Doesn’t anybody pay attention?

G

GP44

Member
Sometimes it would be hours later and I would feel like none of the food that I had eaten earlier had digested at all.
Then I thought about how my bowels weren’t working properly either.
Not working naturally and regularly.
I started wondering if I had a deficiency in stomach acids or bile.
Then I looked and sure enough I had been taking Pantoprazole Sodium for so many years that I couldn’t remember when it was first prescribed.
I looked for facts about the medicine and saw where it is normally only prescribed for up to eight weeks.
No wonder I felt like my whole digestive system had quit working.
Then I thought about how every time I saw any kind of medical personnel they always wanted to see a list of my medications and I wondered why none of these people had never questioned why I was on a medicine that helps to slow the production of stomach acid and is usually only taken temporarily.
 
This is where you need to talk to your doc to see if it's still necessary.

Pantoprazole Sodium can be prescribed for long term use when necessary depending on the reason it was originally prescribed.

I found nothing that it slows digestion. Not saying it's not possible because some of us do have very rare responses to certain medications.
 
I was having that problem and I was on nothing that could cause it.
I began drinking Metamucil and this forum suggested taking a Magnesium
tablet 2 hours before drinking it before bedtime. Works great!
My dog was showing signs of constipation and the vet asked if I took Metamucil
and suggested poring a bit on her dinner food - smaller amount of course and
it's working for her too.
 
robin416 said:
This is where you need to talk to your doc to see if it's still necessary.

Pantoprazole Sodium can be prescribed for long term use when necessary depending on the reason it was originally prescribed.

I found nothing that it slows digestion. Not saying it's not possible because some of us do have very rare responses to certain medications.
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I saw nothing that says it slows digestion but reasoned that if it reduces stomach acid and stomach acid being what breaks down food then it stands to reason that it slows digestion.
By the way I am feeling better every day since I quit the Pantoprazole Sodium and even had a natural bowel movement this morning without having to strain my guts out for a change.
I figure that the Pantoprazole Sodium was prescribed about forty years ago when I had problems with stomach ulcers.
The scar tissue from those ulcers slowed my digestion at the time.
 
Because they asked me 500 times what medicines I take for the last fifty years it makes me want to blame the medical community for not questioning if those medicines are still right for me but I realize that a responsible adult should have enough sense to go through their list of medicines and try to figure out if they are still needed.
I have been seeing lately how some of them that were prescribed 50 years ago are not exactly what I need today.
 
Well as mentioned sometimes people are prescribed certain meds long term. And often times the primary docs are so overwhelmed with patients on so little time that their note taking and noticing things are severely hampered.

my primary has done such an awful job of taking notes over the years i've been going to him that he actually spent an hour and 15 min one day in the office chewing me out for supposedly being non compliant. he doesn't even have all my reactions to certain meds listed in the file and wants to give me things off my allergy list. i don't know if it's that they aren't paying attn or don't have the time to pay proper attn.

they herd us in and out like cattle and only see us every 6 mo so it's not likely they're gonna remember let alone pay attn. this is why people have problems i think.

glad you're feeling better though.
 
MarciKS said:
Well as mentioned sometimes people are prescribed certain meds long term. And often times the primary docs are so overwhelmed with patients on so little time that their note taking and noticing things are severely hampered.

my primary has done such an awful job of taking notes over the years i've been going to him that he actually spent an hour and 15 min one day in the office chewing me out for supposedly being non compliant. he doesn't even have all my reactions to certain meds listed in the file and wants to give me things off my allergy list. i don't know if it's that they aren't paying attn or don't have the time to pay proper attn.

they herd us in and out like cattle and only see us every 6 mo so it's not likely they're gonna remember let alone pay attn. this is why people have problems i think.

glad you're feeling better though.
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My doctors are usually pretty good about stufff but I realize that nobody is perfect all of the time.
For about the last twenty years or so I have done a pretty good job of looking up as much information as I can about anything that my wife or I am prescribed.
I don’t remember the details but know that doing that saved my wife’s life one time.
 
i can certainly understand that. my doc likes to prescribe things willy nilly and i am not comfortable just trusting him with anything and everything he wants to shove at me for whatever reason. that tends to irritate him but i refuse to take meds that make me sick or give me hives. he wanted me to take shots to lose weight. he said it was medicine used for diabetes. he never did tell me what it was but, i'm glad i chose not to do it. especially with everything i am hearing about ozempic and glp 1 things. sometimes we hafta watch out for ourselves.
 
