PEPCID Reviews (FAMOTIDINE)Average Rating: 1.5 (440 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare PEPCID with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
|
Results are sorted by Date added. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 |
More on PEPCID: Reviews Summary | FDA Adverse Event Summary
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR PEPCID | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 1 | GERD | Pins and needles in my hands, anxiety, chest tightness, depression, mood swings, lethargy, shortness of breath | It’s not the first time I was taking Pepcid, but it took me 2-3 days to remember all the side effects I had previously. On first day there is no side effects, and after ….it is a hell. I literally had a mental breakdown on a third day because of depression which came out of nowhere. It has been 2 day without it and I am better energy wise, but mood is pretty much bad. Chest tightness and shortness of breath didn’t go away either. Can’t wait it goes away. First time I had the same side effects but with years I forgot about them, just remembered that I had them and they were bad. I thought maybe if I take it for a week they won’t come that fast. I was wrong. Pin and needles went away the next day I stopped it. | F | 39 | 3 days 20 mg 1X day | 1/18/2026 | 1 | gerd | anxiety, intrusive thoughts, derealiztion/personalization, electrucution in head, zaps, beating in brain and heart, memory loss, weight loss, suicidal thoughts. 8 months in and still not better this stuff is DISGUSTING. do not take it please god do not take | F | 35 | 1 days 30mg 1X day | 1/17/2026 | 2 | Horrid lower stomach acid burn | Extreme dizziness, very hard to concentrate, distant, anxious, can't do much. Couldn't tolerate generic. Couldn't tolerate proton pump inhibitor. GI dr has no other ideas to treat acid pain! Either stop & get 10++ burn in left gut or be out of it width dizziness from Pepcid. Open to any ideas! | Mostly relieved horrid acid burn in lower stomach &/or upper small intestine. Not regular Gerd. Developed GI stricture from scar tissue growth after decades. Also IBS from pain med. many years, chronic gi pain (post chin & other issues) Acid problem emerged after small bowel obstruction from stricure/adhesions | F | 78 | 0 weeks 20 1X day | 8/10/2025 | 1 | Acid reflux | Cause absolute fatigue giddiness headaches so tired cannot work stopped taking on day 8 I don't know how long these symptoms will carry on | F | 63 | 0 days 1X day | 6/13/2025 | 1 | GERD | Extreme anxiety, insomnia, nausea, vomiting, vestibular migraines, tinnitus, dizziness, panic attacks | DO NOT TAKE THIS. This medication destroyed my life. It dismantled me piece by piece. I went from a happy and healthy 35 year old to completely bed ridden unable to move, keep food down, or sleep. The last two months have been absolute hell. | F | 36 | 30 days 20 mg 2xd 2X day | 6/2/2025 | 5 | Post covid syndrome | Fatigue has lifted! | F | 64 | 7 days 20mg 2X day | 5/26/2025 | 3 | Acid Reflux | The worst anxiety of my life ! At first I was fine but let me just say my panic attacks were the worst ever on this medication! Uncontrollable! Maybe two hours after I took it I started feeling this burst of energy and then it would come down and that's when I would start and feel my heart beating super fast. I was shaky I couldn't breathe and overwhelmed by panic, nausea as well! | F | 42 | 15 days 20mg 1X day | 4/4/2025 | 5 | 0 days 1X day | 10/4/2024 | 1 | GERD | I'm no longer taking this medication. Chills, unthinkable anxiety, panic attacks, interrupted sleep and nighttime sweating/anxiety, loss of appetite, tremors, hair loss, tinnitus, cold hands/feet/nose, constant heart palpitations. All of these are consistent with high histamine levels (or low thiamine levels from poor dietary choices, both are worth looking into). We've got to get to the root cause to correct these issues. Throwing a blanket over symptoms with medications is not the way to go anymore, clearly. | Pepcid is an H2 blocking *antihistamine*. All of these side effects are consistent with problems involving histamine regulation and the immune system, after years of constant aggravation from certain stimuli like gut infections (worsened by low stomach acid), mold/environmental toxins, poor diet, etc. By blocking histamine the body may also develop a 'tolerance', and release even more histamine to overcorrect, resulting in these crazy problems once the dose effectiveness is exceeded. Low B1 (Thiamine) is also