Will Prilosec and Nexium Increase Your Risk of Heart Attacks?
Thursday August 9, 2007
The FDA has issued its conclusions regarding two small long-term clinical studies of patients with severe GERD. In these studies, patients were chosen to either receive treatment with medication (omeprazole [Prilosec] or esomeprazole [Nexium]), or to have surgery to control their gastroesophageal reflux disease.
While early results from the study raised concerns that long-term use of Prilosec or Nexium may have increased the risk of heart attacks, heart failure, and heart-related sudden death in those patients taking either one of the drugs compared to patients who received surgery, FDA's preliminary conclusion at this time is that this data does not suggest an increased risk of heart problems for the following reasons:
- While the initial data from this study suggested a difference between treatments in the rate of cardiovascular events, an updated report found that the number of patients who experienced heart problems was similar in both treatment groups.
- While both of these studies collected safety data, the study protocols did not specify how heart problems, such as heart attacks, were to be defined or documented. As a result, evaluating the information that has been gathered about the safety of either drug in these studies is difficult.
- Many of the patients who were chosen to have surgery withdrew from the study without ever undergoing the surgical procedure. The patients who did undergo surgery tended to be younger, and less likely to have a past history of heart problems or risk factors for heart problems, than those who were treated with one of the drugs. These differences between these two groups of patients could have biased the safety data from these studies.
- FDA’s conclusions are further supported by an additional analysis of 14 comparative studies of omeprazole, of which four were placebo-controlled. In these studies, there were fewer heart attacks or other heart problems reported in the patients treated with omeprazole compared to patients that were given a placebo.
Are you taking Prilosec or Nexium? What are your thoughts concerning this new information? Will you continue taking these medications, or will you ask your doctor for an alternative? Share your thoughts by clicking on the "comments" link below this post.
Comments
Yes, I am very concerned about the report. Have been type 1 diabetic for 50 years, have severe heart disease,weigh 110 lb.,never smoked, have hiadal hernia and lesions, and am taking Prilosec for nightime pain of GERD. I do not want another heart attack, but have just started another course of Prilosec, because I cannot sleep at night and must lay on my right side because of heart disease. Does the Prilosec increase my chances of another heart attack? thank you. bea koch
I have been on nexium for 8 years and my heartburn is getting worse. i weigh 250 pounds and have MS. Is this a serious side effect or a new condition?
Gee, could the fact that people so effectively get relief from their heartburn meds and therefore continue to eat terribly or that the reason they are getting heartburn is because they are under incredible stress in their life be contributing factors to heart attacks and heart disease??? Maybe it has nothing at all to do with the heartburn meds, but instead have to do with the reasons they’re getting heartburn to begin with. I am on Prilosec and hate to admit that I have gone back to eating poorly. This study has motivated me to get back to eating better and to trying to reduce stress in my life, though as a self-employed individual, I’m not sure that’s possible. I hope they take these factors into consideration before taking these amazing meds off the shelves.
I have been on Nexium for 2 years now and I still have recurring LPR. I will speak with my Dr. for alternative surgery. I think if surgery is an option for you, then that is the only way to solve the problem
I am 40 years old and have been on Nexium for about a year. 3 months ago I started having chestpains, high b.p. and my heart felt like it was beating out of my chest from time to time. I have no doubt it was caused by the Nexium. I am in good shape and work out regular. I never had heart issues until I was on this medication.
i know after i started taking nexium my heart started racing and skipping beats. will not be taking that anymore.
Having suffered from acid reflux for most of my life, I finally was prescribed Nexium. It worked great and I could eat anything I wanted without problem. I took it for about two years. Then I read about Nexium’s possible link to heart desease. So, I decided to stop taking it and modify my diet instead. After a few months of severe acid reflux, my condition improved and, (if I eat right) I have few problems. Now, at age 67, about a year after quting Nexium, I find that I am having irregular heart beats. Is there a connection to my two years on Nexium? How would one ever know?