MarciKS said:
i can certainly understand that. my doc likes to prescribe things willy nilly and i am not comfortable just trusting him with anything and everything he wants to shove at me for whatever reason. that tends to irritate him but i refuse to take meds that make me sick or give me hives. he wanted me to take shots to lose weight. he said it was medicine used for diabetes. he never did tell me what it was but, i'm glad i chose not to do it. especially with everything i am hearing about ozempic and glp 1 things. sometimes we hafta watch out for ourselves.
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Yes Sir! You are certainly right about that!
 
I am very lucky to have a Wife who used to be a University business manager, supervising about 150 employees. When she retired in 2013, she took over managing ME! She keeps a spreadsheet that is up dated every week, that lists what medications I am taking, the daily amount, and which Doctor prescribed it, and when it was prescribed.

She is my legally authorized medical case manager. In 2025 , I spent a total of about 8 months in 3 different Toronto area hospitals. She was in my room at least 5 days of each week, making sure that I got the best care possible. I have been home for 3 weeks now. I have both a RN and a PSW who come in every day seven days a week. The Ontario Ministry of Health has also provided a rollator walker, a CPAP machine, and a new pair of hearing aids.

For our American members........All of that medical care and attention, cost us exactly zero. No bills, no co-pays, not a penny. I am 79, and my Wife is 82. We own our house in Toronto, and both of us receive the Canada Pension Plan monthly benefit, and the Old Age Pension. In addition, both of us receive pensions from past employers.

JIMB>
 
PeppermintPatty said:
You are a very lucky man @jimintoronto
Your wife is indeed a fabulous woman.
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Thanks Patty. I certainly appreciate her efforts to help me get back home, again. I'm getting better at walking now, and on this past Monday we went to see my Primary Care Doctor in person. B's son in law drove us in our car to Women's College Hospital, and back home ,again. Blood tests and a x ray of my right foot, which has become quite painful recently. I suspect the joint on my right foot has developed arthritis. JIMB>
 
jimintoronto said:
Thanks Patty. I certainly appreciate her efforts to help me get back home, again. I'm getting better at walking now, and on this past Monday we went to see my Primary Care Doctor in person. B's son in law drove us in our car to Women's College Hospital, and back home ,again. Blood tests and a x ray of my right foot, which has become quite painful recently. I suspect the joint on my right foot has developed arthritis. JIMB>
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You’ve always been very grateful to have your wife around. I think you’d be lost without her.
Is the foot you are referring to on the same leg as the ankle you broke in 3 different places? That would make sense. Even if it’s not, you’re right that it’s probably arthritis. You are 79 and that’s to be expected. I’ve got arthritis in my tailbone and finger tips.
 
jimintoronto said:
I am very lucky to have a Wife who used to be a University business manager, supervising about 150 employees. When she retired in 2013, she took over managing ME! She keeps a spreadsheet that is up dated every week, that lists what medications I am taking, the daily amount, and which Doctor prescribed it, and when it was prescribed.

She is my legally authorized medical case manager. In 2025 , I spent a total of about 8 months in 3 different Toronto area hospitals. She was in my room at least 5 days of each week, making sure that I got the best care possible. I have been home for 3 weeks now. I have both a RN and a PSW who come in every day seven days a week. The Ontario Ministry of Health has also provided a rollator walker, a CPAP machine, and a new pair of hearing aids.

For our American members........All of that medical care and attention, cost us exactly zero. No bills, no co-pays, not a penny. I am 79, and my Wife is 82. We own our house in Toronto, and both of us receive the Canada Pension Plan monthly benefit, and the Old Age Pension. In addition, both of us receive pensions from past employers.

JIMB>
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Sounds like you are getting the best of care.
Were conditions different during the COVID days up there too?
My wife had all of her major problems right at the height of the COVID pandemic and it certainly made things harder for us.
We have good insurance because I worked for 41 years for a major company but we still couldn’t get anyone to come out when she needed home care and I had to fight hard to get to see her with the hospital restrictions at the time. That made it hard to keep up with what kind of care she was receiving.
THANK GOD THAT IS ALL OVER WITH!
Now we are like normal old people who run to the doctors offices and get all of our tests and treatments prescribed.
 
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