A Nigerian woman recently diagnosed of peptic ulcer disease sends a mail to inquire about the list of stomach ulcer drugs and how to take them.
Read below…. ..
My doctor good afternoon, I am Miss Omotayo Adekunle from Ibadan, Oyo State and please I need your help. I have been having this heartburn in my chest for the past 3 years. I later started noticing pepperish 🌶 heartburn, upper abdominal pain and I was getting worse. The pain was worse when am hungry and relieves me after taking food. Sometimes this pain wakes me up at night and early in the morning. There was a time I started passing black stool. I was told by friends that it was peptic ulcer and advised to see a doctor which I did.
On getting to the hospital and to my greatest surprise, my case was taken as an emergency when I told the doctor I was passing black stools and feeling dizzy.
I was immediately transferred to the endoscopy room for upper GI endoscopy as my doctor said he suspects I was bleeding from the ulcer in my stomach. True to his suspicion, I was bleeding mildly according the endoscopy doctor. They used their instruments to stop the bleeding and I was commenced on medications and drips immediately. I spent 1 week on admission and was thereafter discharged with some stomach ulcer drugs to take home.
I am quite better now. Please a need a list of stomach ulcer drugs and how to take them and foods to avoid. Thank you.
***** Mr Omotayo Adekunle******
My reply……..
Thank you for writing me and I am glad to hear you are better now. Many Nigerians do menial jobs and because of the nature of their jobs, they develop body pains. To relieve pains they buy or abuse NSAIDs like ibuprofen, aspirin, peroxicam (felvin), Novalgin and diclofenac. These drugs causes peptic ulceration and sometimes gastrointestinal bleeding. Abuse of painkillers for menstrual cramps is also a culprit for gastric ulcer among ladies. Other common causes of stomach ulcer are family history, smoking and alcohol intake.
To treat peptic ulcer, you need to take stomach ulcer drugs for 2 weeks and at the appropriate dosage.
Stomach ulcer drugs come as 3 different tablets combination. You can choose from any of the combination listed below based on your pocket and drug tolerance.
- Omeprazole + amoxicillin + metronidazole
- Omeprazole + erythromycin + metronidazole
- Omeprazole + clarithromycin + metronidazole
- Omeprazole + clarithromycin + tinidazole
- Omeprazole + erythromycin + tinidazole
- Omeprazole + amoxicillin + tinidazole
- Cimetidine + amoxicillin + metronidazole
- Cimetidine + amoxicillin + tinidazole
- Cimetidine +erythromycin + metronidazole
- Cimetidine + erythromycin + tinidazole
- Cimetidine + clarithromycin + metronidazole
- Cimetidine + clarithromycin + tinidazole
- Add antacids for symptomatic relief to any of the combination of your choice.
Ensure you take any of combinations of the stomach ulcer drugs for 14 days.
1.Omeprazole
A proton pump inhibitor, it helps to reduce gastric acid secretion in the stomach thereby helping the ulcer heal faster. Though not a painkiller, omeprazole helps to reduce pain by reducing acid secretion on an already existing ulcer. It is also effective for heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and peptic ulcer disease. With over 42 brand names, omeprazole comes as 20mg capsules in a satchet containing 10 capsules. The dosage of omeprazole is taken 20mg twice daily for 2 weeks. If you are taking with antacids like gestid, ensure you take the gestid 30 minutes before taking omeprazole capsule. In situations of acute ulcer pain, injection omeprazole that comes in 40mg is recommended for quick relief. The side-effects of this drug is very minimal and rarely reported. If you feel funny after taking Prilosec, omecap or any other brand of omeprazole please consult your doctor. Do not take omeprazole with alcohol.
Other examples of proton pump inhibitors are Rabeprazole, lansoprazole, esomeprazole etc.
A pack omeprazole is #1000 naira.
2. Amoxicillin
An antibiotic that belong to the penicillin family. Commonly used for sore throat, chest infections, skin infections and chlamydia. Amoxicillin is one of the muti-drug combination for the treatment or eradication of Helicobacter Pylori, a bacteria that has been implicated in the development of peptic ulcer disease.
Amoxyl comes in 500mg capsules. For ulcer treatment, it is take as 1g (2 capsules) twice daily for 2 weeks. It is a very cheap drug, a satchet sells for between #120 to #150 naira.
3. Metronidazole (Flagyl)
A popular over-the-counter drug. Marketed under the brand name flagyl. In combination with other drugs, flagyl is effective for the eradication the stomach ulcer causing H. pylori. It can be given through the veins as 500mg three times daily or orally as 400mg three times daily for 2 weeks. Metronidazole should not be taken by breast feeding mothers. The common side effects of flagyl are metallic taste in the mouth, vomitting, nausea, diarrhoea, and headaches.
4. Tinidazole
With trade names: fasigyn, tindamax, sporinex and simplotan, tinidazole is an effective drug for protozoan infections like amoebiasis, gardiasis and trichomoniasis. In combination with other drugs, tinidazole is used in the treatment of stomach ulcer. It is a good alternative to persons that don’t tolerate metronidazole.
Tindamax comes as a pink oral tablets of 250mg or 500mg. For the treatment of stomach ulcer, the prescription for tinidazole is 500mg twice daily or 250mg four times daily for 2 weeks.
5. Clarithromycin or Erythromycin
Belongs to the macrolide class of antibiotics. Clarithromycin and erythromycin are used in treatment of pneumonia, sore throat, skin infections and H.pylori (stomach ulcer). Clarithromycin, though expensive has better efficacy in the treatment of peptic ulcer and eradication of Helicobacter pylori. Clarithromycin comes in 500mg tablets. A packet contains 10 tablets. It is taken as 500mg twice daily for 10days. A pack of clarithromycin sells for #2,500 naira. If you cannot afford it, you can buy erythromycin which sell for #800 naira for a 14 days dose. Erythromycin is cheaper and more affordable.
The common side effects are nausea, vomitting, abdominal discomfort, headaches and dizziness.
7. Cimetidine, oldest of the stomach ulcer drugs
With trade name Tagamet among others, cimetidine is a H2 receptor blocker used in the treatment of heatburn and peptic ulcer disease. Cimetidine comes in the intravenous form as 200mg vials or the oral form as 400mg tablets. The tablet is taken as 400mg twice daily for 2 weeks. Injection cimetidine is sometimes given to persons with acute exercebation of ulcer when there is no omeprazole or rabeprazole. It gives symptomatic relief.
It is no longer used routinely for the treatment of heartburn or peptic ulcer since the advent of omeprazole and other proton pump inhibitors because of its side effects and numerous drug-drug reactions.
8.Antacids
Examples are gestid, mist mag, bicarbonates, gascol, gaviscon, gelusil, milk of magnesia, bismuth sulfate among others. Antacid helps to neutralise stomach acid, relief heart burn, indigestion and stomach upset. Antacids are very effective in the symptomatic relief of acute exercerbation of peptic ulcer and heartburn, gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD), gastritis, oesophagitis, duodenitis.
The common side effects of antacids are constipation, diarrhoea, abdominal discomfort etc.
Apart from medications and to ensure quick healing of your ulcer is to ensure you eat the right meal. Click here to know the food to avoid or eat.
You can also check out the 3 in 1 combination of ulcer drugs called ulsakit. It is also very effective.
Credit: North Texas Endoscopy centre
This article on peptic ulcer drugs is NOT a substitute to seeing a doctor.
Stay healthy.
