Has anyone used Ranitidine to help diagnose ulcers?

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Monkers

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As title really. I'm interested to see if it make a difference before going down the scoping and gastro guard route.
I think you can only buy 75mg tablets without a prescription. Would it be worth trying 12 tablets a day for a 550kg horse, or is the doseage just way too low to make a difference?
 
Years ago before ulcers were really understood and when scoping for them was virtually unheard of I was given ranitidine to try for a horse who showed many of the signs of ulcers. It definitely helped him but I can't remember the dosage he had to have. If you have an understanding vet they may be able to tell you how much you need.
 
thats approx 180 75mg tabs a day !! Thats £18 /day on OTC ranitidine would be better off with the Norbrook omeprazole thats about the same if bought online and used at the max rate.
 
But omeprazole & ranitidine work in different ways - one is a proton pump inhibitor & the other is an R2 receptor agonist... Often if one doesn't work, the other will.

Ome did nothing whatsoever for mine, but he responded strongly to ran within 3 days.

T x
 
I know what they are !!! usually you try omeprazole first but I got the impression the OP was looking for the cheaper route to diagnosis and I pointed out they were about the same cost wise. As you are no doubt aware each is used for different types of ulcers .Omeprazole is far more effective with gatsric ulcers and ranitidine with hindgut
 
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I didn't know of other medical conditions that could use this drug? My son was prescribed it for reflux years ago.

Hope that you get issue resolved soon.
 
Im filled with so much hope when i hear a couple of people say that omeprazole didnt work and ranitidine did :-) i really hope this is the case when i tryit next week! (3 months on omeprazole and stomache ulcers are worse!!)
 
My experience with ulcers was that I tried Rantacidine( bought online from Poland - high mg 75 I think) and I gave 7 in a chaff feed 4 times a day for 2 days. There was a slight improvement so I went ahead and had my horse scoped. You can use a cup of limestone flour similarly to test for ulcers instead of Rantacidine.

My horse had low grade stomach and a pyloric ulcer, he was treated with omeprazole and sucrulfate (sp) this combo is used I am told prolifically in the states with great success. The latter is for addressing hindgut ulcers. Omeprazole kills off the good gut bacteria and this should be reestablished via feeding green clay and chlorella. If you search on these you will find the 6 week regime that my holistic vet put my boy on with the doses etc. it's an important regime to follow.
 
Ranitidine is a very good drug, however if you are using 75mg tablets then a 550kg horse would need 44 tablets 3x day. Dosage is 6mg/kg every 8 hours.
 
That's interesting, popsdosh. Mine was scoped & had grade 2 pyloric - saw them myself as they record the scoping. GG did f-all - confirmed by rescope. I tried ran myself as vets pretty well just shrugged shoulders & weren't interested, & got a marked improvement. He is now just on AloeRide & I think his insides are working a lot better. His face now looks happy instead of strained & he's stopped kicking & biting. He's a funny one tho as he has 'slow' episodes lasting several months with no rhyme or reason, no change in mgmt., (lives at home with my other horse so I have total control), all tests 100% normal, then will have an upswing for a bit. We are currently having an upswing.

T x
 
The dose I initially gave to treat hind gut ulcers was 10 x 150mg tablets every 8 hours for a few weeks. Ranitidine only lasts a few hours in the system, so you have to give it more frequently than other medicines. From memory, this only worked out at approx £2 per day for the 30 daily tablets.

Once I'd seen significant improvement, I changed my boy onto a maintenance supplement to protect/coat the stomach lining ( a scoop of gastric comfort from feedmark twice daily in his usual feed works for him) plus I also give 10 x 150mg ranitidine approx 1.5 hours before I'm due to ride to help reduce acid production. A scoop of chaff and access to a hay before riding helps immensely too.

You're best to ask your vet what doseage he/she thinks is most appropriate for your horse. Certainly with over the counter ranitidine, the strongest is 75mg, so you'd have to double up on the amount I was advised to use. You'd actually probably be cheaper getting the stronger tablets from your vet.

I think a mistake many of us have made in the past once we've successfully treated ulcers is to let down our guard and think that's the problem gone. Unfortunately some horses seem prone to getting them and they can re-appear very quickly.
 
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