Drug points: Lethargy with omeprazole

Meeuwisse, E J M; Groen, Fahriye; Dees, A; Smit, G H; Ottervanger, Jan Paul

doi:10.1136/bmj.314.7079.481a

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 3 publications

(1 reference statement)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Experience of the adverse effects of proton pump inhibitors is greatest for omeprazole, which has been on the market longest [12]. There have been case reports of sexual disturbances [13], gynaecomastia [14], gout [15], lethargy [16], polyarthralgia [17], campylobacter gastroenteritis [18], atrophic gastritis [19], angiooedema [20], subacute myopathy [21], and ocular damage [22]. Case reports are an important method of improving knowledge about drug side‐effects but data on the frequency of occurrence of adverse events are not readily available to prescribing doctors, who are therefore unable to put these isolated cases into a population perspective.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The rates of common adverse events reported during treatment with proton pump inhibitors used in general practice in England: cohort studies

Martin

Dunn

Freemantle

et al. 2000

Brit J Clinical Pharma

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aims To estimate the rates of common adverse events in patients treated with the proton pump inhibitors omeprazole, lansoprazole and pantoprazole in general practice in England. Methods In prescription‐event monitoring cohort studies, data on dispensed prescriptions prescribed by general practitioners in England soon after each drug was launched were linked to subsequent clinical events recorded by the prescriber. 16 205 patients prescribed omeprazole between June 1989 and June 1990, 17 329 patients prescribed lansoprazole between May and November 1994, and 11 541 patients prescribed pantoprazole between December 1996 and June 1997 were studied. Results The commonest adverse events in the omeprazole, lansoprazole and pantoprazole cohorts were diarrhoea (incidence: 0.18, 0.39 and 0.23 per 1000 days of exposure, respectively); nausea/vomiting (incidence: 0.16, 0.22 and 0.18 per 1000 days of exposure, respectively); abdominal pain (incidence: 0.17, 0.21 and 0.17 per 1000 days of exposure, respectively); and headache (incidence rates: 0.10, 0.17 and 0.15 per 1000 days of exposure, respectively). The remaining adverse events occurred at rates of less than 0.11 per 1000 days of exposure. There were little absolute differences in the rates of most events between the three proton pump inhibitors. However, diarrhoea was more commonly associated with lansoprazole compared with omeprazole (rate difference: 0.21 per 1000 days of exposure; 95% CI 0.17, 0.25; rate ratio: 2.11; 1.78, 2.51), and there was a clear age‐response relationship. Conclusions Adverse events occurred relatively infrequently in all three cohorts. There were only small absolute differences in event rates between the three drugs, although these data suggest the hypothesis that lansoprazole is associated with more frequent occurrence of diarrhoea, particularly in the elderly.

show abstract