[danacain]

A Blog Whore's Blog: I came within a whisper.........

I spent 3 days in the hospital last week from untreated anemia resulting from the Omeprazole therapy used to treat a marginal ulcer. Please read and please, if you are post gastric and using PPI's get your iron levels checked regularly! I have become very very sick and it was completely unnecessary.

I posted this in this forum because I my procedure was performed at Madigan Army Medical Center. I'm happy to answer any questions for those interested in having their WLS performed at a military hospital.

[DocSanae]

Can I ask what was the dosage of Omeprazole? And the duration you were taking it?
There's a limit on the duration that you can take it at high dosage, though with GERD, low dosage can be taken for an unlimited amount of time.

[danacain]

He had me on 60mg a day for 6 months, which I now realize was an extremely high dose. The doctors at Madigan switched me to zantac once a day at bedtime, but to be honest, I am terrified of taking it. But a bleeding ulcer or esophageal cancer scares me even more...

[DocSanae]

That's very high dosage for too long a time. The standard recommended dosage for ulcers is 40mg a day for 4-8 weeks, in fact, here, (giving consideration that the average Japanese is smaller than Americans) the recommended dosage is 20mg for the same duration.
Zantac is an H2 blocker, and though it also decreased stomach acid, the effect is somewhat weaker than PPI's. You also need to be aware that reduction of acid can affect iron absorption because a certain amount of acid is needed to break down the iron pills. With a regular stomach, this may not matter much, but with a small pouch, the effect may be greater.

[danacain]

That's the same conclusion I reached. It's my own fault for not doing my homework and it's really my GI doc's fault for giving me such a toxic dose for so long. I can't believe I didn't research the meds; it's not like me. Especially given my condition; I cannot afford to be casual about the medications I take. Whenever possible I look for natural remedies to avoid having to take medications at all.

Thanks to the overwhelming and brain fog I suffered I had to double up my Adderall dosage and now I'm concerned about complications from addiction. But hopefully now that I've gotten to the root of the problem I can wean myself back down to the lowest effective dose or better yet go off Adderall altogether.

[SummerBreeze]

Ok question Doc, I take 40 mgs once a day everyday and was told I would have to all my life....so should i be reducing how much I take or do I need to take it daily , a lil confused here

[DocSanae]

20mg is safer, but consult with your dr about that. Also have the blood levels regulary to make sure you aren't getting anemic.

Here, as I wrote in my previous post, the therapeutic level is 20mg daily, maintenance 10mg daily. However, the average Japanese is smaller in stature in comparison to Americans, so recommended levels for any given medication in the US are twice that recommended here.

[Grider]

I had ulcers but it turned out to be H pylori - and had to go through a 10 day treatement, but it is GONE..have you been checked for that?

[DocSanae]

This is a one year old thread. I am closing this to prevent further confusion.
Whenever you post, please check the date of the orginal post first, and make sure the ongoing discussion is up to date with the condition and stage of the original poster.