It depends who you ask. Where I am veterinarians that recommend long-term use of Gastrogard for maintenance. One of my friends horse stays on a 1/3 tube daily as recommended by her vet. The most important thing is to remove all stress and also to wean very slowly. I recently read a paper where the horses were kept on a 1/4 tube of gastrogard dailyFirst six months after the initial treatment. Then if doing well they were switched to a coating agent such as rite track.
Ranitidine seems to carry fewer risks than the PPIs with long term usage, yes.
Thanks! If I get worried about my horse again I will give nexium a try. I think my boy is doing well. I hope to be done with PPIās .
Just posting that I climbed on this bandwagon and my horse is on day 12 of 3 tablets of generic omeprezole/day and is displaying a remarkable improvement in his temperament in the barn, and under saddle. Heās got a lot going on that would be maybe/maybe not ulcers and after a particularly stressful weekend of traveling with his buddy and then having to be separated. A friend said it had helped her horse so I gave it a try, and found this thread.
I had not read the full thread so didnāt buy Nexium capsules, but the change is real. It was real after the 3rd day.
Having gotten all the way to page 23, I will do the full 4 weeks before tapering and do it slowly.
Heās a gulper, so I am not worried about him chewing the tablets.
Iāll report back after weāre done with it all if I donāt have any issues. Thank you!
Any experience at seeing positive attitude changes after treatment stopped? My guy can be sour, but no other symptoms, so I thought I would try it out just in case. No difference after 10 days @ 3/day, so I stopped. No taper.
Four days later his demeanor has changed like a switch was turned on - no longer fidgety about saddle/cinch, a rock star for trainer and me. Donāt know if it will last, but could it be a result of Nexium? (Fwiw, I donāt think so, it shoulda helped while I was giving it, but just checkingā¦)
You stopped too soon. Thatās barely when changes are going to be most noticeable. Without tapering youāve also then caused a massive acid overload which will exacerbate ulcers.
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Can this drug be interchanged with gastrogard? What would be a comparable dose to a 1/4 tube of gastrogard daily?
The dose that would be analogous to the 1/4 tube of gastrogard would be less than a capsule, so no.
I was concerned my horse may have had ulcers last fall. He is the kind of horse show very little or no clinical signs when he does have ulcers. I tried treating him with gastrogard this Spring just in case 28 days at a full tube I am not sure it made any difference though, 9 days at 3/4 tube, 14 days at 1/2 tube, 21 days at 1/3 a tube, now a 1/4 tube.
Iāve used 3 capsules for preventative purposes (short term) for things likely to cause a flare up with my horse (e.g., joint injections and the co-administered couple doses of NSAIDs). Done this a few times now without any signs of ulcers.
I understand that. I stopped because I didnāt see any results. I didnāt taper because they donāt recommend humans taper, and he wasnāt on a long course of it it.
However, now 4 days later, I notice positive behavior changes that may or may not be related to the Nexium.
I am just asking if anyone had experience with a behavior change after they stopped using it ā most of the time the behavior change is while they are using it.
I had my horse scoped for ulcers today. He has been on Nexium twice. A full round in February and then again since April 21st. The scope showed some keratinization which is the start of ulcers. She recommended 2 weeks of guard but since Iām already on Nexium I figure 2 weeks more of that is sufficient before weaning. (Right?) She also recommended platinums GI supplement for him.
Here is the video of the scope in case anyone is curious.
https://youtu.be/Xkv9MuquC1g
she said his ulcer symptoms are behavioral or related to the saddle fit issues we are having.
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My apologies if this has been asked before - Iāve tried to find it in this thread but may have overlooked the answer: Is there harm in keeping your horse on the Nexium all the time? Or do you definitely want to wean them off after a time? Thanks!
Keeping a horse on a PPI long term may have negative effects on hind gut health and may interfere with the absorption of some minerals. Itās generally inadvisable to use them long term.
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My horse is currently on daily PPI"s. The internal medicine specialist whom scopped my horse recommended didnāt seem to have any concern about long-term use. I hope to take him off it but he looks so good I am a bit afraid. Long term PPI is not recommended are humans although some use it. There is a limited data on the safety of long-term use in horses. Some professionals do not recommend long-term use. The clinics in my area I donāt seem to have a concern. I know a horse whom gets a 1/3 gastrogard daily for the past couple of years. I was reading an article from a big vet clinic they keep the horse on 1/4 tube of Gastrogard or six months after treatment repeat the scope before switching to a coating agent they treat 350 to 450 horses a year and this method works. I canāt find the article now.Smart Pack has a good supplement that had some testing Or possibly rite track post Nexium after the weaning process.
Would 3 pills be good for ulcer prevention?
Of nexium? No. The paper linked in the first post demonstrated 40mg of esomeprazole raises the pH of the stomach to healing levels. Three capsules is a solid TREATMENT dose, with an extra capsule over 40mg to guard against loss from chewing.
A prevent dose would be less than a capsule. Thatās not feasible. This is not something thatās appropriate for prevention with what we know about it now.
OK I donāt know why I thought a read14 pills.
How many milligrams is the dose? I was going to order some but I realize that the doses may vary.
This info is in the very first post in this thread.
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