Patient/caregiver was educated on the precautions to be observed while taking omeprazole as follows:
- Take the medication dose at the same time, every day, an hour or two before food, to avoid forgetting the intake of medication. Taking omeprazole with a small snack, can help avoid unpleasant gastrointestinal side-effects, such as, nausea and vomiting.
- Omeprazole intake can sometimes result in lupus erythematosus, when patients present with diffuse skin rashes. Patients can also present with other constitutional symptoms of fever, headache, pain and inflammation of various joints. Report these findings to your physician immediately.
- Observe compliance with recommendations for GERD diet. Omeprazole intake with dietary recommendation compliance can help with preventing exacerbation of reflux esophagitis and GERD. Smokers observing compliance with recommendation for smoking cessation and obese or overweight individuals observing compliance with recommendation for weight loss can contribute significantly to preventing exacerbation of GERD episodes.
- Continue taking it as ordered, even if your symptoms of heartburn and acid reflux are under control. Discontinuing the medication abruptly can lead to recurrence of the symptoms.
