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Honored Contributor
Posts: 8,567
Registered: ‎03-14-2010

CVS pulls Zantac over cancer fears!

[ Edited ]

All I can say is I am counting my blessings I'm not taking acid blockers anymore! I took them for about 5 years and was able to stop 3 weeks into a new lifestyle change last September.

 

I've reached a point I don't trust ANY pharma companies anymore...DH feels the same way. We are now focused on doing everything possible to stay away from/avoid taking scripts and OTC meds whenever possible.

 

Dr's push pills more than support their patients on finding other ways to solve their health issues. However, on that same thought process, there are also a lot of folks who look for the magic pills instead of changing their lifestyle too.

 

Pharma companies push sales to make money through all of their commercials for drugs such as these...

 

For those that don't know, acid blocker medicine goes against what your body needs...period. One's body needs the acid to digest food...not acid blockers to prevent it! 

 

The fact is, my body just couldn't handle the carbs/sugars I was eating all my life (59 yrs) anymore, which was why I started to get the acid reflux/heartburn/GERD. My Dr should have known this and should have explained it to me this way. I would have changed my way of eating 5+ yrs ago...UGH. Unfortunately, my Dr (not the same as my DH's) believes in what the health institutes, pharma companies push...the upside down food pyramid.

 

It was DH's Dr who told him when he was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic at 51 yrs of age to start eating low carb...no more than 60 carbs a day...preferably between 50-60 carbs a day. THAT is the smart Dr!

 

So to help my DH, we cleared out our freezer, fridge, pantry of all the foods he couldn't have anymore. At the time I decided it was much easier to make foods for both of us that lined up with what he had to eat instead of keeping the temptations around and my having to cook 2 different meals all the time. Who knew we would both benefit from the new lifestyle! DH has lost 90 lbs and I am now nearing 60 lbs lost!. DH is also off both of his diabetic meds and the Crestor he was taking.

 

Anyway, continuing, I have explained about this particular health issue I had many times before on other threads. I am angry that when I started to get a lot of acid reflux/heartburn/GERD, my Dr gave me a script to take. That started a snowball rolling in the wrong direction. He should have told me to cut out as many carbs/sugars as possible...THAT was the enemy. I didn't know this. One goes to the Dr for help, not to be given scripts when we don't need them or shouldn't take them!!!

 

Anyway, as the snowball rolled, I started to take an OTC PPI - Prevacid to save money instead of the similar script medicine. Then after 5 years of taking that med I find out that it could cause early dementia...holy ****!

 

Unfortunately at the time (early last year), because I still had excalating heartburn/acid reflux/GERD, I then had to start supplementing with Zantac and even chugging Pepto-Bismal before bed. The more acid blockers I had to take the worse my situation got. I had to prop my head up in bed with 3 pillows so I didn't chock on the acid in my sleep!

 

So fast forward to Sept 7th last year when DH was diagnosed as being a type 2 diabetic. We both changed our lifestyle and started to eat low carb/keto. Within just a few weeks I noticed I had ZERO heartburn and haven't had even one bout of it since...now 13 months later.

 

And to think all I had to do was eat low carb/keto. I could have avoided 5 years of pain, a waste of LOTS of $$$ and all those serious additional health risks.

 

So, here's the link to the Zantac news...

https://www.reuters.com/video/2019/09/30/cvs-pulls-zantac-over-cancer-fears?videoId=606821557

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Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,846
Registered: ‎04-23-2010

Re: CVS pulls Zantac over cancer fears!

 

 

 

It is not just CVS pulling it.

“The soul is healed by being with children.”
— Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,219
Registered: ‎07-27-2015

Re: CVS pulls Zantac over cancer fears!

My local news aired a segment tonight about how CVS is voluntarily suspending sales of Zantac and the CVS version. I have never used Zantac but know of many that have.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,880
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: CVS pulls Zantac over cancer fears!

Imho, CVS evidently has decided, as a corporation, to go out of its way to be "politically correct" on tobacco and drugs.  Remember several years ago when CVS decided (and widely promulgated that decision) to stop selling tobacco (I approved) and about a year later, they wouldn't refill my DHs opioid prescription prescription BECAUSE OUR DOCTOR Is OUT OF TOWN ( this is a resort; many people have "out of town physicians).

Honored Contributor
Posts: 8,738
Registered: ‎06-06-2019

Re: CVS pulls Zantac over cancer fears!

I don't trust drugs, injections (flu or otherwise), and don't put much faith in doctors.  I wing it on my own.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 8,567
Registered: ‎03-14-2010

Re: CVS pulls Zantac over cancer fears!


@rms1954 wrote:

I don't trust drugs, injections (flu or otherwise), and don't put much faith in doctors.  I wing it on my own.


 

@rms1954  Sad, but nowadays it seems it's the best way to go with all the health info available now for anyone to help themselves as much as possible.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,846
Registered: ‎04-23-2010

Re: CVS pulls Zantac over cancer fears!


@patbz wrote:

Imho, CVS evidently has decided, as a corporation, to go out of its way to be "politically correct" on tobacco and drugs.  Remember several years ago when CVS decided (and widely promulgated that decision) to stop selling tobacco (I approved) and about a year later, they wouldn't refill my DHs opioid prescription prescription BECAUSE OUR DOCTOR Is OUT OF TOWN ( this is a resort; many people have "out of town physicians)

 

How are those actions politically correct?


 

“The soul is healed by being with children.”
— Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Honored Contributor
Posts: 8,074
Registered: ‎10-03-2014

Re: CVS pulls Zantac over cancer fears!

[ Edited ]

Not all generic and brand name Zantac are  involved.

 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting health care professionals and patients to a voluntary recall of over-the-counter (OTC) ranitidine tablets (75 mg and 150 mg), labeled by Walgreens, Walmart, and Rite-Aid and manufactured by Apotex Corp. These medicines may contain low levels of a nitrosamine impurity called N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). Consumers taking OTC ranitidine, which is used to prevent and relieve heartburn associated with acid ingestion and sour stomach, may consider using other OTC products approved for their condition.

 

FDA found NDMA in generics made only for Walmart, Walgreens, and Rite Aid by Apotex.  I suppose other pharmacies are just being cautious by removing theirs because people won't buy them, but no others are implicated.  It appears NDMA has nothing to do with statins.

 

Apotex is headquartered in Canada.

 

What patients should know

 

  • Not all ranitidine medicines marketed in the U.S. are being recalled.
  • FDA is not recommending individuals stop taking all ranitidine medicines at this time.
  • Consumers taking OTC ranitidine could consider using other OTC products approved for their condition.
  • Patients taking prescription ranitidine who wish to discontinue use should talk to their health care professional about other treatment options. Multiple drugs are approved for the same or similar uses as ranitidine.

https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-updates-and-press-announcements-ndma-zant...

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,094
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: CVS pulls Zantac over cancer fears!

Too bad, I hardly ever get heartburn, but if I did Zantac was the only  product that

 

ever really  worked   Smiley Sad

Honored Contributor
Posts: 8,567
Registered: ‎03-14-2010

Re: CVS pulls Zantac over cancer fears!

[ Edited ]

@MalteseMomma wrote:

Too bad, I hardly ever get heartburn, but if I did Zantac was the only  product that

 

ever really  worked   Smiley Sad


 

@MalteseMomma  I mentioned this my OP:

 

"For those that don't know, acid blocker medicine goes against what your body needs...period. One's body needs the acid to digest food...not acid blockers to prevent it!"

 

Here are a couple of great videos if you have time to watch about it...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1pj07mF574

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFRAc57lBww