These side effects may be more likely with esomeprazole than omeprazole. Most people don’t have side effects from PPIs. In addition to cost, consider things like: Work with your doctor or pharmacist to decide which PPI is best for you. But others have argued that “me too” drugs can actually decrease drugs costs, because they encourage competition between the drug companies. Some people think that “me too” drugs are just a way for drug companies to make money by copying drugs that are already available. Nexium is sometimes called a “me too” drug because it’s so similar to Prilosec, an existing drug. If your insurance still doesn’t cover OTC PPIs, a prescription for generic omeprazole or esomeprazole may be your best option. However, the PPI market has led many to revise their coverage of Prilosec OTC and Nexium OTC. Traditionally, insurance companies didn’t cover OTC products. However, generic omeprazole may be less expensive than Prilosec OTC. Nexium now offers an over-the-counter (OTC) product that’s priced competitively with Prilosec OTC. Until March 2014, Nexium was available only by prescription and at a significantly higher price. The biggest difference between Prilosec and Nexium was price when reviewed. So, while there’s some data to suggest that esomeprazole is more effective at relieving symptoms, most experts agree that the PPIs have similar effects overall. They found that there’s little difference in the effectiveness of PPIs.
The authors analyzed 41 studies on the effectiveness of PPIs. the clinical methods used to measure effectiveness.differences in the amount of active ingredients given in the studies.However, in a 2007 article in American Family Physician, doctors questioned these and other studies on PPIs. Some studies indicate that the differences between omeprazole and esomeprazole may offer some advantages to people with certain conditions.Īn older study from 2002 found that esomeprazole provided more effective control of GERD than omeprazole at the same dosages. Esomeprazole is also broken down differently by your liver, so it may lead to fewer drug interactions than omeprazole. It may also work slightly faster to treat your symptoms compared with omeprazole. This means that there are higher levels of the drug in your bloodstream, and esomeprazole may decrease acid production for a longer period of time. While the differences in isomers might seem minor, they can result in differences in how drugs work.įor example, the isomer that’s in Nexium is processed more slowly in your body than Prilosec. So, you could say that omeprazole and esomeprazole are made of the same building blocks but are put together differently. Isomer is a term for a molecule that includes the same chemicals but is arranged in a different way. Prilosec contains two isomers of the drug omeprazole, while Nexium only contains one isomer. However, there are minor differences in their chemical makeup. Omeprazole (Prilosec) and esomeprazole (Nexium) are similar drugs.
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