Lovaza Side Effects

Hate the fishy burps from Lovaza?

You’re not alone.

Lovaza side effects are similar to fish oil side effects. Actually, Lovaza side effects can be much worse than over-the-counter fish oil supplements. I’ll explain why below.

This article will help you understand:

1. Why these side effects occur
2. How you can prevent them

Everything you Need to Know About Lovaza, Prescription Fish Oil

Do you Need Prescription Fish Oil Pills? How Different is Prescription Fish Oil from Supplements? A Side-by-Side Comparison of Prescription Fish Oil (Lovaza) versus Pharmaceutical Grade Fish Oil Supplements Prescription Fish Oil vs. Supplements: A Dietitian’s Perspective

The makers of Lovaza have outlined all the side effects of Lovaza here. Fortunately, the side effects are not serious and always pass. But here is a quick summary.

Common Lovaza side effects:

• Burping
• Odor
• Mild stomach distress
• Gas and bloating

Less common side effects:

• Infection
• Flu-like symptoms (but not actually flu)
• Back pain
• Diarrhea

Most common Lovaza side effect: fishy burps

Burping is the most common side effect of fish oil. And it’s the same for Lovaza.

About 5% of patients reported it in pre-clinical trials. But just about everyone we’ve talked to including this author, experienced fishy burps.

Why is burping so bad with Lovaza?

1. FDA rules don’t allow addition of antioxidants to Lovaza’s fish oil. This makes the oil more likely to go rancid. Rancid oil, no matter how pure it originally was, makes for unpleasant burping.
2. Lovaza is not enteric-coated. Enteric coating will prevent the pill from dissolving in your stomach. Instead, it will stay intact until it reaches the intestines, where it will naturally dissolve. Once a pill is in your intestines, you cannot burp it back up – it is too far down the digestive tract.

Enteric coating will prevent most of the common Lovaza side effects. Fish oil’s too.

Lovaza is not available with an enteric coating.

I wish it were.

Especially for those of you suffering through the fishy burps. This is why Lovaza has worse side effects than, say, enteric coated, pharmaceutical grade fish oil.

The makers of Lovaza are working on an enteric-coated version, but that may take a few years.

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How to minimize Lovaza side effects:

1. Don’t eat all 4 pills at once. Take in 2 or 3 doses
2. Freeze the pills – this seems to help a few patients)
3. Take the pills with your meals
4. Take it just before you fall asleep
5. Don’t take Lovaza with coffee or soda

In the meantime, a rational alternative is to go with very-high-Omega-3 premium supplements like:

Totally shameless plug coming up!

• OmegaVia (sold on this website)
• Omax3
• Nordic Naturals
• Minami Nutrition

There are a couple of others brands that are quite good as well, but start with these four. They all provide 85% Omega-3 or more in their pills.

Retail fish oil pills from grocery or drug stores only have 30% Omega-3. DO NOT use regular fish oil as a generic alternative for Lovaza.

For now, the four brands above are the closest thing to generic Lovaza.

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About the Author: Vin Kutty is OmegaVia’s Scientific Advisor and Chief Blogger. He is a nutritionist, author, and Omega-3 expert with over 20 years of experience. When coffee’d up and fully inspired, he shares Omega-3 info-nuggets on Facebook and Twitter. Email him.

Filed under: Lovaza by Omegavia
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