Lansoprazole and Heart Palpitations: What Users Say

• Anonymous
• February 16, 2016

Prevacid (lansoprazole) for GERD "I have been taking Prevacid for 20 years. I have had numerous side effects in the last 5 years: migraine headaches, major memory loss, blurred vision, heart palpitations, and most of the side effects listed, I have. I have taken this medication as I have severe acid reflux, and when I stop, I have instant reflux. But my side effects are getting worse, so I have to try something different, or I fear this medication may end my life."

• rad...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 4, 2021

Prevacid (lansoprazole) for GERD "5 days on Prevacid and my anxiety is overwhelming. Heart palpitations, insomnia, feeling like I'm completely losing it. I get that these drugs help some - but frankly, in my experience, they are potentially dangerous, and folks should know the side effects before they jump in. (Part of the problem is that every drug nowadays lists the same side effects - for legal reasons - so we take those warnings with a grain of salt.) Don't ignore the side effects listed for this drug. They are factual. Anxiety? Believe it. Depression? Believe it. Folks end up in the ER on this drug. Now I know why. Never again."

• Wil...
• May 10, 2019

For GERD "WEIGHT GAIN! I have been on Lansoprazole for more than 10 years. I was suffering from stomach problems and was prescribed this medication. At the time I started, I was very athletic - doing 500 sit-ups a day, walking 6km a day, and playing sports on weekends. I started to notice my weight slowly increasing despite not eating much. Five years ago, I took drastic action and had to cut my calories to 500 a day and hit the gym hard. I tested for thyroid function, which was fine, but suffered from heart palpitations. Today, I still try to stay active, consuming about 1300 calories per day and walking 3km per day, yet I am still gaining weight. I was dismissed by three doctors regarding the weight gain, two of them even got angry when I suggested it. Currently, I resemble a bodybuilder, do not drink or smoke, have a sandwich in the morning, one meal in the evening, keep a food diary, avoid junk food, and sleep 8 hours a night. I am currently 84 lbs heavier than when I started."

• Anonymous
• November 26, 2011

Prevacid (lansoprazole) for GERD "I began taking Prevacid probably 10 years ago, stopped occasionally, but found I could not go long without needing it. I never thought of anything bad coming of it. I felt wonderful, no heartburn, no need to watch what I ate anymore, no more waking up at night needing antacids. Well, a few years ago, I started having severe foot and ankle pain and weakness, and last September, I fell in the yard and severely broke my ankle, requiring ORIF surgery to put in a plate and screws. My ankle will never be the same. Gone are the 4-mile walks I used to enjoy daily, and I have also developed some heart palpitations, higher blood pressure readings, and I feel it is all due to my long-term use of Prevacid. I stopped taking it almost 2 months ago."

• Joh...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• November 30, 2019

For GERD "It all started with heart palpitations, numbness on one side (I sleep on my side), bloody mucus in the nose, headaches, nausea, vertigo, and so on. My fam doc ordered ECG, stress test, etc. After 6-8 months of weekly/biweekly visits, embarrassed to go back to him since he started to think it was all in my head, I went to a random walk-in clinic where a young doctor called it out: silent GERD. Lansoprazole has worked after a few days, and I got reaffirmed that it was not all in my head, there was an underlying problem to my symptoms. After a few months, I stopped taking it, and that's when the heartburn started, so I went back on it. Lansoprazole may almost completely stop acid production or not work at all, so you really have to watch your dosing. At one point, I needed one 30mg in the morning and one in the evening. With it, I am able to eat whatever I want without having to worry about the aftermath. I'm talking hot peppers, sriracha, tomato juice, chocolate milk, etc. Good luck!"

• Mar...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 8, 2017

For GERD "Just want to share my story. For years, I was suffering from heart palpitations and didn't understand why I had this, why do I need to feel my heart is beating. This feeling really bothered me, so I checked with my doctor, and I did some heart checks: EKG, exercise stress test, echocardiography. But all the checks and tests were okay. So my doctor told me it could be my stomach that is doing all this. I didn't believe him, I thought, how come this can happen from my stomach? Anyway, I started to take this drug on a daily basis, and after about three weeks, I noticed I'm not feeling my heart beating anymore (heart palpitations). I have to mention that I didn't have any feeling of heartburn or reflux, this was just silent GERD. Today, I'm still taking the drug and can't miss one."

• Pot...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 4, 2022

For GERD "I started taking lansoprazole for GERD, and at first, it worked a treat, relieving the reflux symptoms massively. After around three weeks of taking it daily, I started to experience terrible heart palpitations, insomnia, anxiety, and achy bones. I took myself to the hospital with the palpitations and felt like I was going crazy, my ECG and blood tests were all normal, and I’m otherwise pretty healthy. I have stopped taking them now, around five days ago. I’m still experiencing the palpitations. Has anyone experienced anything similar?"

• Lyn...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• October 13, 2022

For GERD "Wish the doctors would listen, this is not working after so long. Also, it causes bad anxiety, so you end up on antidepressants and the bisoprolol for your heart palpitations due to anxiety. It's like a bad nightmare, and you try to act like you're okay, but you're not."

• Cap...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 4, 2021

For GERD "I had been taking esomeprazole for chronic GERD treatment but had started to notice a 'tolerance' building up. I had switched from omeprazole to esomeprazole without any drama whatsoever, so I figured I could go ahead and make the change to lansoprazole the same way. Long story short ... I could not! A couple of weeks into the medication swap, I started noticing a 'fluttery' feeling in my chest, and only then did I read that irregular heartbeat is a fairly common side effect of this PPI. Let this be a lesson to everyone as it was to me ... even OTC medications have potentially significant differences that could be potentially dangerous."