How long does it take for a PPI to work?

[upsetmom]

My daughters had a sore throat and tightness for 2 weeks. Thinking this was acid related we started her on Nexium a week ago.

Now we haven't seen any improvement, if anything her throats getting worse. I took her to see the GP today and she said to gargle with warm salt water and to use a throat spray.

If her sore throat is caused by acid shouldn't the Nexium have worked by now?

 

[nogutsnoglory]

I'm not sure about the timeline for Nexium to begin working but from my own experience it does in a few days.

 

[UnXmas]

I think it's supposed to be pretty quick. PPIs never worked for me, but when my doctor prescribed them for me to try she implied I should notice a difference pretty much straight away. I'm not sure if I ever tried Nexium specifically though (I tried a few different things, but the brand names for the same drug vary in different countries, and it's a few years since I tried them).

Does she have other symptoms that make you think the sore throat is acid-related?

You may well know all this already, but some other things which may help and are easy to try are drinking milk, keeping her head raised on two or more pillows when she's in bed and not eating right before bed time.

 

[upsetmom]

My daughters GI had been trying to put her on a PPI for a long time. The first time was for a sore throat, then for stabbing chest pain and then for pain after eating.

I finally decided to try the Nexium even though deep down l didn't think its acid related. She has no other symptoms of acid.

Looking back at my diary...crohn's forum. she's been getting a sore throat on and off since starting the Pentasa

l've emailed the nurse asking if this could be caused by her medication and can she just stop the Nexium as its not helping at all. She still hasn't got back to me.

 

[Jison0612]

It took me 3months of taking prilosec 40mg a day to start feeling a lot of relief from my acid reflux/silent reflux it sucks and causes a lot of issues and if there's ulcers involved it can take a lot longer to heal and start to feel relief hang in there.

 

[Ihurt]

Those PPI's scare the crap out of me. They are so bad. They can put you at risk for coming down with infections. Have you had your daughter tested to see if her sore throat is actually due to acid?? I know about 9 years ago when my health took a nose dive, it started with this severe throat burning. It was not the typical sore throat either, it was like I had a severe burn in my whole upper throat. The GI's I had seen all put me on those PPI's which did Nothing to help me and just made me worse. I finally had a test ( actually twice) called the PH test. They put a tiny wire down your nose into your throat and they record whether acid is being refluxed in a 24 hour period. They have another version which I had done when I was at the Mayo Clinic. It is called the bravo PH test. They attach a tiny sensor in at the base of the esophagus and it will record whether there is an acid problem or not. They do this one endosccpically. Well it turned out I did NOT even have acid reflux at all. They had no clue what was going on, but it was not due to acid.

I would have her accessed to see if this is her issue before putting her on those PPI's. Has she tried H2 blockers at all, like zantac or Tagamet? Those are slightly better and safer than PPI's are. Also, there is a chance that she may not have enough acid in her gut and this can cause issues as well.

I hope she feels better soon....

 

[upsetmom]

lhurt They've never done any testing to see if this is acid. They just keep assuming every pain is acid related.

The nurse doesn't believe this sore throat she keeps getting is from the Pentasa. So it might be a coincidence it started at the same time as starting Pentasa.

l've actually had my own bad experience with PPI's. To cut a long story short l never had acid to begin with and got very sick... so that was part of the reason why l didn't want them to put her on acid tablets unnecessary.

Anyway she's coming down with the flu/virus??? She woke up yesterday sore all over and weak. Then last night the runny nose started.

I don't know why she had a sore throat for 2 weeks before this flu/virus??

We were also told to stop the Nexium.

 

[Ihurt]

Hi Upsetmom,

Hmm, Maybe she was getting a virus and now it just came full blown. I know last year I also got this odd virus. It started where I had a bad headache for like a week and a half. Then all my nose started burning and running and then I cam down with the cold/virus full blown. It was odd because it came on so slow and it took almost two weeks to fully appear. Viruses are weird and can do strange things with the body I guess.

I mean I would keep an eye on things. If you notice after she gets over this virus that she is still having issues with the sore throat, do not rule out the pentasa. These drugs can cause all kinds of side effects and I really hate it when doctors will not admit this. My MIL was taking that new drug Xerelto for atrial fib of the heart. Well two days after taking it she started hemorrhaging from the vagina. She stopped the drug right away but was still bleeding a month later! He regular doctor said there is no way it was the drug( even though she had NO bleeding before she started it!). Well she had to go through a D&C and the gyne did not find anything and told her it WAS almost definitely due to the drug xerelto. So I would not throw the idea of pentasa being the culprit yet. One thing to remember is that most doctors have NO clue about drug side effects. You may want to ask the pharmacist about it instead, this is their area of expertise. But even then, I remember one pharmacist telling me just because a side effect is not listed does not mean it cannot happen.

I hope your daughter feels better soon!!!