I have posted in the pain management forum, but not in this one yet. I've been having bad neck and shoulder and shoulder blade pain on the right side for a few months. I have been taking Protonix since May, 40mgs once every evening. Because I'm not getting relief with chiropractic care or anything else for that matter, I started thinking about medication and side effects. The protonix s the only thing that could possibly be the culprit. I went off of it two days ago, took omaprazole instead, and have had a 50% reduction in the pain. Has anyone else experienced this. I am reluctant to mention it to the doctor because I'm afraid he will dismiss it. I want to be sure before I talk to him. I've never had burning in my chest, and only true reflux symptoms once or twice. My problem was chest pain. And when tests revealed no heart problems, they assumed reflux. The protonix helped the chest pain, so I assumed they were right and was grateful for the relief. But now I have questions. I'm also a few months off of pain meds so it's possible that the side effects were there all along and being masked by the pain meds. Look, I know doctors have their pat answers, but in my 54 years of experience, anything is possible. My 93 year old mother-in-law almost died from some of her medications. She couldn't keep anything in her system. When she got herself off of some of the drugs, she got better and is amazingly strong again. We have to be our own advocates these days. Thanks for any help.