Blue Fluoxetine Causes Heartburn (Page 6)
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Recently my pharmacy began giving me a new version of fluoxetine, which I have taken for MANY years with no problems.... however the blue fluoxetine gives me horrible heart burn. I use to take them at night before bed, but couldn't sleep, so decided to start taking them in the morning and still get the heartburn. I don't take them with any other meds. I tried an empty stomach, and after eating, but the results are still the same. I also get a bad headache (I think from the heartburn.) Has anyone figured out how to avoid this problem?

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The apple cider vinegar neutralizes the acid that is coming from the stomach and moving up into your esophagus. You take two or three large gulps. It burns as it goes down. After you do this you will have a small cough once or twice because of a muscle spasm that occurs as the acid is being neutralized. After about 15 to 30 seconds drink a few sips of water to wash down the rest of the vinegar and acid. Relief comes in about 15 minutes. Depending upon the severity you may have to follow this procedure one more time after about 20 minutes. Keep in mind that this isn't medicine, it's apple cider vinegar and water which is completely natural substances so you can't "overdose" or "take too much". If you've ever eaten a salad with oil and vinegar then you'll note what it will taste like. Make sure you use apple cider vinegar, not regular vinegar. Apple cider vinegar contains important ingredients which have been filtered out of regular vinegar.

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I am experiencing a blocked tight burning pain in my chest/throat. I have never before suffered from this sensation before. Just 4 days into a new box of fluroxatine blue. I threw up yesterday. Tell me what will the cider vinegar do?

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Holy Hell... I am laying on the floor right now after taking two blue capsules on empty stomach... This is the third time in last month and I thought I was just swallowing them wrong. Thank you for all your information so now I don't have to be basically zombified for a couple hours while it passes...btw... Had someone get me some Apple cider vinegar and it seems to be working. Thanks again!

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Don't use any capsule that uses gelatin. Most generics use gelatin capsules. To prevent heartburn simply open the capsule and dump the powder into some pudding and eat it that way, or put the powder into another empty capsule and close it and swallow.

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I have been having this EXACT same issue with the white capsulettes with orange stripes. (40 mg fluoxetine) It feels like it gets stuck in my chest and the heartburn is unbearable. I also have the orange/blue ones and do not remember having the issue with those. I lost a full bottle of those and refilled to the white and orange. I recently found the blue/orange ones and will try those again to see. I cannot take this medicine if I can't find a way around this issue.

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Add me to the list of heartburn recipients on the blue and white pill! OMG! I usually take 3 qty 10mg a day. Been doing so since 1997. Walmart changed to the blue ones. Headache and the worst heartburn ever. I found this site this morning and I'm grateful. Went to a different Walmart and got my old ones again! Yikes!

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It's not the drug, it's the capsule that it comes in. They use a heavy grade gelatin capsule in most generic versions of the drug. There are two ways to prevent the heartburn: either (1) open the capsule and dump the powder into some food mixed with a little sugar, or (2) buy some empty vegetarian food-grade capsules and transfer the powder from the old capsule to the empty one. This is the option I follow and it eliminates all heartburn. Although pills do go down when you swallow them, what happens for many people is that the gelatin capsules float to the top of the stomach and the gelatin gets smeared on the upper part of the stomach at the junction of the esophagus just above the lower esophageal sphincter which is of course unnatural and the acid tries to dissolve it, but it can't do it easily so the acid will reflux (flow backwards by going up instead of down). However, people with hiatal hernias will experience this much more severely.

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The two most popular solutions that people have discovered is to either pop open the capsule and pour the powder onto food, or put the powder into an empty non-gelatin vegetarian capsule and take it that way. The heartburn is caused by the dye and the gelatin in the capsule material itself, not the actual drug.

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I'm reading all this post and now realize that I did not have heartburn until I started taking these blue pills instead of the white pills with the green stripes. I have been getting so ill for the last 12 months. I'm miserable as I write this post.

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Same problem here. Especially if taking right before bed. I've learned to take with food and earlier in the day so I am upright and not laying down. Feels like the pill is stuck in the esophagus other wise.

