80mg Protonix?

Anyone take 80mg of Protonix for heartburn?
I was give 40mg for the morning and 40mg for the evening. I recently, about a month ago, stopped the evening dose and just stayed with the 40mg in the mornings.
I get this chest pain in the middle of the night (I don't eat past 7 pm), almost like a burning sensation. It wakes me up. The second I stand up or sit up, it goes away and I can go back to sleep. It normally happens at the same time, around 3-4 am.
Is that acid reflux? The burning is below the sternum and nothing ever travels up the esophagus to my mouth or throat. I have heard the discomfort from acid reflux in the middle of the night lasts some time to subside and one GI doctor things it can be anxiety that is causing it (I am struggling with anxiety for the past 9 months). I have not had endoscopy yet, as I am still dealing anxiety and do not want to cause myself more stress at this moment. Very little to no heartburn during the day on 40mg of protonix.

Any positive advice will be highly appreciated.

Hi LexaHelp,

I have taken 40mg Protonix an hour before breakfast and and 40mg an hour before dinner. This is pretty typical for people who get reflux breakthrough even on the one dose.

In my experience, dropping down to 40mg shouldn't cause rebound. If you went off all PPIs you'd get rebound, but I've fluctuated between the double and single dose without any problem at all. Everyone is different, but that's been my experience.

Have you tried elevating the head of your bed to let gravity aid in keeping acid in your stomach, where it belongs. If you're having symptoms at night, then it makes sense to take the pre-dinner dosage. If it's reflux, that should help. Also, you can take Zantac at bedtime. Before my surgery, I was taking 40mg Protonix before breakfast and dinner, as well as 300mg at bedtime.

I hope your anxiety subsides soon. It makes everything more difficult to deal with! If you're waking up from pain, I don't see how that's anxiety produced.

Good luck with it all!

Best wishes,
Denise

Hi LexaHelp

Yes is the answer to your question. I was taking Dexilant 60 mg once a day. If I would miss a dose, the acid rebound would be on me within 5 to 6 hours.. and yes it was horrible! It can wake you up in the middle of the night when the reflux comes up.

You do not have to quit a PPI cold turkey to go through acid rebound. Many people on this site are trying to slowly wean off their PPI's but are still experiencing acid rebound. You will probably see many of them posting on this site for help even when trying to slowly wean off this medication

I do realize that everyone's experience is different trying to wean off of a PPI. For me, on the higher dosage (Dexilant 60 mg), the acid rebound would hit me within 5 to 6 hours after I would miss a dose. On the lower dosage 20mg, It would take 2 days or even longer before the acid rebound would hit.