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Acid Reflux, Swollen Legs, On Lasix, Protonix,omeprazole, Zantac, Actonel, Diovan. Medication Correct?
Question: My 92 year old mother has been taking protonix for acid reflux for about six weeks. Her legs have gotten very swollen with water retention. I have read that this can be a rare side effect but her docter said he has never seen it. She is taking Lasix which is not doing very much. Her doctor is going to switch her to omeprazole. Why would this be any better if it is the same kind of drug? Do you think something like Zantac would make more sense? She also takes and has been taking for a long time Actonel, Levothyroxine, Diovan, Simvastatin, Calcium with D and a multivitamin. The Protonix is the only new thing.
Hello and thank you for submitting your question.
Your question is a good one and I will work on providing you with some good information regarding your concerns.
You have said in your question that you're 92 -year-old grandmother is dealing with a significant degree of swelling in the lower extremities. While this may correspond with a change in her meditation there may be some other issues going on which are causing problems with the swelling.
While the drug she was taking has been linked on rare occasion to some degree of swelling or edema. I am wondering if there might be another cause of this. My first consideration would be that I wonder if her protein balance is disrupted. If we do not eat enough protein our bodies have difficulty holding water inside the blood vessels. I am suspecting that your grandmother may be dealing with some degree of minor protein malnutrition. There is a blood test which can evaluate for that which is called albumin. I am sure that her albumin level was checked at some point in the last couple of weeks if she was dealing with some degree of hospitalization or regular clinic follow-up.
I think it is reasonable to change her 20 members all as it is very likely that she needs a proton pump inhibitor in order to control the symptoms would she was having. Zantac is a reasonable alternative but is not very strong and controlling the acid secretion. I recommend that you allow the change to omeprazole for the time being and observed for a couple of weeks. In addition I recommend that you ask the doctor what he thinks of her nutritional status. If her albumin level was checked recently and it is below three I think that she might need some degree of protein supplementation. These are readily available over-the-counter at the local supermarket and are generated in brand names such as Ensure or Boost.
I thank you again for submitting your question. I hope you found my response to be helpful and informative. If you have any additional concerns I would be happy to address them.
Sincerely,
Dr. Robert
Your question is a good one and I will work on providing you with some good information regarding your concerns.
You have said in your question that you're 92 -year-old grandmother is dealing with a significant degree of swelling in the lower extremities. While this may correspond with a change in her meditation there may be some other issues going on which are causing problems with the swelling.
While the drug she was taking has been linked on rare occasion to some degree of swelling or edema. I am wondering if there might be another cause of this. My first consideration would be that I wonder if her protein balance is disrupted. If we do not eat enough protein our bodies have difficulty holding water inside the blood vessels. I am suspecting that your grandmother may be dealing with some degree of minor protein malnutrition. There is a blood test which can evaluate for that which is called albumin. I am sure that her albumin level was checked at some point in the last couple of weeks if she was dealing with some degree of hospitalization or regular clinic follow-up.
I think it is reasonable to change her 20 members all as it is very likely that she needs a proton pump inhibitor in order to control the symptoms would she was having. Zantac is a reasonable alternative but is not very strong and controlling the acid secretion. I recommend that you allow the change to omeprazole for the time being and observed for a couple of weeks. In addition I recommend that you ask the doctor what he thinks of her nutritional status. If her albumin level was checked recently and it is below three I think that she might need some degree of protein supplementation. These are readily available over-the-counter at the local supermarket and are generated in brand names such as Ensure or Boost.
I thank you again for submitting your question. I hope you found my response to be helpful and informative. If you have any additional concerns I would be happy to address them.
Sincerely,
Dr. Robert
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Raju A.T
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