worth looking into. In fact, I think it's a very likely culprit. Famotidine depletes thiamine stores due to impaired absorption. It explains all the weird symptoms, and why they come on much faster for some than others. | M | 27 | 1 years 40mg 1X AN | 7/26/2024 Patient History | 2 | Chronic uticaria | Loss of appetite, stomach pain, fatigue and mind fog, severe anxiety, depression, insomnia and panic attacks especially at night. And weirdly enough, his eyes ached. | Within 48 hours of stopping, his symptoms nearly resolved and were gone within a week. | M | 14 | 2 months 30 mg 1X day | 5/16/2024 | 1 | Gastritis | F | 32 | 40mg 1X day | 5/6/2024 Patient History | 2 | Gastritis | I'm no longer taking this medication. | M | 62 | 1 weeks 20 mg 1X day | 3/16/2024 Patient History | 1 | GERD | Extreme anxiety and restlessness, heightened energy (almost manic-like), facial flushing, bloodshot eyes, headache, rash-like splotches on my neck by my ears. | Had no idea these side effects could occur from an acid blocker that is also an OTC med. My research has shown that negative side effects like I've experienced are more common than what's indicated, and patients need to be counselled appropriately. Also, with these side effects, should it really be an OTC option?? | F | 40 | 3 days 20 mg 1X day | 3/14/2024 | 1 | Erosive esophagitis | I'm no longer taking this medication. | F | 69 | 20 mg 1X day | 3/12/2024 Patient History | 1 | Gerd | Abdominal pain, loss of appetite, excessive dry mouth. | After several months of being off I tried taking just 10 mg once a day. And abdominal pain started again after one week, loss of appetite, and mood swings. | F | 58 | 6 weeks 40mg 2X day | 2/2/2024 | 1 | GERD | INDESCRIBABLE anxiety, depression, cold extremities, tremors, zero appetite (and rapid weight loss), pins and needles, tinnitus, and more. All of these symptoms cropped up after starting back on inhaled corticosteroids for what I thought was returning asthma. Eliminated everything over the course of 3 months of feeling progressively more terrible until I realized that this was the last thing remaining, and that the problem was SYSTEMIC, hence why these horrible symptoms lingered for so long after discontinuation. Digestion and the gut biome are the MOST important. Antibiotics and crap like this that throw it out of balance are poison, full stop. It took three+ months of careful eating and rest to start feeling consistently well again. | This was the worst experience of my life, without contest; and that includes almost drowning, illnesses, bullying, stressful obligations, the works. I wrote a review almost a year ago and I'm pleased to say that I've been feeling fully well again, and only continue to improve. It took a ton of research and work (and the fact that people go through this, for that long, having to do all the work themselves, without help or honesty from doctors is criminal) But anyone who has experienced this "abyss" will understand what it means to desire freedom with ZERO faltering or compromise. Feel free to email me for support. | M | 26 | 4 years 20mgx2 1X AN | 12/9/2023 | 1 | Gastritis | Less than 2 weeks after starting this drug I noticed my eyelid started uncontrollably twitching. I've never had a problem with this so I found it very odd and somewhat concerning. The next day I woke up around 4 am and noticed my arms felt tingly and somewhat numb. The next day the eyelid twitching got worse. The next I woke up early with my arms numb again and my my neck and feet were tingly too. I panicked and went to the ER. They did all sorts of tests on my heart. It was all ok although my blood pressure was insanely high. They asked me if I started taking new medication and all I could think of was the new heartburn meds my allergist put me on. Initially I didn't think it could be the problem but then I started looking at these reviews and I'm now 90 percent sure that's the problem. I stopped it cold turkey. 