I ran out of my lansoprazole (PPI) medication and while there was a shortage at my local pharmacy, I couldn't take it. All in, I was off it for about 8-9 days. Now that I'm back on it, I feel hungry all the time. To the point where I've just eaten my recommended portion size and still feel hungry and so I eat more. My weight has started to creep back up (about .5kg//1lb) and the only thing I've been doing differently is taking this medication again.

Is this a common side effect when one resumes taking this or is there something else going on? I'm also 2 and a half months post op so I just wonder if this is also the return of my appetite?

3 hours ago, NeonRaven8919 said:

I ran out of my lansoprazole (PPI) medication and while there was a shortage at my local pharmacy, I couldn't take it. All in, I was off it for about 8-9 days. Now that I'm back on it, I feel hungry all the time. To the point where I've just eaten my recommended portion size and still feel hungry and so I eat more. My weight has started to creep back up (about .5kg//1lb) and the only thing I've been doing differently is taking this medication again.

Is this a common side effect when one resumes taking this or is there something else going on? I'm also 2 and a half months post op so I just wonder if this is also the return of my appetite?

I'm not a doctor but I know a lot of medications can effect your appetite. I work in mental health so I know it's common for a lot of mental health medications. I googled your medicine and increase in appetite is not listed as a symptom, but it makes sense to me that if it has to do with your stomach acid, that it could impact your appetite (like it is breaking things down faster, or you had too much acid when you weren't on it, so now you are more hungry that it is more back to normal).

Hope that helps.

I got my hunger back just after the third month so maybe it’s that? I like to think like a scientist so I would do experiments with using the medication vs not. I would also ask my doctor if they could substitute a prescription. I would also look into the possibility of special holiday foods being a little too persuasive. Winter holidays and parties trip me up every year. I now go onward with a plan that this year seems to work. I survey the food, pick one or two bites so I won’t feel deprived. I also eat my normal healthy choices before going. Good luck finding what works for you. (I put peppermint lip gloss under my nose for a pie sale. It worked!)

3 minutes ago, learn2cook said:

I got my hunger back just after the third month so maybe it’s that? I like to think like a scientist so I would do experiments with using the medication vs not. I would also ask my doctor if they could substitute a prescription. I would also look into the possibility of special holiday foods being a little too persuasive. Winter holidays and parties trip me up every year. I now go onward with a plan that this year seems to work. I survey the food, pick one or two bites so I won’t feel deprived. I also eat my normal healthy choices before going. Good luck finding what works for you. (I put peppermint lip gloss under my nose for a pie sale. It worked!)

It's definitely the holiday foods too, but I managed to survive Thanksgiving without feeling as hungry. So it could be hunger returning, holiday food and stomach acid going haywire. My stomach is constantly doing something. I just feel like a burp waiting to happen lately. Even with an empty stomach.

Yes, it could be your hunger returning. PPIs reduce your stomach acid and consequently the crampy ‘hunger pangs/pain’ excess acid can cause which makes you think you’re hungry. Never known them to make you hungry. (i’ve been on daily Nexium since my surgery and prior took it randomly yet never experienced hunger.) Might be worth asking your doctor or surgeon. You never know.

PS. I’m so over these pharmaceutical shortages. Back to not being able to get my HRT patch - was 5 months without them last time. I mean what the F! I ask my pharmacist to double dispense all my scripts and I still run out.

4 hours ago, Arabesque said:

Yes, it could be your hunger returning. PPIs reduce your stomach acid and consequently the crampy ‘hunger pangs/pain’ excess acid can cause which makes you think you’re hungry. Never known them to make you hungry. (i’ve been on daily Nexium since my surgery and prior took it randomly yet never experienced hunger.) Might be worth asking your doctor or surgeon. You never know.

PS. I’m so over these pharmaceutical shortages. Back to not being able to get my HRT patch - was 5 months without them last time. I mean what the F! I ask my pharmacist to double dispense all my scripts and I still run out.

That makes sense that the ac8d just makes me think I'm hungry. I don't really remember what huger felt like pre-op.

I've kind of had a breakthrough this morning. I took the meds on an empty stomach because I'm supposed to take them at least a half hour before food. About 10 minutes later, I felt like I was starving, but because I was on my bike and cycling to work, I knew I would have to wait to until I got to work in 20 minutes to eat anything. But the "starving feeling" just stopped after about 5 minutes. I think I've spent so much of life thinking "any sensation in my stomach means I need to eat". And then I had a yogurt about half an hour later and I feel completely full. So I think if I get any sensations in my stomach, I need to wait and actually see what it means and wait about 20 minutes.

14 hours ago, NeonRaven8919 said:

I've kind of had a breakthrough this morning. I took the meds on an empty stomach because I'm supposed to take them at least a half hour before food. About 10 minutes later, I felt like I was starving, but because I was on my bike and cycling to work, I knew I would have to wait to until I got to work in 20 minutes to eat anything. But the "starving feeling" just stopped after about 5 minutes. I think I've spent so much of life thinking "any sensation in my stomach means I need to eat". And then I had a yogurt about half an hour later and I feel completely full. So I think if I get any sensations in my stomach, I need to wait and actually see what it means and wait about 20 minutes.

I had a hard time working out what meant I was actually hungry too. I thought every little noise meant I was hungry until I quickly learned that was going to be more than half the day my stomach would be making noises. To include right after i ate. I’m glad you worked it out and you have a plan to differentiate between the two.

16 hours ago, NeonRaven8919 said:

I've kind of had a breakthrough this morning. I took the meds on an empty stomach because I'm supposed to take them at least a half hour before food. About 10 minutes later, I felt like I was starving, but because I was on my bike and cycling to work, I knew I would have to wait to until I got to work in 20 minutes to eat anything. But the "starving feeling" just stopped after about 5 minutes. I think I've spent so much of life thinking "any sensation in my stomach means I need to eat". And then I had a yogurt about half an hour later and I feel completely full. So I think if I get any sensations in my stomach, I need to wait and actually see what it means and wait about 20 minutes.

Many of us discover that what we thought as of being hungry actually wasn’t hunger at all just our heads directing our eating. I remember the first time I experienced real hunger after surgery. I truly didn’t know what was wrong with me. I was restless. It was late in the evening & was in bed trying to sleep but tossing & turning. Knew something wasn’t right then I realised I hadn’t eaten since lunch. Aah, I’m hungry. Had a chicken tender and went back to bed and fell asleep all good again. Grumbling tummy, no hunger pains, no craving of a specific food or flavour or texture. So you may be on to something and on your way to discovering what your real hunger feels like. Whoo hoo!

OMG yes this!!!! Honestly, 3 years out I still have to have a big think, several times a day, about whether I need to eat or just want to eat. I think this is how it will be forever. Seems a small price to pay for being half my previous size but it is a thing.

I wonder if your "weight gain" is actually just edema? Fluid retention, especially around the feet and ankles is a common side effect of many PPI meds. have you noticed anything like that?