22 years
I have been taking Nexium for more than 6 months to treat stomach acidity, what are the side effects of taking it over a long period? noting that I have the IBS and excessive bloating and flatulence
Aug 27, 2014
• Diarrhea: Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a bacterium that is usually found in small numbers in the intestinal tract. Well established risk factors for C. difficile infection are old age and use of antibiotics that alter the natural ecology of the gut by allowing overgrowth of C.difficile at the expense of the intestinal flora (the good bacteria that help ferment food and produce vitamin K). Recetly, however, a number of studies have identified a possible connection to PPIs — either by themselves or in combination with antibiotics.
People get infected with C. difficile by swallowing it. PPIs render the stomach less acidic, which may leave the door agape to infections that wouldn’t have taken hold had the acid levels been normal — a pH of 4 or less.
C. difficile infection may precipitate life-threatening cases of diarrhea and sometimes more severe complications like colitis, an inflammation of the lining of the colon.
• Bone fractures. By lowering stomach acid levels, PPIs might affect the body’s absorption of calcium, which in turn could lead to osteoporosis and fractures. Research on this drug found a link between long-term use of PPIs and hip fractures. This risk was noted to be dose-related, that is, it increases with longer use of PPIs.
• Chronic (lasting a long time) inflammation of the stomach lining (Atrophic Gastritis). Using
NEXIUM for a long period of time may increase the risk of inflammation to your stomach lining, which can affect vitamin B12 levels because the stomach needs the acidic medium to be able to first detach the vitamin from protein in food and then absorb it.Many doctors monitor the B12 levels of their patients taking PPIs. You may or may not have symptoms, which include: stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, or weight loss.
• Low magnesium levels in your body. Low magnesium can happen in some people who take a PPI medicine for at least 3 months. If low magnesium levels happen, it is usually after a year of treatment.
The most common side effects with NEXIUM may include:
headache
diarrhea
nausea
gas
abdominal pain
constipation
dry mouth
drowsiness
So basically it exacerbates symptoms of IBS
• PPI-associated pneumonia
The respiratory and digestive tracts, despite being separate, share a common beginning in the mouth and the back of the throat before branching into two separate “tubes”. When lying flat while asleep, small amounts of stomach contents tend to travel up the esophagus and get into the trachea. This is known as aspiration; it occurs even in people with perfectly healthy respiratory and digestive systems.
Bacteria are more prone to multiply in the less acidic environment created by PPIs, so in people who take these medications, this little bit of aspiration may be more likely to carry bacteria into the lungs, where they can cause pneumonia.
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