Generic Name: Pantoprazole for GERD (pantoprazole)
Pantoprazole for GERD Reviews
"14 months ago, my GI put me on 40mg pantoprazole for GERD and esophagus erosion. My GERD seemed better, but not resolved, however, I continued taking it. Then, one month later, COVID-19 hit. More and more, I felt really sick with bloating, joint pain, severe back pain, extreme tiredness, and no energy, headaches, depression, and anxiety. I also experienced blurry vision and brain fog. I thought it was all due to stress because of COVID. My physical well-being changed so drastically during this time. Now, for the first time, I researched the side effects of this drug, and the realization set in that these are probably all side effects from this drug! I will not take it any longer and hope that I might start feeling better! Often, I thought I was on my deathbed feeling so awful! Could these have been all the side effects of this drug?"
"I got acid reflux and the doctor prescribed pantoprazole. The side effects are brain fog, ringing in my ear, weakness, depression, and anxiety. The dizziness was so horrible until I passed out, and my husband found me on the kitchen floor, which is very terrifying. Then, they prescribed Ativan, Sertraline Hydrochloride, and I was told to seek help from mental health. I am a health care worker for over more than 10 years, and I can say I am a very healthy individual until I had the GERD issue. The Pantoprazole is just so awful, why are they even out in the market?? I just stopped taking all the medications and do some juicing and a good diet. I am at home now for medical EI. Let's see how it goes. Hopes everything goes well, and please say a prayer for me to get better!!!"
"Started taking this after bad acid reflux, helped with the acid reflux but started feeling very ill, muscle pains, muscle twitching, headaches, back pain, neck pain, abdominal pains. I dropped weight really fast, dry throat, nausea, didn't feel hungry, panic attacks/anxiety, depression, foggy head/troubles concentrating, troubles sleeping, ringing in my ears, my sugar levels also started to crash a lot two weeks in. My doctor thought it was my diabetes medication, while emergency thought it was all in my head when I expressed concern to this medication being the problem. Also ended up spending a lot of money being told to take other meds for anxiety/sleep, taking trips to the hospital, and being out of work. Would not recommend this medication."
Protonix (pantoprazole) "I started taking Protonix 40mg once daily after they took Zantac off the market. I started having a lot of stomach pain, gas, bloating, and watery diarrhea. It took me a while to figure out it was the Protonix. I stopped taking it and replaced it with Pepcid Complete once a day. Almost immediately those symptoms went away. I would be very careful taking this drug."
Protonix (pantoprazole) "I have GERD. I couldn't eat anything. I was given Protonix by the ER. Pain stopped. I changed my diet drastically and slowly weaned myself from Protonix. Prior to this, I tried Zantac, Nexium, and Prilosec, however, I choose not to take these meds anymore and stick to my diet of low fat, low carb, no salt, no sugar, and no fast, frozen, or processed foods. I have lost weight and feel great with no pain. I also avoid smoke. When I was first prescribed these medications, I didn't like any of them. I don't feel it's a good idea to inhibit the body's natural processes, so I make better food choices."
"I've been on Pantoprazole for 5 days. It got rid of my GERD. However, the side effects are bad. I am dizzy and light-headed. I have a poor appetite, anxiety, and brain fog. Water tastes bad. I am bloated, weak, and tired. I don't plan to continue taking the drug."
"I took this pantoprazole for less than 24 hours, and I have to say it was not a good experience. I had heart racing, massive headache, an odd tingling sensation, shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, dry mouth, and anxiety. I’m feeling slightly better this morning, but woke up feeling dehydrated despite drinking my weight in fluids yesterday. I will say I had a reaction to another similar medication to this as well, which is why I switched to this one, so I don’t know if my body is just sensitive to these types of meds or what. I will never take these or anything like it again, and I’m surprised that they get away with saying reactions are rare when clearly that’s not true. I started taking a probiotic, and that has helped so far I think. Just hoping it didn’t do any long-term damage."
"I was put on pantoprazole almost 2 months now. I first started and it seemed to be working. I just received my COVID vaccine and thought I was having a bad reaction from the injection. I just out of the blue googled the side effects from pantoprazole and I have almost all of them. Crazy - I've been wondering why I'm so dizzy all the time with nausea, diarrhea, intense anxiety and more acid waking me up, gas, and burping. I'm done!! Tired of trying meds that don't seem to work."
