MEDICATION QUESTION

Did or does anyone here ever take the anti-acid medication called

Protonix???

If so did you have any side effects?

What were those side effects?

Thanks.

Hi Grelo, I take two Protonix daily -- one with breakfast and one with dinner.  I have not had any side effects -- works well for me.  I've been taking it for quite a few years so do not remember if I had headaches early on like GmawMary experienced.

Thanks for your answers. You two must be among the lucky ones because I am overly sensative to soooo many drugs. Have been taking Protonix for a little over a week and noticed more shortness of breath, not too much relief from Gastritis and  since 3 days I have VERY blurry vision on top of my macular degeneration.

I admit I never read the literature that comes with meds because it scares the daylights out of me. But the blurred vision bothered me too much so I looked Protonix up on Webmd.com and low and behold, it is one of the side effects I really do NOT need. It also aggravates my gastritis more than it does good so I guess back to cry on Doc's shoulder.

I took it a while back with no side effects.  But, it is difficult to get off of.  It's like your GI tract becomes dependent upon it.

Hi Grelo, I have been taking Protonix for about two years.  I don't have any problems with side effects from it.

I hope the doctor gives you something else, and it works for you with no side effects.

gr_elo

I admit I never read the literature that comes with meds because it scares the daylights out of me. But the blurred vision bothered me too much so I looked Protonix up on Webmd.com and low and behold, it is one of the side effects I really do NOT need. It also aggravates my gastritis more than it does good so I guess back to cry on Doc's shoulder.

There are so many medications that you can take -- I am sure your doc will work with you to find a solution.  Good luck!!

I too rarely read all the warnings etc that come with meds -- very scary!

Dh took it for awhile and it didn't seem to have any side effects but it just didn't really work for him. 

I rarely read thru the side effects, either, unless I have a problem.  Sometimes when I do then I feel like I'm just waiting on some of those things to start happening! 

Hope Doc can find something else that works better for you--without any side effects! 

Whenever I get a new medicine from the doc I look it up on drugs.com to see what the side effects are.  Sometimes those inserts are hard for me to read because the printing is too small.  I don't normally read the warnings, but I do read the information on side effects and drug interactions because that new medicine might interact with one or more of my other meds and I need to know which ones.  I've reacted to several of them lately and had to stop taking them.

Googled Protonix and it was listed under protron pump (?) inhibitors, which play hell on one's bones.  Very wary of those meds now as I took Nexium for over ten years when the powers that be  came out and said one should never be on them over two years as it keeps calcium from being absorbed.  I ended up with "Osteocrap" (Osteoporosis).  Took one little pill of Foxamax and turned out I was highly allergic so now am on a nasal spray that helps my bones rebuild.  Also switched from calcium carbonate to calcium citrate, which seems to have made a whale of a difference. Just had a dexa scan andd the improvement from two years ago is amazing to mel!!   

Please be careful what you take, especially if it affects bones.  I haven't been a regular on here, but the last I remember was, you had a lot of pain from bone problems .  My hopes you and your doctor can find something that helps!! 

Thanks for all the answers. I use Webmd.com to check things out and  have thrown more meds away than you can shake a stick at. Very few things agree with me.

Sorry yu wound up with osteoporosis, Mary D, that is a bummer, hope you can rebuild some of the bone loss.

I still have good bones, the only anti acid I have ever taken before was Malox and Tums, and one time I took Zantac for 2 weeks. When I had a wheeze in one lung Doc prescribed the steroid Prednesone and also a steroid inhaler (Asmanex) Latter was the one that caused inflammation of the stomach lining. Lucky it did not do the same thing to the lining of my intestines because I knew right away how sick it made me and stopped using it.

A wek ago a gastroscopy proofed what it did to me and doc said to take the Protonix. They in turn made my vision blurry and upset my stomach even more.

Not to worry, I take a s little meds as I can get away with, all I am on is a mild BP, warfarin and  20 mg p day of Lasix and my nebulizer 3 times p day. Now I am back to what I healed my ulcers with back in 71-72:

each day  3 cups of Centaury herb tea, ( vile tasting stuff but it dries up acid ). 6 cups Calundula blossom petal tea to heal and an ulcer diet. And of course a few Tums and a few Symethicone (anti gas) pills and have not had any problem for over 3 days. 2 more weeks and all should be back to normal. Yes, I do take vitamins: 4000 units of Vitamin D, Magnesium, Citrical and  a senior multi- vitamin and I eat lots of veggies and fruit especially those high in potassium because I cannot take Potassium Chloride with the diuretic, (it also tears up my stomach).  Have to make up for the diuretic with potassium rich foods. 1000 mg of veggie and fruit potassium for each 10 mg of Lasix. So I eat lots of sweet potatoes, bananas, canteloupe, beets, milk, yogurt and/or whatever is needed. Have a list of all fruits and veggies high in potassium and how much is in one serving.Every time I have blood work done the potassium is right on the button.

We had a thunderstorm tonight but we did not get the brunt of it, a little ghost town 9 miles from us had 1' hail and 60 mph winds, we only had a bit of lightening, some thunder and some very welcome rain but according to forecasts we are not out of the woods yet. Talked to a friend in Ohio tonight and they really got hit and will not have power until Friday. They had slight damage to their house but all trees on their property are down and the garden is flattened.Hope every one on here who lived in the area of bad storms is ok.

Thanks again for letting me know your experiences with Portonix, I am glad I can get well without it.