Does Taking Pantoprozol Daily For Heartburn Cause Side Effect?

Posted on Thu, 26 Feb 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 26 Feb 2015 Answered on

Thu, 26 Mar 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : I take pantoprozol for heartburn,daily, should I stop?
I also take Valtrex, should I stop?

Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (13 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Please clarify your question

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

your situation is not clear enough to me, so I'm going to ask you a couple of questions to clarify things a little bit.
Do you have peptic ulcer, esophagitis or gastroesophageal reflux disease?
Do you have herpes? Where? How long have you been taking Valtrex?

I'll be waiting for your input.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (40 minutes later)

No I do not have ulcers or any gastroesophageal disease, it was prescribed as a preventative.

Yes I have genital herpes and have been taking Valtrex for over10 years.
I hope you received my answers to your follow up questions?

Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (7 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
No reason to take pantoprazole

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

thanks for the clarifications!
I cannot understand what you had to prevent with pantoprazole. There is no reason to take pantoprazole with valtrex because valtrex is not supposed to cause gastrointestinal damage.

I suppose you're taking Valtrex to prevent viral shedding. If you want to do that as a preventive measure against virus transmission then you have to take it for as long as you'd like to avoid exposing your partner to the virus.

I hope you find my answer helpful!
If you'd like to ask more questions on this subject, please use your follow-up questions to do so. I'll be glad to answer.

Kind Regards!

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (12 minutes later)

The valtrex and Pantoprozole were not prescribed together. The pantoprozole was for heartburn and after it went away my doctor said to just take it as a preventive for possible future heartburn, However i can stop the prescription if it would possibly interfere with cellsept.

As for my valtrex should i continue, or will it interfere with cellsept?

Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (5 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
No serious interaction

Detailed Answer:
You hadn't mentioned Cellcept before... but there is no interaction of valtrex with it. Proton pump inhibitors (PPI) may cause a decrease in Cellcept concentration. Pantoprazole is a PPI.
So I would suggest avoiding pantoprazole unless the heartburn returns. In this case I would suggest endoscopy (to exclude esophageal damage or infection) and taking pantoprazole.

Kind Regards!

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (3 minutes later)

No more questions, just a thank you.

Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (2 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
You're welcome

Detailed Answer:
You're welcome. I'll be glad to help again in the future, should the need arise!
Best wishes!

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar