Gastritis stomach pain - Pantoprazole

[Charlotte.]

Hi there,

It's probably not a new phenomenon but I could not find a recent threat, so I am starting a new one:

I'm having severe stomach pain due to too much acid in my stomach, I've been also diagnosed with gastritis (non-bacterial) and been on and off pantoprazole for more than a year now. I've been on 40-20-40mg (100mg per day though) a few months ago, then tapered down to 40-0-40mg which was okay and now forgot to take it in time twice (instead of 5pm I took it at 10pm) and had an immediate painful response to that mistake. Now I can't sleep any more for the past two nights due to that pain because it increased that much during the last two days.
I don't have 20mg tablets available at the moment, so the only option I have would be 40-40-40mg until I see the GP. Has anyone been on such a high dose of pantoprazole? Or is it a high dose according to you? Is there any alternative when omeprazole does not seem to be effective enough any more?

I've been also having a beginning Crohn's and arthritis flare up due to changing medication (the new one has not kicked in yet) or still having a medium-severe flare up of both Crohn's and arthritis, if that's worth knowing.
Would appreciate your advice.

Thank you!

 

[Charlotte.]

I'm sorry for asking you about your experience regarding pantoprazole dosage as it is highly individual and not an issue for the forum, as the guidelines say as well, so sorry again. ;-)

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

I don't know about pantoprazole, but I've been on omeprazole which I eventually failed, and now I'm on a combo of esomeprazole (Nexium) and ranitidine. That one works a bit better for me than omeprazole. There are also meds such as Prevacid or ranitidine to try, so yes, there are various medications you can still try if omeprazole hasn't worked for you.

For what it's worth, I take 40 mg esomeprazole first thing in the morning, and 2x 300 mg of ranitidine (once before working out and once before bed, as those are the times when my reflux is at its worst). For awhile my doctor had me on 80 mg of esomeprazole but that was too much for me so I went down to 40. The esomeprazole & ranitidine combo is usually enough for me to keep things in check, and it's been about a year since my last gastritis attack.

 

[Charlotte.]

Thank you Cat-a-Tonic! That's good to know there are other combinations and agents out there, I will ask my GP about that, thank you!

 

[FrozenGirl]

Yep when my reflux gets bad I add ranitidine to my pantaprazole. I would recommend talking to your GI about either changing meds or adding OTC meds like ranitidine.

 

[Charlotte.]

Thank you, I was put on the maximum dose of omeprazole now and got some iv omeprazole because my pain was unbearable. Let's see, hope it gets better soon. I also take Gaviscon in addition.

 

[Bunty]

I take 30 mg lansoprazole in the morning. I take 300 mg of ranitidine (on prescription) about 8.30 pm, and then three desert spoons of gaviscon just before bed about 10.30pm.
Worth noting is that when I was in hospital recently and the pharmacist came round to check meds, she told me ranitidine and gaviscon taken too close together cancel each other out, at least an hours gap should be left between taking them.
My GI is happy for me to take this combination of meds at the moment due to me getting horrendous indigestion with the steroids I've been on since 1st July.
Bunty x

 

[Charlotte.]

Thank you Bounty! I read the notice about a few hours gap between the meds in the leaflet, I wished my GP would have told me that. The Gaviscon is really helpful for me, as well as vegetable stock right before I go to bed. At least I can sleep again now, so I think it's slowly getting better.

 

[Bunty]

I'm glad you're finding some relief Charlotte.
I notice that youre currently taking prednisolone, I'm sure you already know that this can cause severe pain and indigestion for some people. My GP was very concerned about my experiences whilst taking it as it can cause serious damage to the stomach if not treated. And it's why she added in the ranitidine.
Bunty x