After Endoscopy

[P SUDIK]

I had an endoscopy Fri, I have had GERD and Gastroparisis for years.Dr.says my stomach is irritated and inflamed,and he found a nodule and took a biopsy.

He rx Reglan ,he wanted me to take it 2 yrs. ago I did not and don't want to take it now.He suggested that I take for 2wks. I have read many of your posts about Reglan,just wondered if it bothered you right away or took awhile to build up?

I really am afraid of it ,any experiences or advice would be much appreciated, Thanks Pat

[Tanzanite]

I've taken it for over 10yrs, works great, no problems.

[morgan617]

I just got really sleepy. No horrible side effects....

[PattiL]

Hi Pat,

Chrissy took it about two-three years ago and had a dystonic reaction to it and landed her in the ER for a day. In her case her head was slowly being pulled down to her shoulder and eventually she couldn't move it. It was like it was glued down. Very scary for her and for us just watching and not knowing what was going on yet. Her pediatrician at the time told us to give her some benydryl and head down to the ER. The benydryl starting working on the way down to the hospital (Rainbow) and after they gave her an IV she was pretty normal after about 8 hours after it originally started. Of course, not everyone will have a bad reaction--but nontheless, it wasn't fun for her.

Patti

[JacobyD]

I took Reglan and it did nothing for me. I then had a compounding pharmacy make me up some liquid Domperidone and it worked great. We're all different.

You need to address the GERD as that could damage your esophagus. I'm not sure Reglan will really help you there. If an antacid works, that might be better than a proton pump inhibitor (PPI - Like Nexium or Prilosec), as the PPIs work on your nervous system to shut down what pumps acid into your stomach. An antacid breaks down acid that's already in the stomach. You don't want to destroy all the acid, as that can lead to problems with bacteria. Again, we're all different.

I hope you find something that works for you. I wouldn't be too frightened as you can always stop taking it and try something else!

[flop]

I've just looked up reglan (UK brand names are different to US ones). It is Metoclopramide (often called Maxolonin the UK). I don't have gastroparesis (as far as I know) but I often have problems with nausea. I have tried many different anti-emetics and have found that metoclopramide works best for me. It hasn't caused any side-effects or triggered POTS symprtoms for me.

If your doctor is recommending it why not give it a try and see how it effects you?

Good luck,

Flop

[DancingLight]

Reglan should only be used for short-term use....

I have posted on this med before as it can have some nasty side effects...and irreversible ones at that.

I agree that there may be better, safer, milder choices out there to take for your problems...

Emily

[mkoven]

It has helped me in the past when used on an as-needed basis.

I stopped it because it affected my mood-- I become rather despondent on it, something that wears off when the dose wears off. My GI said this makes sense as it suppresses dopamine. So for a while , I only took it before bed, as it would wear off my morning.

[juliegee]

Pat,

Do a search on this site to read more extensive comments re. reglan. I've hung around the Yahoo International Gastroparesis for a few years now for my son (and now me) and reglan is widely considered to be a BAD drug. Yep, it works, but the side effects can be horrendous and some linger after use is discontinued. My son took it for 5 months and had horrible anxiety and couldn't stop moving/ really hyper.

Have you considered domperidone? It is not FDA approved, nor available in the US....not because ot is an unsafe drug, but because it wouldn't be profitable to be sold here. It is sold OTC in many parts of the world and safe enough to be given to women, who are breastfeeding. It works like reglan, but does not cross the blood/brain barrier. Many experienced GI's and motility specialists recommend it to their patients. I'd be happy to share with you some ways to obtain it safely.

Also, have you tried tiny pediatric doses of erythromycin (sweet pink liquid). It does wonders for both my son and I. A 1/4 to an1/2 tsp before eating can turn that horrible nauseous feeling into real hunger.

I wish you the best of luck with your decision.

Julie

[morgan617]

That goes to show how different meds are for everyone. Erythromycin is actually considered to be one of the hardest antibiotics on the gut.

Reglan made my son hyper too, the opposite of me. He has taken domperidone and done well on that. Our GI doc just faxed a script to Canada and they billed our visa. I'm not sure you can still do that. The cost wasn't bad at all.

It's a hard thing, as there are so few motility drugs out there. Anti nausea by the buckets, but things that actually help motility are pretty much non existent. Only you and your can decide if you should take it, but as you can see, you won't know unless you do, as it's just so different with everyone, like every other drug in the universe...LOL...good luck sweetie...

[JacobyD]

You can have a local compounding pharmacy make you some Domperidone. There's one about 2 miles from me and I'm not in a big city. I really did well with it, though my gastroparesis is no longer much of a problem. I've got yet another endoscopy coming up soon. Yuck.

[juliegee]

You're right, Morgan. Different prokinetics work differently for all of us! I think because erythromycin has such a significant impact on the GI system is the very reason that it works. When taken in tiny pediatric doses, (1/4- 1/2 tsp.) it actually irritates the tum and small bowel into emptying more quickly. Many GI's prescribe too high a dose, which actually causes more nausea. Last thing we need! It takes some experimenting to find the dose that works for you. But, with "E", I've found that less is more.

Julie

That goes to show how different meds are for everyone. Erythromycin is actually considered to be one of the hardest antibiotics on the gut.

Reglan made my son hyper too, the opposite of me. He has taken domperidone and done well on that. Our GI doc just faxed a script to Canada and they billed our visa. I'm not sure you can still do that. The cost wasn't bad at all.

It's a hard thing, as there are so few motility drugs out there. Anti nausea by the buckets, but things that actually help motility are pretty much non existent. Only you and your can decide if you should take it, but as you can see, you won't know unless you do, as it's just so different with everyone, like every other drug in the universe...LOL...good luck sweetie...

[Poohbear]

I get domperidone from my local compounding pharmacy as well with no problem. Compounding pharmacies in the U.S. do and can legall carry the drug and can make the rx for you.

Reglan was awful for me.

Choices are slim right now though especially now that Zelnorm was pulled a few weeks ago.

[Roselover]

What was Zelnorm pulled for? I don't take it, but was curious....

[Poohbear]

It was pulled due to safety concerns; increased risk of chest pain, heart attack and strokes.

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01597.html