February 5th
2008
4:21 PM
I have been taking Nexium for over 7 years. I started on Prilosec but when that became available over-the -counter my doctor switched me to Nexium, 20mg once per day. Not long after that I started seeing a new doctor. I was still taking the Nexium, 20mg, one per day. But I was still having a little of that burning pain just below my sternum. I told my new doctor about this thinking he would probably increase my dosage to 20mg twice a day or switch me to the 40mg capsules once a day. Instead he switched me from the 20mg Nexium to the 30mg Prevacid capsules. I had horrible side effects immediately. I would have sudden and unpredictable loss of appetite. Not just loss of appetite but the sight of food would actually make me feel queasy. I lost over 10 pounds in a week and wasn't even trying. But the worst, and most frightening, side effect was the severe shortness of breath. I was in the Navy for 10 years and kept myself in pretty good shape. At one time I was even running 3 miles a day. Immediately after starting on the Prevacid I got so short of breath I could not climb a flight of a dozen stairs. It made me feel like I was 80 or 90 years old. And I was only 48 or 49 at the time. My chest would heave up and down. Air was going in and out. But it felt like my lungs weren't getting any oxygen from the air that was going in and out of them. I wanted to trust my doctor but I was actually becoming afraid of going home from work and taking the Prevacid. I got back in to see my doctor as soon as I could and he put me back on Nexium. Not long after this he took a job at another practice/clinic to be closer to home and family. I had to find another doctor. When I went to see my new doctor (the 3rd I've had since the reflux started) I told him about the Prevacid and the shortness of breath. It wasn't as bad since I stopped taking the Prevacid but I still had some shortness of breath and burning pain in my chest when I exercised. He said he had never heard anything about the Prevacid and breathing problems. He sent me to the hospital for the treadmill stress test to make sure it wasn't my heart. It wasn't my heart, but then again I knew that. Even after complaining about the shortness of breath during several visits over the years he never said or did anything about it. About 2 years ago I had a bout of bronchitis. My doctor was busy all day so I took an appointment with another doctor at the same clinic. (I've had to do this several times) While seeing this other doctor for my bronchitis I mentioned to him the whole shortness of breath story. He said I should consider having a pulmonary function test because "you're not too young to have emphysema". Then early in January, 2008 I had to see another doctor at the same clinic, again for bronchitis. I told her about the Prevacid and the shortness of breath. Finally someone sent me to the hospital for the pulmonary function test (PFT). Two weeks later I had an appointment with my PCP for an annual physical check-up. I asked him about the results of the PFT. He said he hadn't seen them but he would check on it while the nurse was giving me and EKG test. Some time later he comes back into the exam room and says "yep, you have a little emphysema". The nurse-practitioner who sent me for the PFT had already started me on Advair. Besides that my doctor seemed to have little to say about my newly discovered condition. I'm not sure if the Prevacid or continued use of Nexium had anything to do with me developing emphysema. But I do know that after complaining to MY DOCTOR of shortness of breath for 3 or 4 years it shouldn't have been someone else that discovered that I have emphysema. Anyway, I guess my real question is has anyone else had a problem with SEVERE shortness of breath on Prevacid, Nexium, or any of the other PPIs?
-- By rudedude | Reply | (2) replies | Private Message me
August 20th
2008
11:42 PM
I am a 53yr old female, I started with bronchitis in Feb 2008, after two er visits, and treatment with antibiotics/ cough meds/ decongestants, etc. thought I was finally over it after 2/3 weeks, then all of a sudden I would start up with the same tight, non productive cough, twice accompanied by strep throut also, these symptoms started to return almost monthly, without warning. The last episode I had in July I was put on prevacid for acid reflux, (the first dosage of that gave me a slight improvement of symptoms of the cough, then the following week prednisone was added with almost instant improvement, Wow finally, each day better that the last, then as I started to taper off a bit of increase in congestion, nothing that a child's dose of mucinex didn't help. Then almost a month to the day after thinking that I was finally better, I started all over again, up for almost 36 hours straight from coughing, started back on steroids, antibiotics, etc. But this time is tougher, The initial steroids helped right away, but there is a lot more mucous with this episode, My Doctor set me up for a PFT (pulmonary function test) and pending results plan to followup with a Pulmonary specialist, but as I've been tapering off the prednisone again the symptoms have increased, almost back to the beginning of the episode, with more coughing than not. Nervous about the last day of my steroids, my doctor put me on the Advair Diskus, my results of my pft should be in tomorrow, I took my first dose this morning, (quite nervous about it because I have several medication allergies and reactions) Now for my dilemma, my dose went well, I almost thought I felt a little something good, I know it's supposed to take awhile to help, but I felt positive about it and looked forward to my next dose in 12hrs. A little later in the day I started feeling funny, kind of spacey, fuzzy headed. Is it possible that this feeling is from the Advair? I've read the side affects and a lot of feedback from Advair users, and nothing matches what I;m feeling. Is there anyone out there that has felt like this? Please help, I'm almost due for my next dose and don't know what to do.
-- By pmb2 | Reply | (2) replies | Private Message mePMB in CT.