Omeprazole side effect alert as gastroenterologist says 'it’s more for the underlying condition'

A doctor has issued an alert to anyone taking Omeprazole. Dr Evan Dellon , an academic gastroenterologist at the University of North Carolina, was addressing concerns for people drinking alcohol while taking the medication .

Dr Dellon said that drinking alcohol was not a problem if you are taking Omeprazole as there were 'no interactions' between the two. However, before you reach for a glass of wine, there is more to it than that.

Dr Dellon said that, although consuming alcohol and taking Omeprazole would not cause an issue in itself, drinking is still not advisable as alcohol can increase the amount of stomach acid you produce, making your symptoms worse .

“As far as I’m aware, there are no interactions between omeprazole and alcohol,” Dr Dellon said . “In general, people probably shouldn’t mix the two, but it’s more for the underlying condition, not the danger of an interaction between the medication and alcohol."

The advice is backed up by the NHS, which says : "You can eat as normal while taking omeprazole, but it's best to not drink alcohol because it can increase the amount of acid in your stomach and make your symptoms worse."

Omeprazole is a medicine designed to cut the amount of acid in your stomach and treat things like heartburn . It is a proton pump inhibitor (PPI), which blocks the hydrogen-potassium ATPase pump , or the “proton pump,” for short, that produces acid.

Your body produces acid to help digest food, but when it pushes up into your esophagus, this causes heartburn.

Omeprazole is also used to treat or prevent conditions and symptoms such as:

Omeprazole usually comes as tablets, capsules and liquid that you swallow. Some tablets can be dissolved in water. You can buy some types from pharmacies and shops, but most types are only available with a prescription.

It is usually taken once or twice a day. Some people may only need to take it for a few days, others may need to take it for several weeks, months or years.

Other medications, known as H2 blockers, can be used to treat conditions related to excess stomach acid production. They also suppress acid production in your stomach. The effects of PPIs don’t kick in as fast as H2 blockers. But PPIs also suppress stomach acid production, and you can take them for longer.

H2 blockers - also known as histamine-2 (H2) antagonists - ' create obstacles for acid production '. They essentially “block” H2 from binding, reducing stomach acid production.

Examples include Tagamet, Pepcid, and Axid. But, according to Dr Dellon, the issue regarding alcohol remains the same.

"Those are all fine, too,” said Dr Dellon. “The issue is that alcohol can worsen the underlying problem that you’re on those meds to treat."