First post so sorry if this is the wrong place....
Long story: (skip to end if you want short story) back in september, I was having tightness in my chest, lump in throat feeling, non productive cough, panicky feelings, couldn't eat as much as I used to etc...(no heartburn, but occasionally acid in throat). A friend convinced me to go to the ER because of the chest tightness/seemingly short breath. I had chest xrays, ekg, and blood work done. Everything was considered "normal" and it was written up as "undetermined" chest pain and anxiety/stress. Coincidentally, a lot of things were changing in my life at that time that definitely were stressful.
I ended up at a doctor about 3 weeks later (lot of time to research possibilities on the net in that time). I'm thirty three and haven't been to a dr in about 15 years! I am really against the drug industry and all that sort of thing in general (my grandfather died 2 years ago at 91 due in part to being overdrugged by his dr). Anyway, so now I'm in the middle of one of my worst fear situations... doctors, drugs, hospitals...etc..
The doctor diagnosed GERD(through research on my own though, I KNOW that it's LPRD -mentioned this to him and he said "it's the same thing"), and gave me a presc. for 20mg prilosec once a day and ordered upper gi series. Upper gi came back normal, and when i was having it done, the tech even asked me to cough multiple times to try to see a hernia. So, if I have one, it must be slight since they say the didn't find anything (I understand that an endoscopy can show slight ones that the upper gi may miss -as well as ulcers for that matter). In any case, I had a dr appt. last thursday (nov 1st), and he gave me a prescription of 40mg protonix.
Short story: After taking prilosec otc 20mg a day, I started to feel pretty good. I still felt throat issues (mucous hanging out there and occasional slight bitterness), but all in all no chest tightness, and a LOT better. Now, I've been taking 20mg of protonix for 6 days and I'm feeling some slight chest tightness again, and not as good as I felt taking the 20mg prilosec. This isn't making sense to me because from everything I've read, it should be the other way around. Does it take longer than 6 days for protonix to start working or?? I'm really tempted to stop the protonix and go back to the prilosec. Could someone please advise or share experience? Thanks!
My 11 year old son has battled acid reflux most of his life. He was on Prilosec for a long time...worked great. Next thing we know, they're changing it to Protonix. He didn't do nearly as well. We actually went back to Prilosec.
You know what works for you and you need to let your doc know that Prilosec works better for you!
Different ones work for different people. I had to try 3 before I found one that works well for me so if one isn't effective you have to ask to try others. I read an article where they are testing a new drug that in initial testing stopped virtually all heartburn in a large group of study participants unlike PPI's which can have some breakthrough heartburn as we all know. Hopefully that drug is on the horizon.
Thanks for the replies I've read that different ones work for different people (chemistries), but the overwhelming amount of info saying that protonix is better is getting the best of me mentally. The thing is, I don't know how long to wait, it's only been 6 days. I mentioned maybe I needed a higher dose of prilosec when I was there last week, but that's when he prescribed protonix.
Although I've heard that the doctor I chose is GREAT, and one of the best in my area(from several ppl including a nurse that's been in the profession for 20 years), I feel as though he rushes and doesn't care a whole lot about what *I* want to try when it comes to the meds. Instead of protonix, I wanted to get 40mg prilosec since I read that LPRD has to be treated much more aggressively (think I read ppl taking 2 40mg a day for up ro 6 months). But of course, I found someone saying that prilosec was "useless" for LPRD.
So, I feel if I go back to the dr it will be a bunch more hassle and BS. So, I'm left with the 20mg prilosec, or waiting to see if protonix "kicks in". I didn't mention in my last post, but I've changed my diet drastically and I don't feel that my weight has any real part in it since I'm about 145 and only 5' 7. This whole ordeal is just extremely frustrating and depressing since I've never really had any health problems and I'm now dealing with doctors and whatnot and things aren't much better than they were back when this all started back in august
Short story: After taking prilosec otc 20mg a day, I started to feel pretty good. I still felt throat issues (mucous hanging out there and occasional slight bitterness), but all in all no chest tightness, and a LOT better. Now, I've been taking 20mg of protonix
Contradiction here. 1st you mention 40 mg (I guess a day), then you say you're taking 20 mg Protonix. Mistake somewhere?
Because if you're taking below the actual prescription, that could be a problem right there.
As for Prilosec being better - it all depends. Some PPIs seem to work for a person, and others don't. All things seem to work for some people, and for other people, nothing works well. It's why many people and doctors recommend experimenting with different PPIs (not mine :-( ).
And 6 days isn't necessarily enough; although if you had relief from the Prilosec already, I'd think if Protonix was good for you, you'd still have relief. As long as you're on the prescribed dosage, and not lower!
sorry about that! I mixed them up.... should be 20mg of prilosec and now 40mg of protonix. I never experimented with dosages, though I wanted to try 2 prilosecs before my visit where he prescribed protonix.
The 2 drugs don't seem that different (omeprazole - pantoprazole), so yeah, I don't understand why if prilosec was working for me that the switch to protonix all of a sudden caused the changes that i'm experiencing.
As we said, Paul, it seems some people's chemistry just works great with some PPIs, and not with others. And some of us are helped by all of them, others none of them!
As we said, Paul, it seems some people's chemistry just works great with some PPIs, and not with others. And some of us are helped by all of them, others none of them!
Yeah, I guess that's what it comes down to, because nothing else makes sense! Anyone have a suggestion for how long I should try protonix before going back to prilosec (tomorrow will be 7 days)? I think it was only a few days or so for prilosec to have an effect. Thanks,
I'd try if for another week if you can. Good luck.
Thanks a lot for the reply that sounds like a plan to me. The biggest thing that I notice is the chest tightness and slight stomach bloating that has shown up again since I switched from prilosec. Maybe if I stick it out, it will get better. Thanks again,
I've read that different ones work for different people (chemistries), but the overwhelming amount of info saying that protonix is better is getting the best of me mentally. The thing is, I don't know how long to wait, it's only been 6 days. I mentioned maybe I needed a higher dose of prilosec when I was there last week, but that's when he prescribed protonix.
Re: Prilosec possibly better than Protonix? 