I think that all of us must accept the fact that stomach problems are related to diet and life style. By the way, I have always been a runner and exercise person. However, I have to admit that I drank too much, ate food I should not have, etc.
Had I, it to do over again, I would not have taken Nexium, even though I know it might not have anything to do with my heart problems, I would have concentrated on modifying my life style.
Here’s one for you; Because of my irregular heart beat, my doctor reccomended that I take a half asprin daily. Makes sense right? Well, after about three weeks, I started suffering severe gout. I “Googled” gout and guess what, low dose of asprin can cause gout. I stopped the asprin and the gout is gone.
BOTTOM LINE: EAT RIGHT, REDUCE THE STRESS IN YOUR LIFE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, (PLAY!), DON’T TAKE ANY “MIRACLE DRUGS” UNLESS YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY SURE YOU NEED THEM TO SURVIVE. BY SURVIVE, I DO NOT MEAN MAINTAIN YOUR LIFESTYLE!
YOU CAN TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE, AND YOU REALLY DO KNOW WHAT IS RIGHT, RIGHT?
Recently I was taking Omeprazole for stomach acid, so I could take Salsalate for arthritis pain, without eating holes in my stomach. I had been taking it for a few months before starting the Salsalate. After about 2 months of taking the Salsalate, I had extreme pain in my hands, spine and feet, worse than ever before. One day last week, I had a stomach virus where I could not eat for a day, so I quit taking the meds. Pain in my feet, hands and spine stopped. Now I have recurrence of the prior stomach cramps and diarrhea, but not the horrible hands, feet and spine pain. What’s up with that?
I’m in the same boat as Don. I have been on Nexium for over a year now. 3 weeks ago I had a sudden new onset of SVT (really fast heart rate) and thought I was dying. It started at rest while lying in bed. I’ve also been newly diagnosed with high blood pressure. I’m still in the process of a gazillion tests by my new cardiologist, but the ones I’ve had so far (blood enzymes in ER, multiple EKG’s, Echo, nuclear stress test) have all been normal and have not indicated a “heart attack” or damage. I have began to suspect the Nexium and have stopped taking it to see if my cardio symptoms resolve or continue. (Based on missing nexium some days and not having any problems then taking it again another day and having chest pains) I’ll bookmark this site and try to let you know the results….
Have been stuck taking PPIs (one after another) for at least 10 years. Heart-disease link or not, these are terrible drugs: while relieving GERD symptoms, they can create an IBS-type syndrome. And recently they’ve been implicated in decreased bone density. Good luck trying to get a GI dr. interested in any alternative other than surgery (which is risky and not without the risk of serious complications). They just blindly follow the pharm industry’s hype. There doesn’t seem to be any research going on re: GERD other than to develop new PPI clones.
I’ve had reflux issues since 1980. Actually I coughed for 9 months of the year until 1999 when I was diagnosed with reflux. B4 that they said it was asthma that caused the coughing…nothing for asthma helped to stop the coughing. About 9 yrs ago,by luck, they diagnosed reflux. I’ve been put on previd..didn’t help, another one (forgot name), didn’t help, and lastly nexium. I take it twice a day 12 hrs apart. When I’m off it, I have severe heartburn, gurgling in the throat, and…U got it..coughing! I’m at the max for taking Nexium. As for heart issues, my oldest sis & brother both died at 50 & 54 with massive heart attachs. They didn’t have reflux issues that they ever admitted to. This article is real scarry to me. I’m being watched for heart issues this past year. I’ve been thru all the tests even a scan. Every thing comes out normal. I don’t have heart pallipations any more. At least, not since I was put on Lipitor. This I’ve been taking for at least 5 yrs. Like I said, this article scars me; but what’s a person do? We R guinea pigs until the cure is found. The eating right part is very, very hard to do. It’s a constant battle for me in my older age. One that I’m constantly working on. Sugar is my enemy…and I keep eating that crap.