can you believe the doctor's.

 I went to visit my doctor yesterday and he proscribed another load of prevacid and ranitidine,  I asked him how long will I have to take this medecin because it is expencive and I don't have a lot of money,  he said you must take it for the rest of your life,  Im 45 year's old,  this expence is a real problem for me,  Ive been on it for about three month's now and it dosen't even seem to work,  I still wake up with pain in the chest,  while their selling this expencive drug their not going to tell you if there's an alternative.

Hi bedwedge, Unfortunately I have the same frustration as you. When I first received my rx of Prevacid, I read the leaflet about it like I always do with new medication and saw that it said that this was a short term medication and I almost fell out of my chair with joy. Well that was short lived when my doctor told me that most people (like me in this instance) will go on and off of it. Blah, blah, blah... someone should tell the makers of Prevacid that that is not a funny joke.

Since it is not working for you, have you spoken with your dr. about something else? Have you tried any other PPI to see if it works?

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Grab some books on GERD or check out the internet medical sites. Start reading and see what you can find out. Doctors just don't have all the answers. Not to mention they don't have the time they once had to focus on just one patient. We can thank insurance companies for that one! Compare your symptoms to what you read. You may be able to find an answer your doctor never thought of. I have several health problems and each time I'm diagnosed I "hit the books".

If these meds aren't helping, by all means you should try something else. They aren't all alike and they don't all work the same for all people. Ask your doctor for the cheaper medication and work your way up the price scale if that doesn't work. Also, if you can, check around with different pharmacies. You'd be amazed at the price differences!

I also have to take medications for the rest of my life. Not a pleasant thought but I do SO hate pain! Trial and error is the only way to find an answer to some of our health problems. It's not cheap, that's for sure, but it's the only way.

Linlou

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