Blue Fluoxetine Causes Heartburn (Top voted first)

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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Hi Jen,

I truly believe that the root cause of this specific heartburn side effect lies within the "inactive" ingredients found in the blue Fluoxetine pill.

Reason I say that is because, when you switch brand names or manufacturers, the drug itself doesn't change, but rather the binders or fillers that they put with it. If you didn't experience this side effect with the other brand, then the only apparent change is within these fillers.

Furthermore, I found it to be true that certain inactive ingredients which may or may not be present in each brand, are actually detrimental to how the drug is metabolized and used by your body. Because everyone is different, your body may respond favorably with one medication and not the other (despite them being the same drug), due to how you feel or based on whatever side effects present themselves.

If you have the imprints of each tablet (old and new), I can research and compare the list of inactive ingredients to help determine what's causing the heartburn.

I hope this helps!

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I just started taking my prozac again this morning & I just took the blue fluexontine for the first time & I have HORRIBLE heartburn. I havent had heartburn in years & have never had it this bad....ouch....

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I am having this same issue since about January when they switched me to this blue fluoxitine- I had the worst reaction EVER last night - I had very painful spasms for hours and it still hurt when I woke up this morning. I thought the pill was getting caught on something in my throat or stuck to the side of my esophogus. It happens almost every other night. I will speak with my pharmacy and see if there is something else they can substitute with.

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I'm so glad I ran across these comments! I relocated to Wisconsin 2 years ago, and the pharmacy I 've been going to has given me the blue fluoxetine. I've been miserable with heartburn ever since! Maybe I'll call around to other pharmacies and see if I can find the white with the green stripe. Thanks, everyone! I was beginning to think I was losing my mind!

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Hi Jen, I've been taking the blue fluoxetine for almost 2 years, and only recently realized that THEY are the cause of my heartburn. I've been on Nexium and omeprazole, but they just don't help. For the past couple of months, I only take the fluoxetine a couple days a week because I dread the horrible heartburn. There have even been many nights when I've woken, with acid/bile in my mouth.....it comes up my throat in spite of sleeping on 3 pillows AND taking the omeprazole to try to prevent it. I've decided to call local pharmacies next week and see if I can find the green and white variety that I took for years without problems. Good luck!!!

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I am so glad to read your comment. I started on the blue ones and man...I can't believe the heartburn I get. I have an appt tomorrow and can't wait to see if I can get something else. Never had heartburn in my life till now...was somewhat surprised to realize it could be from the prescription.

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I've taken the brand name for 20+ years and just tried the generic again due an insurance screw-up. Omg, the heartburn! Thanks to all for making me feel less crazy!

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I started cutting mine open and mixing with applesauce....no more heartburn....it's the gelatin in the caps it sits at the top of your stomach

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As an alternative to taking it with an antacid, you could also try asking your pharmacy to order in a different one for you.

Fluoxetine is a generic, so it's manufactured by several different companies and not all of them use the same inactive ingredients. Thus, one manufactured by a different pharmaceutical company may remedy this problem.

Learn more Fluoxetine details here.

Are there any other comments or questions?

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Add another person. Unfortunately I found this discussion just AFTER taking my blue capsules. Ouch I am hurting. My heartburn is very intermitant. I filled my rx at Costco. I am goimg back Monday to insist on a refund or different formulation. I will also will report this to my Dr. and the FDA. All, please do the same. Thank you all for posting and confirming my suspicion.

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I get the same thing! Where it feels like the pills are stuck in your throat burning through your esophagus! Put them in an empty pill bottle and do it like a shot straight down the chute. When my throats more open it happens less, even if its not really stuck in there. I take 80 at night for 5+ years and since theyve changed manufacturers it happens more.

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If you read through the previous comments you'll find that the answer was discovered quite a while ago. The problem is caused by the gelatin capsules. The drug is fine, it's just the gelatin in the capsules which creates an acidic reflux because it floats to the top of the stomach and coats the lower half of the esophagus. The best solution is to switch over from the capsules to the tablets. Until that time, if you are experiencing heartburn right now you can swallow a few gulps of Apple Cider Vinegar followed by a tiny sip of water. It will burn going down, but it gets rid of the heartburn within about 15 minutes. You can repeat the process one or two more times as vinegar is natural and won't cause any harm to you.

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I recently just started my 40mg capsules of Prozac (Fluoxetine) again- about 4 months ago, and this is the second time this awful burning in my chest & throat has happened. It also radiates to my back, between my shoulder blades & I feel like that is what hurts me the worst. Yes, the burning pain is also excruciating but I already have bad back problems so, this just aggravates it. I always thought it was because the capsules were breaking apart (opening) in my chest. I usually take a few huge gulps of water when I take my meds & I'm fine, but I don't know how I feel about continuing a medication that will cause side effects, such as this. Super painful! I vomit because the deep, burning pain is so intense & when I take a few big sips of cold, cold water, it does seem to give me some relief but, only for a quick moment. My question is, how do I stop this unbearable burning when its occurring? I do plan to speak with my Dr about switching this medication, but for now... I need some rapid relief, lol! Anyone with anything that has helped rid this or at the least, ease it?

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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 received the blue caps from Walmart in Mt. Pleasant in Michigan... before I had it filled at Walmart when we returned to FL, I asked the pharmacy if the were using the blue pills... but they had switched back to the white with green stripe.... whoooo hoooo..... no more heartburn! :-)

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Add another person to the list! I'm currently taking these mysterious "blue" prozac pills, and I'm suffering through the terrible heartburn for the second time while typing this.

I'm getting this from a local pharmacy I switched to because I preferred to support them instead of Walgreens. Well, I tried to do a good thing, but I can't sacrifice my health for supporting a local biz. Back to walgreens and the white/green capsules for me!

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If you look around you may be able to find a pharmacy that uses the green and white pills. I found my local Walmart does and the problems are gone! Good Luck!

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I use the green and white. Just.started 2 weeks ago. I have taken prevacid every day for the last 6 months and never have heartburn until i started takeing the green and white fluxetine...or however u say prozac generic. Help any advice? I take in morning because it keeps me awake...just the meds not usually heartburn. Except for tonight.

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I have always taken prozac but when they changed me to the generic version of it I kept heartburn really bad. I have found a way to keep that heartburn at bay. I do two things before taking the generic prozac I take 2 generic ranitidine (zantac) if for some reason the heartburn persists I chop up ice in a shaver machine so that the ice is finely shaved up and I swallow 2 to 5 teaspoons of shaved ice and it does the trick evert time. I tried for years to treat the heartburn with many different remedies but this is the only thing that would put the burn out... I hope this helps anyone else who has to suffer from generic prozac. I have to take this drug and I had to put the fire out somehow.. Good Luck and GOD BLESS

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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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