Nexium & Heart Problems

I have been on Nexium 40mg once daily for approx 2 years. I do have reflux on and of. Prior to taking Nexium I would cough for hours. (really) & that would cause me to go into SVT. SVT was fixed in fall of 07 so I have tried to stop Nexium many times. I get bad pain in the center of my chest, loss of interest in food etc after just 36 hrs. On March 20th, 09 I stopped cold and by March 22, 09 the problems started. It was hard then impossible to remain calm. I am a calm person by nature this was the nexium. On Monday 23 March 09 I was even worse with pain in my left arm, chest pains and just figured that it was stress / tension. By the late afternoon I was not getting better so I went to the ER. The MD told me that I was not crazy and it was an AFib situation. He was not certain about the Nexium but concerned about the AFib. The AFib resolved in about an hour without meds. I was released and further testing setup. You are reading about a person who had 176 doses of adenosine ! Wow. My heart is my friend & I know when it is not working right. I saw the FDA report on Nexium but, the drug companies have been as bad as the banks in getting things approved so I am asking is there any chance Nexium can cause irregular heart actions? Started Nexium late evening Tuesday same week and in 36 hours all problems seemed to be gone. Yes, I was scoped & no they found nothing. When I called the maker of Nexium they put me through to research by mistake. A woman there explained that the heart problems did show up, that long term use was now not the way to go but, drug reps never tell the doc's I know anything. Further she explained that people were using 120mg a day and the company was aware of it. That was the only does/medicine that helped their GERD. Any answer would be super.

[Ratnakar Kini, MD]

Hi,
I have heard a few reporting this. PPI is being used less than 2 decades and of it Nexium is the latest addition. No long term studies are available which state about its complications. So we need to wait and see till many such reports are availabe or long term studies are done.