, I would deal with those things later once I was relaxed.

There was a really good thread on relaxation here www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=45&m=3074958. I linked to a relaxation exercise I used to do 3 times a day called Progressive Muscle Relaxation. This really helped me, it shifts the mind and body from "fight or flight" mode into "relaxed and healing" mode. If you do this regularly then your mind and body becomes less sensitive to worry and anxiety and you should stop having panic attacks.

One great technique I learned for stopping a panic attack is to pick an object at random that you can see and start to describe it in detail. It immediately takes your mind off worry and you should calm down quite fast. Once you're out of panic mode you can do some relaxation techniques to really calm you down properly.