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Home > Archive > Heartburn Support > December 2005 > Prevacid, Nexium, Prilosec or Protonix?
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Prevacid, Nexium, Prilosec or Protonix?
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| muchogas@belchwell.net 2005-12-06, 12:54 am |
| My plan's formulary won't cover Protonix (the free samples I have worked
great!), and I have a history with Prilosec and it's generic Omeprezole.
My plan will cover Nexium or Prevacid so what's the consensus?
I have a small hiatal hernia and a history of one ulcer plus acid reflux.
Every month or so I get a major chest pain (right breast area near middle
of chest that is felt down to the stomach) that is alleviated with either
40 mg of Protonix or 20 mg of Omeprezole. Today, however, it was the worst
I can remember. After about a half hour the Protonix would usually kick
in, and I would feel better. Today, I took 20 mg of Omeprezole, and two
hours plus several glasses of water and club soda later the chest pain
finally subsided. Every time I swallowed or sat in a certain position, the
chest pain would be intensive. There was a final passing of gas and it
then felt better.
Those with similar problems - would you recommend 20 or 40 mg doses of
Omeprezole and Nexium or the 15 mg or 30 mg dose of Prevacid to alleviate
gas build up?
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| Richard Kaszeta 2005-12-06, 10:53 am |
| muchogas@belchwell.net writes:
> My plan's formulary won't cover Protonix (the free samples I have worked
> great!), and I have a history with Prilosec and it's generic Omeprezole.
> My plan will cover Nexium or Prevacid so what's the consensus?
At least for me, Nexium and Prilosec are replaceable (and they are
near indentical in chemistry). If you have a history with Prilosec,
you might start with Prevacid.
I know your struggle, since I first went on PPIs in 2001 I've been
through the whole circuit as I changed plans and the plans changed
formularies, having done
Prevacid->Prilosec->Nexium->Protonix->Prevacid. Although these days
half the time I don't bother with getting a new prescription from the
doctor and just grab some Prilosec OTC.
--
Richard W Kaszeta
rich@kaszeta.org
http://www.kaszeta.org/rich
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| muchogas@belchwell.net 2005-12-06, 12:52 pm |
| Richard Kaszeta <rich@kaszeta.org> wrote in
news:y6xpsoauz7g.fsf@pomme.me.umn.edu:
> muchogas@belchwell.net writes:
>
> At least for me, Nexium and Prilosec are replaceable (and they are
> near indentical in chemistry). If you have a history with Prilosec,
> you might start with Prevacid.
>
> I know your struggle, since I first went on PPIs in 2001 I've been
> through the whole circuit as I changed plans and the plans changed
> formularies, having done
> Prevacid->Prilosec->Nexium->Protonix->Prevacid. Although these days
> half the time I don't bother with getting a new prescription from the
> doctor and just grab some Prilosec OTC.
>
Thanks for the info. I would have just grabbed the Prilosec OTC also,
except that my deductible has been met for the year, and with the
phenomenal cost I've been paying for health insurance, I figured why not
get 30 tabs of the good stuff for $5!
If someone would have told me during my college days several decades ago
that I would be dropping tabs of gastro PPI's before a hot date in my
forties, I would have looked at them like they were nuts!
| |
| Richard Kaszeta 2005-12-06, 12:52 pm |
| muchogas@belchwell.net writes:
> Thanks for the info. I would have just grabbed the Prilosec OTC also,
> except that my deductible has been met for the year, and with the
> phenomenal cost I've been paying for health insurance, I figured why not
> get 30 tabs of the good stuff for $5!
The other thing to check if you're using Prilosec OTC is the price for
generic omeprazole from a mail-order pharmacy. I've found that if I
buy 3 months at a time, generic omeprazole is a bit cheaper than Prilosec
OTC, even if non-formulary. (I found this out one time when my
Prilosec prescription was declared non-formulary but it came out to
less than my copay)
--
Richard W Kaszeta
rich@kaszeta.org
http://www.kaszeta.org/rich
| |
| muchogas@belchwell.net 2005-12-06, 12:52 pm |
| Richard Kaszeta <rich@kaszeta.org> wrote in
news:y6xfyp66tu0.fsf@pomme.me.umn.edu:
>
> The other thing to check if you're using Prilosec OTC is the price for
> generic omeprazole from a mail-order pharmacy. I've found that if I
> buy 3 months at a time, generic omeprazole is a bit cheaper than Prilosec
> OTC, even if non-formulary. (I found this out one time when my
> Prilosec prescription was declared non-formulary but it came out to
> less than my copay)
As I said, my co-pay for Nexium is only $5 a month, so as I long as I meet
the annual deductible, there's no need to go OTC (as long as I can still
afford the humongous cost of health insurance!)
| |
| Howard McCollister 2005-12-07, 12:57 am |
|
<muchogas@belchwell.net> wrote in message
news:F_2dnS2cXuDcmQjenZ2dnUVZ_v2dnZ2d@giganews.com...
