If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission. Heartburn is difficult enough. Making sense of your medication choices for gastroesophageal reflux disease GERD can make it even more challenging. Two of the most commonly prescribed proton pump inhibitors PPIs are omeprazole Prilosec and esomeprazole Nexium. Both are now available as over-the-counter OTC drugs.
Proton pumps are enzymes found in the parietal cells of your stomach. They make hydrochloric acid, the main ingredient of stomach acid. Your body needs stomach acid for digestion. This causes the burning feeling in your chest and throat associated with GERD. They work best when you take them an hour to 30 minutes before a meal. PPIs have been in use since PPIs like Nexium and Prilosec are used to treat gastric acid-related conditions, including:.
Omeprazole Prilosec and esomeprazole Nexium are similar drugs. However, there are minor differences in their chemical makeup. Isomer is a term for a molecule that includes the same chemicals, but is arranged in a different way.
So, you could say that omeprazole and esomeprazole are made of the same building blocks, but put together differently. While the differences in isomers might seem minor, they can result in differences in how drugs work.
This means that levels of the drug are higher in your bloodstream, and that esomeprazole may decrease acid production for a longer period of time. It may also work slightly faster to treat your symptoms compared to omeprazole.
Esomeprazole is also broken down differently by your liver, so it may lead to fewer drug interactions than omeprazole.
Some studies indicate that the differences between omeprazole and esomeprazole may offer some advantages to people with certain conditions. An older study from found that esomeprazole provided more effective control of GERD than omeprazole at the same doses. According to a later study in , esomeprazole offered faster relief than omeprazole in the first week of use.
After one week, symptom relief was similar. They cited concerns such as:. The authors analyzed 41 studies on the effectiveness of PPIs. The best medication is the one that works best for you, with the least amount of side effects. Consult your healthcare provider, who can help select the best drug for you based on your symptoms, medical condition s , and other drugs you take that could interact with Nexium or Prilosec.
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The most common side effects of Nexium are abdominal pain, diarrhea, headache, and nausea. The most common side effects of Prilosec are headache, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and nausea.
Both medications are generally well-tolerated. This is not a full list of side effects. Consult your healthcare provider for a full list of adverse effects.
Because Nexium and Prilosec are similar drugs with similar structures, they have similar drug interactions. PPIs should not be taken with antiretrovirals. Nexium or Prilosec could decrease levels of atazanavir or nelfinavir, so the antiretroviral would not properly, and the interaction could even cause drug resistance.
On the other hand, taking saquinavir with a PPI has the opposite effect, increasing levels of saquinavir, which could lead to toxicity. Combining Nexium or Prilosec with digoxin can increase levels of digoxin and lead to toxicity.
Taking Nexium or Prilosec with warfarin can lead to increased levels of warfarin, which could cause bleeding or even death. Nexium or Prilosec can interact with Plavix clopidogrel , diazepam , cilostazol , and other drugs. This is not a complete list of drug interactions. Consult your healthcare provider for a full list of drug interactions.
Nexium, or esomeprazole, is a proton pump inhibitor PPI used to treat symptoms of acid reflux and other gastrointestinal GI conditions. Nexium and Prilosec are in the drug class called proton pump inhibitors and are very similar.
Additionally, patients who take multiple doses of PPI medications each day further increase their risk of experiencing adverse effects. For example, patients who take PPI drugs such as Prilosec once a day have a 15 percent increased risk of developing chronic kidney disease, compared to a 46 percent increased risk for those who take the medication twice daily.
Limiting the use to PPI medications may help to mitigate these and other risk associated with the use of this class of prescription and over-the-counter drugs. The Food and Drug Administration recommends that doctors and patients restrict their use of PPI drugs to no more than three day treatment cycles in a month period. However, longer treatment cycles may be indicated for patients who use the drug while recovering from ulcers.
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