Seriously??!! Oh wow, ok, that’s a game changer! Ok, we are going to use this when we are done with a month of 2.2gm/day omeprazole. This has been a really useful thread. So technically one should be able to throw it in their horses sloppy evening food?
Buffer quickly goes poof when wet. It gets activated. I toss the capsules in wet feed right before feeding, but I aim for dry parts. And I don’t stir it in and let it soak for 2 hours (or even 20 mins.)
Keep in mind that this isn’t a step down from your omeprazole–it’s analogous. Use 60 mg as you would a full dose of omeprazole and taper carefully.
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I also wouldn’t let it sit in wet food. But my horse will eat a few pills out of my hand with a cookie or two, and that’s probably the best way for me to know he’s not dribbling them out. When he was on the 14 pills/day dose, though, I didn’t worry about it. Tossed it in with some grain and oil.
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Sorry for bumping!
Did everyone who decided to treat with Nexium get their vet’s permission or did you just try it without consulting them?
My horse’s nutritionist says it sounds like my horse does have ulcers and of course, my vet recommended Ulcergard/GastroGard since it is FDA approved. But the cost, eck, just is too much.
I don’t need my vets “permission” to do ANYTHING with my horse.
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I started treatment based on symptoms, i.e. OTTB failure to gain weight despite a few months off the track and generous amounts of grain plus free choice beautiful grass hay and pasture; rough coat; mare would eat but wasn’t very enthusiastic about it and would walk away from grain or show no real appetite. She’d eventually eat and eat all of it, but I had to keep it hanging on the gate for her to eat at her leisure.
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I guess permission isn’t the correct word. But, did you consult your vet to see what their opinion was in regards to treating your horse with nexium?
No. I trust that I have the ability to review the research and make my own decisions regarding the use of a product like this.
If it makes you feel better to forward the paper linked in the first post by your vet for a thumbs up, by all means do so. Don’t be surprised if you hear “I can only endorse the use of Gastrogard.” Not because of any nefarious reason, but because vets have seen that product work over the last, what, 20 years??
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I also believe (though could be wrong) that vets are ethically obligated to treat clients’ animals with the FDA-approved drug if there is one available. Nexium is not approved for use in horses, it is being used off-label. Yes, it works. But vets are generally prohibited from using off-label medication when there is a proven, approved drug for the same diagnosis. If the vet tells you to use Nexium and your horse is the one in a million who has a bad reaction to it, the vet is liable for negligence. If your horse has a reaction to gastrogard, the vet is not responsible…Merial is. You can’t go after Nexium though, as their drug is not approved nor labeled for equine use.
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Ah, very good point, EventerAJ!
I don’t think they are ethically obligated to TREAT with Merial’s product, per say, but they are obligated to tell you the only FDA approved treatment is Merial’s product. I have known vets to recommend compounded drug (rather than no drug) if the owner cannot afford Gastroguard, so I bet armed with this knowledge, they may also recommend it.
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So I’ve read all about Nexium for horses and have started treating my mare for a month. Already 3 days in and she’s not girthy, grumpy, and the stall kicking has completly stopped. Now my question is what do you do after the month of treatment? Is there a maintenance dose to keep a fair up from happening? I compete a few weekends of each month so I know that’s going to bring stress to her. What should I do to keep her happy and healthy??? Help!!!
After a month (or 2 weeks for minor cases), begin to taper the dose. I use 4 pills to treat active ulcers for 2-4 weeks. Then taper to 3 pills for a week, then 2 pills for a week, then 1 pill daily for a week, then stop. Do not quit cold turkey; nexium suppresses acid production, and stopping suddenly (or skipping days) will result in acid rebound, lots more acid in the stomach than it needs. (Not a chemically-accurate analogy, but think of nexium like the cap on a 20oz bottle of soda. Shake it up…if you remove the cap quickly, it explodes! Crack the cap gently and slowly let the fizz out, you won’t have a mess.)
