Health & Support

I'm depressed because over the weekend I had a really bad flare up of my GERD, the pain was so bad it took my breath away and kept me in bed in agony. After two days of trying to deal with it, I had to admit to myself that it was time to go back on the nexium. Just one pill later and the pain went away, so it is definetly the GERD that was causing it. (Yes, I have made an appt with my doctor).

I am depressed because last time I went on a course of nexium was when my weight sky-rocketed practically overnight! In the span of just two months I gained 20-25 lbs. My doctors say that weight gain was because I could suddenly eat again without pain, and not a side effect. But I don't think I was eating all that much more, and I did my research and have learned that weight gain is a side effect, albeit not a common one.

I guess I'm going to find out. Already - overnight - my weight is up from 107 to 109. Okay I know this is probably just a normal fluctuation, BUT... what if it isn't?? What if I'm doomed to regain all this weight I just spent 8 months losing??

This sucks. :-(

Can your doctor switch you to a different medication? I've been on two different proton-pump inhibitors (mainly for non-infected ulcers) and the first one stalled my weight loss even though I was eating very, very little, as well as gave me headaches every single day. On the second one, normal weight loss and no headaches. Different people have different side effects to medications and if the side effects of this one suck then possibly you could switch to something else.

You can try prilosec OTC (that's what I use) and see if it makes a difference.  The two are stero-isomers and there is little difference between them.  Sometimes people respond better and have fewer side effects to one or the other.  You can also help control your GERD by eating smaller, more frequent meals with no or little fluids with meals.  Honestly, I don't thik it's the GERD that's making you gain weight.  I agree with the idea that you probably eat more because you feel better, even though you may not realize this.  Pharmacologically, I don't see how Nexium could cause weight gain. 

Biomikey, I hope you're right about that. I guess we shall see - I will meticulously track my calories this time.

I take Zantac 150 for my GERD.  You should talk to your doctor about different options for medications--there are a bunch out there!  Good luck and I hope you get this cleared up :)

I just got back from the doctor - he gave me samples of two other PPI's to try - Protonix and I'm not sure what the other one is (too lazy to get up and check!). He said that although he'd never heard of nexium causing weight gain, we're all different and since it does affect the digestive system, who knows, he wouldn't rule it out. So thanks so much for the suggestion to try something different!

Shannon - I did try Zantec before, it didn't work for me. Tagamet works to a certain extent but apparently not enough, since I'm now having these new symptoms. Prilosec... not sure if I tried that one or not, I probably did ... over a year ago, before I first went on the nexium..  I tried all the OTC choices before going to the doctor for something stronger. The nexium works really well for me, with no side effects *except* I gained 25 lbs in two, three months. :-(

It's just bizarre, there's absolutely no way I was eating enough calories to gain that much weight that fast.  And it was fat weight, not water weight.... because it's taken me over a year to lose it all. I really do not want that happening again.

He also gave me a copy of my most recent blood test results, everything checked out normal - my cholesterol is excellent, B12 is good, folate is out of this world good. Yeah for a healthy diet!!!