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I am taking Fluoxetine Capsules. Two 40 mg pills each morning. They are: mint green and orange plastic capsules with E92 printed on the capsules. Manufactured for Aurobindo Pharma USA by Aurobindo Pharma Limited/ India
I also take, two 150 mg of bupropion. Round purple pill E415 etched on one side (wellbutrin)

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Thank u so very much. I too thought I was having a more serious problem than heartburn. Also, thanx for ur experience. I will also contact other pharmacies.
At first, I asked my Dr. to change to the capsulettes ( no plastic) but it seemed to be less potent. I then went back to the capsules (plastic green/orange) but I DO NOT SWALLOW THE PLASTIC. I open them, put the powder and a lil water in a table sized spoon.
The taste is horrible but NO MORE PAIN.

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I got blue pills. I was fine until last night and tonight. It's amazing what you find on the internet.

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My pharmacy switched suppliers as well to the blue and orange pill by Teva. I have been getting the worst heartburn ever since taking this medication. I googled it this afternoon, then followed this forum and what a relief and what help it has been knowing I'm not the only one. I called around several pharmacies and found another that carried a different supplier. They contacted my insurance company and explained the side effects that I was having (the horrible heartburn). I actually felt like I could possibly be having a heart attack. They got my prescription transferred and got my insurance company to cover it. Thank goodness.

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I have conducted extensive testing and have come to the conclusion that the heartburn is not caused by the Fluoxetine itself, but rather by the ingredients in the capsule. I tried three different brands of generic Fluoxetine and the name brand (DAW on the script). Each of the generic brands caused some level of heartburn, one of them more severe than the others. I had purchased empty vegetarian capsules and removed the cap from the original capsule and simply poured the contents into the vegetarian capsule. When taking the Fluoxetine with the vegetarian capsule there was no heartburn for any of the generic brands. I would suggest that those who are experiencing heartburn find empty capsules of the vegetarian variety and simply transfer the medication from the original capsules into the new ones.

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I thank you all for sharing your experiences because I didn't know what was happening. It didn't happen every time I took my dose so I didn't know what it was. I told my doctor it caused severe chest pain. He said that he never heard of such side effects while taking Prozac, from his other patients. Today after taking my meds (80mg fluoxetine and 200mg wellbutrin) the pain started, nothing I did helped. Hot coffee...horrible, food...not a chance, it would make the burning sensation worse. Rolaids was no help. My husband finally talked me into sipping some ginger ale. That relieved some of the pain. However, I still could feel exactly where the burning occurred and was very weak and shaky all day. I was scared, it was never that bad. This sent me on an internet search and greatfully, I found this site, that I was not alone and its severe heartburn. 100% relief is when I empty the medicine out of the capsules and take it in a spoon with a lil water. It tastes horrible but no more pain. Tried it mixed in my mashed potatoes. I couldn't eat it. I was rushing yesterday and that's is why I swallowed the capsules whole. So, back to emptying the capsules and taking it in a spoon filled with water. Dr. didn't seem concerned when I told him that how I take it now, but please always speak with your doctor before changing the way your medicine is administered. Now this is the next morning and I still feel a bit weak and can still feel where there was burning. I can now drink coffee and food with little discomfort. Thanks again!

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I have the same problem but several years ago was told about a natural way to deal with heartburn and it really does work, even with the heartburn caused by the Prozac (it gets REEEEEEALLY bad for me). What you do is take two or three large gulps of Apple Cider Vinegar. It burns as it goes down but it neutralizes the acid. Then swallow a few sips of water to wash the rest of it down. It takes about 15 minutes to work. I usually have to repeat it once after 20 minutes and then the heartburn is gone all day.

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My doc told me it was the dye they use in the gelatin or whatever it is that surrounds the medicine. There is something in that blue dye (I think it was the blue ones and green was ok but pharmacy couldn't get green anymore; I take the pills now, and they are much flatter and easier to swallow IMHO) I can't tolerate. I was miserable. I even resorted to dumping the medicine in pudding which wasn't a good idea either.lol

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ive taken fluoxetine for years, I don't always get a burning sensation in my throat after taking them but I swear sometimes if feels so difficult to breathe and eat. my doctor wont transfer me to something easier to cope with but honestly its effecting my everyday life.

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OMG. I have been suffering with this for YEARS. My Dr. was going down the path of GERD. But then it mysteriously stopped for months. Now, it's back. I've had it twice this week. It's miserable. Absolutely miserable. Nothing I do helps, EXCEPT drink a little sip of water every 20 seconds or so. To literally wash down the acid.

And now you all are saying it's my fluoxetine? I never thought it would be the pill I take each morning. Don't pills just slide down? Guess not.

Thank you all for sharing and helping me solve this miserable mystery!

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