I use DAC CoolGut as a daily preventative supplement for stomach & hind gut support. On a particularly ulcer-prone horse, I might give 2-3 nexium in the days leading up to and after an event. I do not keep horses on nexium forever, as it is really unknown what long term side effects may be.
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I also did not consult with my vet prior to using. She would have wanted to scope, and affirming the fact that the ulcers existed would have cost me more than just treating them, and the treatment would not have changed.
My mare was walking away from her grain halfway through, & being exceptionally picky, as well as extra irritable about my leg under saddle (lots of tail swishing). Being that she was a skinny rescue that has always been bowling you over for her food, this was highly out of character for her. Treated with a month of Nexium (3 pills) and tapered for an additional 2 weeks, and her typical “bowling you over for food” appetite returned. Seems pretty obvious to me that it worked.
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Has anyone had success/experience giving one capsule of Nexium (with grain) for maintenance? Any issues with the horse chomping their single capsule and negating the benefit? Anyone using a single capsule as on-going maintenance, replacing the Abler single-packet maintenance dose?
My mare has a history of ulcers, and I’ve been treating her with Abler granules since November. I did what I thought was an appropriate taper ending in February - the last week was 1/2 of a maintenance dose which many say is next to useless. However, apparently it was enough because by Tuesday she was displaying her typical discomfort under saddle symptoms (Saturday a.m. was her last 1/2 maintenance does). We had some of our best rides on Saturday/Sunday, so the discomfort was obvious.
I decided to try the Nexium because 1.) it’s a lot cheaper and 2.) Tess never fully finishes all the Abler granules in her feed bucket anyway! She will eat all her grain as soon as you empty the residual granules, but during treatment and maintenance she always leaves a fair bit in the bucket. I figured I have nothing to lose trying the Nexium as seeing how she never gets a full treatment or maintenance dose of Abler.
I was a little worried she wouldn’t eat the capsules given how she’s picky about the granules, but no worries! All three capsules are gone (and for the first/only time this winter, I’m grateful for the light coating of snow since a purple pill would jump out!). I tried giving her some apple Nutra-Grain bar to see if I could hide the capsules, and that was a strong no-go.
Now I’m back to thinking about maintenance, and looking for people’s experience using Nexium as maintenance. I know there are a handful of users who use Abler-maintenance for longer periods of time – is anyone considering doing the same with Nexium? There was a period of time where she was on Abler maintenance for about two years, and I was able to wean her off and we’ve been ulcer free for two years now. I need to talk to my vet (scheduled for later this month) about this latest reoccurrence, but any way I dice it, she will eventually get 1 capsule either as maintenance or during a taper, so any issues?
P.S. This thread has been super helpful, and I appreciate everyone’s experience.
Thanks in advance!
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I saw a difference in both horses on one capsule. I’ve been able to discontinue totally for now with one. The other I resumed on a 2 capsule dose because there was a very obvious change after discontinuation. I’ll go back down to one with him after a month.
May have been mentioned upthread but generic esomeprazole is 3 bottles for $10.99 at Costco.
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WOW! So you can treat and taper with the generic for … about thirty smackers, all in. :eek: :eek: Amazing!!
Anyone who uses the generic: come back and tell us if it works as well!
I’ve been on the generic for months. Well, my horse has. Seems to be the same as the brand name.
My horse has been under treatment for ulcers for over a year. He was doing well on Nexium but the ulcers still weren’t going away so we went back to Ulcergard for a month. Then 2. Plus sucralfate, blah blah. He got MUCH worse. We were going to do some doxy in case there was a bacterial component to his ulcers and then he started showing Lyme symptoms. I also put my foot down on the Ulcergard issue (the vet liked Ulcergard better “because there are more studies”)- my horse clearly does better on esomeprazole than Ulcergard and it costs a fraction of the price. So we did a month of doxy and the equivalent of a tube of Ulcergard a day, which is one whole bottle of esomeprazole. We did this for 30 days, and I’ve started tapering. We’re down to 9 pills a day and doing pretty well so I need jingles that the trend will continue so we can get off medicines all together.
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