> My plan's formulary won't cover Protonix (the free samples I have worked
> great!), and I have a history with Prilosec and it's generic Omeprezole.
> My plan will cover Nexium or Prevacid so what's the consensus?
>
> I have a small hiatal hernia and a history of one ulcer plus acid reflux.
>
> Every month or so I get a major chest pain (right breast area near middle
> of chest that is felt down to the stomach) that is alleviated with either
> 40 mg of Protonix or 20 mg of Omeprezole. Today, however, it was the
> worst
> I can remember. After about a half hour the Protonix would usually kick
> in, and I would feel better. Today, I took 20 mg of Omeprezole, and two
> hours plus several glasses of water and club soda later the chest pain
> finally subsided. Every time I swallowed or sat in a certain position,
> the
> chest pain would be intensive. There was a final passing of gas and it
> then felt better.
>
> Those with similar problems - would you recommend 20 or 40 mg doses of
> Omeprezole and Nexium or the 15 mg or 30 mg dose of Prevacid to alleviate
> gas build up?
Personally, I'd recommend whatever works. Different meds may work better or
worse in different people.
As to the gas buildup, that's air that you're swallowing to clear reflux
from the lower esophagus. Aerophagia is very, very common in people with
reflux and there's no way to prevent it, or address it after it happens. And
PPI's usually don't help because they don't stop the reflux, they only
change the nature of the refluxate. PPI's do often help with the pain of
GERD since much of that is caused by acid, but be aware that they don't cure
anything, only address the symptoms. Like taking an aspirin for a brain
tumor - it may help the headache, but the tumor is still there.
HMc
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| muchogas@belchwell.net 2005-12-10, 11:41 am |
| "Howard McCollister" <nospam@nospam.net> wrote in
news:439660ca$0$60657$bb4e3ad8@newscene.com:
> . PPI's do often help with the pain of
> GERD since much of that is caused by acid, but be aware that they
> don't cure anything, only address the symptoms. Like taking an aspirin
> for a brain tumor - it may help the headache, but the tumor is still
> there.
>
For the time being that's enough for me. The chest pain was frightening
for two hours. I've had it in the past (during work hours when there was a
large amount of stress due to report deadlines). I've also had experiences
with the vasal vagal nerve and gas. I once had a particularly large gas
that caused a huge belch (for lack of a better term) in a restaurant, and
passed out for 5 minutes. The doctor told me it was a combo of spicy food
and seltzer. I've had trouble with carbonated beverages since I was a
teen. I used to get a huge onset of gas that would cause a burp to knock
me out of my chair.
| |
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| I have basic drug induced GERD and Prevacid works great for me, never tried
Nexium.
My husband has LPR which is a bit harder to treat than the basic GERD. He
has been on twice daily Nexium 40mg since July. Previously he had been on
Nexium for over two years. He ran out and used my Prevacid while waiting
for the mail order Nexium. While on Prevacid his symptom (thrat clearing)
returned even with the addition of the H2 Axid.
Now with that said, Prevacid did not work as well for him. However, if
Nexium had been a premium product for him those years of use should have
prevented his GERD from becoming LPR. Nexium much better maintains him.
But evenso, your chemistry is different than his and what works for him may
not work for you. My experience from visiting GERD boards and lists is that
Nexium and Protonix are the way to go.
<muchogas@belchwell.net> wrote in message
news:F_2dnS2cXuDcmQjenZ2dnUVZ_v2dnZ2d@giganews.com...
> My plan's formulary won't cover Protonix (the free samples I have worked
> great!), and I have a history with Prilosec and it's generic Omeprezole.
> My plan will cover Nexium or Prevacid so what's the consensus?
>
> I have a small hiatal hernia and a history of one ulcer plus acid reflux.
>
> Every month or so I get a major chest pain (right breast area near middle
> of chest that is felt down to the stomach) that is alleviated with either
> 40 mg of Protonix or 20 mg of Omeprezole. Today, however, it was the
> worst
> I can remember. After about a half hour the Protonix would usually kick
> in, and I would feel better. Today, I took 20 mg of Omeprezole, and two
> hours plus several glasses of water and club soda later the chest pain
> finally subsided. Every time I swallowed or sat in a certain position,
> the
> chest pain would be intensive. There was a final passing of gas and it
> then felt better.
>
> Those with similar problems - would you recommend 20 or 40 mg doses of
> Omeprezole and Nexium or the 15 mg or 30 mg dose of Prevacid to alleviate
> gas build up?
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