3 days later and the symptoms seem to be very slowly lessening. I'm still waking up with panic attacks and morning bouts of diarrhea. Can anyone tell me how long this takes to leave your system. Thanks to the high dose the doctor put me on I'm thinking it may take awhile. | F | 47 | 17 days 40mg 2X day | 10/24/2023 | 1 | Gerd | I take several meds for bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety/panic disorder, high blood pressure, (11 meds a day most 3 times a day ) so I developed extreme heartburn/ Gerd - my doctor prescribed me 40 mg of Famotadine 2 x day every day. My mental health was doing well before I started this medication. It started slowly spiraling out of control. The anxiety and panic became horrific and unmanageable… and still is !! My blood pressure started becoming out of control again as well I became very argumentative and hateful towards my husband and family I even almost left my marriage at one point because I was so angry at him for what reason I have no idea ! I felt/ feel out of my mind and body I also have severe stomach pains and leg pains out of the blue The anxiety and panic also came out of the blue … it comes in waves out of nowhere. Debilitating honestly, I haven’t left my house in almost. Two months because of my panic attacks. I have been reading and researching and have came up with nothing until I found this page ! Complete strangers explaining the same symptoms and what a horrible experience they have had on this medication. I am going to bring this to my doctor asap and have her read it because I don’t want anyone else to go through what I have the past several months!! I took my last dose this morning and will NOT be taking it again! I am afraid of t | Doctors need to be informed about these horrific side effects of these heartburn medications before prescribing them ! And their patients as well before starting them as a daily medication so they can decide to take the risk or not ( especially mentall health patients like myself !!) They have destroyed my quality of life over the last 6 + months with no warnings or possibilities of what could happen. There should be a lawsuit against these companies and the doctors for their part in destroying my life ! | F | 44 | 4 months 20 mg 2X day | 10/24/2023 | 1 | heartburn, acid reflux | chill, insomnia, tingling | I recently had GERD. So I took Pepcid for 2 days only, 3 pills in total. I started to have anxiety the second day. I also had tingling sensation all over my body. At first, it subsided when I stood up and moved. Later, standing up doesn't make it go away. I had constant chills in my chest area. The symptoms stopped about 1 week after I stopped Pepcid. But 2 days later, it came back again. I'm so at lost. Is this expected? Has anyone experienced this before? It is extremely torturous. I haven't been able to sleep for the past 2 weeks. I don't think I can physically do it any more. If anyone has similar experience, please, please reach out and I would like to hear your experience and how it went. | M | 38 | 20mg 1X day | 10/6/2023 Patient History | 1 | Heartburn/GERD | Severe anxiety and headache, racing heart, muscle and body aches, impending doom and depression, shortness of breathe and aggression towards others. I'm sure I'm missing other important side effects that I don't recall. | Yes, Pepcid took away my heartburn and GERD symptoms temporarily. If you have issues with anxiety or panic attacks, DO NOT take this medicine. My anxiety and panic attacks were through the roof after taking this. I had the worst headache every time I took it. I experienced shortness of breathe and I felt like I was having an out of body experience (depersonalization). I also felt so much doom and gloom that I had to try and get ahold of myself.I was also lashing out at my family for no good reason, to a point of feeling angry. PLEASE do yourself a favor and stay away from these heartburn drugs. I can't stress this enough, the horrible side effects are not worth it! | M | 60 | 3 days 20 1X day | 10/6/2023 |
PEPCID (FAMOTIDINE): Famotidine is used to treat ulcers of the stomach and intestines and to prevent intestinal ulcers from coming back after they have healed. This medication is also used to treat certain stomach and throat (esophagus) problems (such as erosive esophagitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease-GERD, Zollinger-Ellison syndrome). It works by decreasing the amount of acid your stomach makes. It relieves symptoms such as cough that doesn't go away, stomach pain, heartburn, and difficulty swallowing. Famotidine belongs to a class of drugs known as H2 blockers. This medication is also available without a prescription. It is used to prevent and treat heartburn and other symptoms caused by too much acid in the stomach (acid indigestion). If you are taking this medication for self-treatment, it is important to read the manufacturer's package instructions carefully so you know when to consult your doctor or pharmacist. (Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare Services, FDA) FDA Approval Date: 1986-10-15