"I told my ENT doctor that in the past year or two I had been losing my voice and had a kind of tired throat. Nothing severe but worrying. A GI doctor did an endoscopy and told me I had esophagitis and prescribed 40mg of Pantoprazole. On the 3rd or 4th day on Panto, I woke up with a burning sensation in my throat and a horrible acidic taste in my mouth. This was the end of November. It is now January 6, and I have been off the drug (including trying Omeprazole for 3 weeks, with no help) for a month, and these NEW symptoms have not gone away. I have begged multiple GI doctors for help, and none of them will admit this drug did this to me. None of them have given me any advice or recommended anything to help this, nor will they acknowledge the drug could cause this reaction. Life has been an absolute nightmare ever since taking Pantoprazole, and I would highly suggest people try other options before trying it."
"I was prescribed 40 mg of Pantoprazole for GERD. The doctor prescribed me 30 tablets. Out of the 30, I've taken 22, and I've been experiencing chest pain, shortness of breath, and feeling very lightheaded (dizzy) like I'm going to pass out. I was just released from the cardiologist, and everything was okay. So I decided to research patient reviews on this medicine, and I've read I'm not the only one with these side effects. I've even experienced daily headaches with leg cramping. This medicine isn't good for me, and I wouldn't want anyone else to experience these side effects. I've been to the ER twice since taking this medicine. The medicine made me think I was having a heart attack. There were several other tests run for them to say everything is normal."
Protonix (pantoprazole) "I have had acid reflux disease for four years. I tried Prilosec. I lost thirty pounds to try to help my reflux, I changed my diet, and I took an extreme amount of Rolaids. Nothing worked, and I was miserable. Finally got my GP to listen and put me on this stuff after a family member recommendation. It is wonderful. It is like I never had reflux to begin with. It helped me get my life back. My only concern is the side effects for long-term use seem scary. But if I don't treat the reflux, I will end up with Barrett's esophagus, which puts me between a rock and a hard place."
"My GI prescribed this medication for stomach pains and acid reflux. Now I have daily stomach pains, neck ache, upper back pain, headache, and joint pain. OMG, I feel miserable. I can't believe this drug is still being prescribed. Stopped cold turkey after 3 weeks of a nightmare. Been off it for 4 days and still not completely better. Wonder how long the side effects will last...?"
"Was having so much trouble with my stomach, so I finally started taking this pantoprazole. I had been living on Tums, so I was very happy to find it worked right away. I have had NO side effects whatsoever."
"Got a pain in my stomach and went to the GI Doc. He did an endoscopy. He prescribed Pantoprazole before the procedure to reduce inflammation, and it turned out I did not have any inflammation. Post-procedure, he advised I keep taking it. Side effects were severe. I stopped taking it. I DID NOT HAVE GERD before this. The question is, WHY are GI docs prescribing it with impunity! I now have GERD - a condition that I will have to live with for the rest of my life. THIS DRUG IS POISON!"
"I've been having acid reflux for a couple of months now, but it was never bad enough for me to want to take medication for it. My doctor had prescribed me pantoprazole, but I never reached for it because I was wary about it, and my symptoms were not severe. A week ago, my symptoms worsened slightly, and I decided to give it a try. With each day that I took it, my acid reflux got worse and worse, as well as my anxiety. I had intense nausea, an awful taste in my mouth, burning and squeezing sensations in my chest, and my throat was constantly tight. I thought that maybe it would get better, but my symptoms worsened so much that by the 3rd day, I couldn't tolerate it anymore. I stopped taking the pantoprazole, and it's been 3-4 days ever since, and I'm still battling the symptoms the drug worsened. I know this drug may work for some people, but it definitely didn't work for me, and I'd recommend not to take it."
"I was prescribed PANTOPRAZOLE (Protonix) by an Emergency Doctor. She said it was safe to take it. Day 1 gave me stomach pain, but it went away. DAY 2 I was fine, DAY 3 I was fine, until DAY 4. I started feeling dizzy. I immediately suspended the pill. I have felt the anxiety that everyone is referring to. Also, it gives you brain fog. I would highly recommend to first do some research before you take this pill. I was taking Nexium before with no side effects, however, it works slowly. I should have stuck to it instead of switching to this horrendous pill. As of now, I will be waiting to wipe it off my system. Think again if you need to take this pill, there are other pills that can be less harmful."
