Famotidine and Chest Pain: What Users Say

• Deb...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 23, 2020

For GERD "This famotidine is the worst medication I have ever taken. I feel so much worse taking this medication than not. Headaches, chest tightening, and anxiety I have never experienced. I will never use this stuff ever again. The side effects are too much to bear. I felt so alone before I read the other reviews."

• Ava...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 26, 2020

For GERD "I was prescribed 20mg Famotidine for GERD symptoms, dry cough and acid reflux, two times a day. Initially, it was very helpful with the cough, but I still had the reflux, and it seemed to make me have to burp often. In addition, I have tightness in my chest now. I just completed my 3rd week on it, and I have random sadness with some suicidal thoughts occurring. I have never had suicidal thoughts ever in my life! I researched side effects, and apparently, that is a rare one. I'm discontinuing use of the drug and looking into natural remedies."

• Nat...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 12, 2021

For Laryngopharyngeal Reflux "ENT doctor prescribed Famotidine on 2/12/21. I feel horrible, cannot eat, feel like I’m having a heart attack, had a panic attack. Chest tightness, headache, anxiety. I feel worse. This medication needs to be off the market! Going the alternative medicine route, new breed of doctors are pharmaceutical drug pushers. Doctors only treat symptoms, but never the cause. A doctor is more interested in keeping you sick than curing you. This way, you keep coming back for more treatments."

• Fla...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• June 26, 2021

For GERD "When I initially was told to start on this by my doctor, I got really bad stomach aches, and it didn't help my reflux. I developed horrible burping, and my doctor told me to just take it twice a day instead of once. That didn't help, so I stopped taking it. Burping never went away. I started taking it again recently because my reflux was acting up, and I was desperate for relief. Sharp chest pains radiating to my back, severe shortness of breath (I get some with GERD, but this is next level). I'm never taking this again."

• Cra...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 18, 2021

For GERD "Took famotidine 20 mg/day for a few weeks back in September 2020. Had the worst side effects: shooting pains in head, racing heart, chest pains, head pressure, burning skin on my arms, muscle spasms on my stomach and collarbone, stiff neck, stiff lower back, stomach issues, GI issues, fatigue. I had the worst feeling of anxiety coming from my stomach. I never knew what anxiety was until I had this experience. I never had problems sleeping before this. It felt like I was poisoned. Took me a week to realize it was the famotidine. I stopped it immediately. Some of the side effects gradually went away. I took magnesium and started B12 supplementation. Took Zantac for years and never had any issues. Many people I spoke with said their side effects went away after 3-4 months. However, I am still dealing with many side effects a year later. If there is anyone who has any insight into this/recommend a doctor who has helped them through this, I would greatly appreciate any help."

• Anonymous
• September 20, 2022

For GERD "Pepcid is literally the spawn of Satan. I was prescribed Pepcid twice a day every day for acid reflux/sour mouth. I never felt WORSE in the following categories: one-sided headache/migraines, dizzy, weak, fatigued, depressed, anxious, panicked, crying episodes, joint pain, constipation, swallowing difficulties, chest pain, heart palpitations. I want to emphasize that I NEVER experienced such bad headaches, dizziness, weakness, and joint pain prior to taking Pepcid. I SOMETIMES experience crying episodes, constipation, and depression before/during my menstrual cycles. I took Pepcid even when I wasn't on my period, and I've ruled out those symptoms. The side effects were so bad to the point that I called out at my NEW job, and I really don't want to call out sick. It also does NOT help that I took Pepcid while on Lexapro. As for my acid reflux, there are no improvements in my sour mouth, but I'm not sure if I've been taking it for long enough. DO NOT TAKE THIS PILL!!!!!"

• Bri...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• May 8, 2023

For GERD "Was prescribed 40 mg daily, only took it as needed over the course of several years without much issue. Started to develop horrible anxiety in February 2023, which progressed into a whole suite of other symptoms as well, and none of these were ever things I struggled with before. I never really understood intense anxiety until this: significant loss of appetite (I dropped 20 pounds), heart palpitations, chest pain, sleep disruptions and stress dreams, tremors, difficulty thermoregulating, feeling cold, cold hands/feet, headaches, fatigue, depression, and others. I continued to take it for several weeks without pinpointing it as the cause of these issues. I stopped taking it in March, and I'm still experiencing some of these, although not as frequently or as intensely. I hope that I can make a full recovery like many others have written they did. In May 2023 I am still experiencing some anxiety and depression, cold hands/feet, and some lesser chest pain/palpitations. This drug is awful."

