I have heard people talk about using an acid-reducing medication. What are some generic and non-generic names for those acid-reducing medications? I am on something called famotidine. Is that a ppi?

Famotidine is the generic of Pepcid (and a few others IIRC).

It is not a PPI. It is an H2 blocker. Both PPIs and H2 blockers reduce the amount of stomach acid but they do it in different ways. PPIs work directly on the pump cells in your stomach. H2 blockers work on the cells' histamine receptors.

PPIs take longer to work, but remain effective for a longer period. H2 blockers work more immediteately, but not for as long.

Common names for PPIs: (Generic / Brand)

Omeprazole / Losec, Prilosec, Zegerid, ocid, Lomac, Omepral, Omez

Lansoprazole / Prevacid, Zoton, Monolitum, Inhibitol, Levant, Lupizole

Dexlansoprazole / Kapidex, Dexilant

Esomeprazole / Nexium, Esotrex

Pantoprazole / Protonix, Somac, Pantoloc, Pantozol, Zurcal, Zentro, Pan, Controloc

Rabeprazole / Zechin, Rabecid, Nzole-D, AcipHex, Pariet, Rabeloc

I have heard people talk about using an acid-reducing medication. What are some generic and non-generic names for those acid-reducing medications? I am on something called famotidine. Is that a ppi?

Thanks. Helpful!

If I feel hungry all the time, should I be on one over the other?

I used to take omaprazole but the pill is too big and I'm not allowed to take because it could get caught between the esophagus going into the stomach. I will go back on it when I can find something I don't mind taking it in, where I can break the caplet and pour contents into. I was served it with apple juice in the hospital.

Now they have me on pepsid because it is a lot smaller. It's working fine if I take it twice a day.

You are not that far out from surgery. The Hunger pains you feel all the time can be hunger, can be fullness, it could be acid reflux and it could also be your stomach healing. The almost all feel the same to me. The doctor and many others have reminded me that the wave feeling, or tightening or flipping or gripping feeling could also be the inside and outside of the stomach healing.

That's what I always thought it was. I also get it if I didn't drink enough Water.

Like a cut on your finger that throbs, your stomach was cut from the bottom all the way to the top. The inside and the outside needs to heal.

If you know you haven't eaten in a while, then think it's hunger, if you have eaten enough and drank enough water, then realize it could be the acids in your tummy, it could be gas and bloating and in the middle of the night, I realize it's healing, it helps me go back to sleep without getting head hunger.

So now I have been taking omeprazole. All of the over-the-counter versions of the drug say in the warnings to do a 14 day treatment no more than every 4 months.

Anyone know why? Anyone take it on a regular basis more frequently than every 4 months?

Thanks!

I'm just a bit concerned because so many people here talk about taking a ppi. According to the box, it should only be taken for 14 days every 4 months. Medical people, any thoughts?

(crickets) anyone?

What concerns me is the fact that it works so well , and yet is supposed to be limited...

Why wouldn't Pepsid be as effective as Prilosec?

I actually discussed the use of ppi's longer than 14 days with my dr years ago, prior to wls. I was told they are perfectly safe for extended use. The reason the boxes say to not take longer than 14 days is because you should call your dr and get to the root cause of the issue (ex. endoscopy). Since there would be a chance you could have ulcers, or the gerd could cause pre cancerous cells to grow in the esophagus, it's something that should be checked rather than self medicating.

Ive been taking prescription strength prevacid for many years now. I don't know why the box says that unless it is just to cover there fannies for insurance purposes, but you really should ask your surgeon what you should be taking. What works for me or is good for me might not neccassarily be good for you. Good luck!

I'm just a bit concerned because so many people here talk about taking a ppi. According to the box, it should only be taken for 14 days every 4 months. Medical people, any thoughts?

Generally "...do no use for more than X days..." are qualified with, "...unless directed by a medical professional." The idea is that if you're taking it truly OTC without a Dr. recommendation, you're self-treating something that could need medical supervision. If you need to take an OTC medication for longer than the timeframe on the bottle, what they're saying is, "Look, if you still need this, you probably need to go to a Dr. and get checked up because if it was just an acute thing, you'd probably be better by now."

Same with things like sensitive tooth toothpaste. If you have something acute like sinus inflammation and it's bugging your teeth, use us for a few days, we might help. But if you're now on your 3rd tube and still needing it, you might wanna go see the dentist...

Why wouldn't Pepsid be as effective as Prilosec?

Look a few posts up - #2. "As effective" is hard to define because each is very effective at what it does, but they do completely different things. So are they equal? No. Does each have a situation for which it is best? Yes. Is each therefore "as effective"? Yes - for its intended purpose.

You might also want to look into known/suspected side effects of long term PPI use. I've posted a few research articles on it, and it's been talked about many times. Just run a few searches and you'll be reading for hours.

The reasons I wont take them:

http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/do-ppis-have-long-term-side-effects.shtml

If I get excess acid, it usually means that I have not been drinking my Water. I'll drink. If on rare occasions that doesn't help (twice since surgery) I just pop a gas-X.

I do realize that some have a condition worse than mine to be sure, but I half to be half dying to take a Tylenol. Issues

Well, I called my surgeon's office. The nurse said that the office tries not to prescribe PPIs because they can cause stomach polyps.