"I took 3x20mg tablets over the space of about 10 days. The first thing I started to notice was a pounding heartbeat and constant 'hot' headache which progressed to dangerous levels of blood pressure, blurred vision, chest pains, waking in the night having panic attacks, pressure in the left ear and whirring/ringing sounds. Sensitivity to sound as well. I honestly thought I was going to have a heart attack. I'm so glad I found this page but I'm so angry with my doctor for suggesting I take 2x20mg per day knowing I have an existing heart problem. I swear if I'd followed her advice I would've ended up in big trouble. It's been a week and I'm still experiencing the side effects."
"So I've been taking this medicine for about a month now, and it was helping me so much I was amazed. But then I started having problems where I thought I was going crazy. Really bad headaches, neck and back pains, just pains all over my body. Swelling in my legs and hands, my legs hurt. Ringing in my ears, panic attacks, anxiety. I feel the brain fogginess, I just feel weird like something is always wrong. Tonight I finally googled the side effects of this medication. And I'm seeing all the side effects that I'm having, and it's mind-blowing. I've been to the doctor so many times for each problem, they give me different medications for this and that. Seeing all this, I won't be taking it any longer and will be going back to my doctor tomorrow. Thank you, everyone, for your comments on here, it's helped me so much. Oh, I also have a really bad dry throat and weight gain."
"Took pantoprazole 20mg for 10 days for GERD. It did reduce my stomach acid but gave me: constant pain/tightness in the chest and upper back, shortness of breath, overall body aches, feverish and flu-like feeling. I stopped it and am looking for an alternative."
"I took this for GERD. I took it twice. Horrible stomach ache/gas. It also made me feel weird. I even started feeling super anxious and depressed. I started crying and feeling hopeless. It also did nothing for my symptoms. Although I wasn’t on them long enough to help. They made my reflux worse!! Horrible medication. Never again!"
"I have been taking Pantoprazole, 40mg for 25 days. Side effects (which I hadn't realized were side effects until coming here): headaches like I've never experienced before and they have been almost constant for days. Racing pulse, palpitations, shortness of breath, constipation, and now my sleep is being affected. It initially helped with the issues I was having but the headaches alone have been unbearable, like I have almost gone to the hospital unbearable."
"Prescriptions for GERD did not work for me. Changing eating habits and choosing healthy foods helped with my GERD. I did a lot of research too about natural remedies. 1 tablespoon of ACV and 1 tablespoon organic raw honey on 8 oz of warm water cured my acid reflux symptoms/GERD. You can increase this to 2 tablespoons. I drink this first thing in the morning and whenever I have heartburn and acid reflux."
Protonix (pantoprazole) "I've been on Protonix for about 6 years and, to put it simply, it works perfectly for me without any side effects. If I don't take it, I have constant, severe heartburn (I have a hiatal hernia, gastritis, and GERD that resulted from an H. pylori infection that went undetected for what I assume is several years). When I do take it, I can eat literally anything and not get heartburn."
"I have been taking this medication for 3 days. Day 1: severe headache all day. Day 2: anxiety peaked through the roof from a funny feeling, and now Day 3 I am dizzy and feeling sick to my stomach, and of course, anxiety through the roof again because of the weird feeling I have. I did notice stomach pain decreased with eating oatmeal. I think this will be my last day taking medicine. Through this all, I’m still bloated and constantly burping as I was doing prior to taking the meds."
Protonix (pantoprazole) "I have taken it for about 7 years now. I never had stomach problems but got what they thought was an ulcer. Later endoscopy showed no ulcer, but signs of Barrett's esophagus. I also had hoarse voice, especially in the morning. pH study pointed to GERD. Long story short, no more hoarseness. Subsequent scopes show no signs of esophagus damage. Now for the bad. Very rarely, when I eat fast, I do get choking sensations that I did not ever have before. Also, if I run out of the medicine and/or miss a dose or two, wicked bad heartburn. Never had heartburn before. As long as I stay on it, I am good."
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- Barrett's Esophagus
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