• Fel...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 10, 2021

For GERD "I waited until the evening to take this the first time. I already take Rabeprazole, which hadn’t been effective lately, so my GP told me to take 20 mg alongside my regular medication. After taking this, I began to feel sick within the first hour, which progressively got worse during the night - I didn’t actually vomit, but it felt close. I got pains in my chest, a strange sensation in my throat, a headache, and terrible anxiety. It also didn’t stop the heartburn discomfort. Didn’t sleep much. The following day, my anxiety was still bad, heartburn was awful to the point I only managed to eat two slices of toast the entire day, and the throat feeling wouldn’t go away (like something was stuck in my throat). I also got strange chest pains like my heart was skipping or something. I had had a few okay days prior to taking this medication and feel like I have ruined any progress I was making. The anxiety that this is causing is ridiculous. I would tell anyone never to touch this stuff."

• STA...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 27, 2022

For Indigestion "I’m not one to leave reviews on anything, but I just got home from the ER tonight. The only thing they could come up with was E. coli in my stool. I started to think of what I’ve changed the past two weeks because that’s when my body literally began to shut down and show the horrible symptoms I’m experiencing now. It was like a “light bulb” moment for me… I started using this medicine at the exact time my issues began. I’m so thankful I found this forum to read and share my experience. OMG, I literally thought I was going to die this morning! I’ve experienced HORRIBLE anxiety, insomnia, doom and gloom feelings of hopelessness, SEVERE body aches, chest pain, twitching, diarrhea, and HORRIBLE stomach pain. I think it honestly just reached an all-time high in my body and caused me to have a breakdown. The doctors didn’t even think to mention it being a reason for anything I’ve been experiencing. DO NOT TAKE!"

• cou...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 15, 2022

For GERD "I took 10 mg of famotidine twice a day for severe GERD. I had stomach and chest pressure, shortness of breath, anxiety, burning, belching, nausea, and throbbing. It was enough for me to end up in the ER. The famotidine helped my symptoms after the first dose, but by the second day, I felt like I was losing my mind. I felt like my brain wasn't mine, I felt weird and detached. I was having panic attacks, I felt agitated, shortness of breath, and like I couldn't really speak. I felt really scared of my own mind. Turns out it's some of the 'rare' side effects. Super helpful for my symptoms, but not worth these horrendous side effects."

• sta...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 28, 2020

For GERD "Yesterday was my first time taking it since I have stomach soreness from food poisoning last week. Right after taking it, I was coughing, felt nauseous, and it felt like my chest was tightening, but it only lasted an hour. I felt tired and had a migraine most of the day. Today, I got the same symptoms of the coughing, nausea, and chest tightness. I am going to call my doctor tomorrow and see what else I can take."

• Anonymous
• April 12, 2009

Famotidine "It worked rather quickly for me. Within a 1/2 hour, I was feeling significantly better. I did, however, experience brief chest pain and tightness and a bit dizzy about 20 minutes after taking it. I've only taken one dose so far and hope that I'll be able to continue taking this as treatment for abdominal pain suspected of a peptic ulcer."

• Lau...
• March 19, 2023

For GERD "I was prescribed famotidine 20 by my ENT doctor at bedtime. Went in with sinus issues, and he went down my nose/throat and noticed severe acid reflux, which is odd because I rarely get heartburn. Been taking it for a week and noticing odd things. I will discontinue it tonight to see if the side effects go away. I started burping a lot and would wake up nauseous. Breathing sometimes is off, and felt like I have a chest gas bubble that won’t come out, and I have been taking Gas-X. The chest discomfort made my anxiety worse some days. At first, I was happy with this medication because it helped me sleep and stopped my dry cough at night, but a lot of these issues started after taking it. When I burp, it does relieve the pressure, but then comes back later on, and today started randomly feeling leg pain. I’m hoping after I stop, the issues will subside. Otherwise, it’s another issue."

• Joh...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 11, 2021

For GERD "I started taking it and didn’t have any problems for the first two days. I have a really bad sleeping schedule, and I didn’t get any sleep the third day and went to run some errands. My chest was really tight, my head felt kind of funky, and then I felt really bloated. Unfortunately, I also have an enlarged liver due to gallbladder stones. I don’t know if it’s from the medicine or if it’s because of what’s going on with me, but I stopped taking it and will find an alternative."

• Sti...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 17, 2021

For Hiatal Hernia "Pepcid 20 mg twice daily. Slight chest pain and tightening. Feeling heavy and slight headache, but not with every dose. It does stop all my stomach and chest issues after an hour or so."