If you have GERD, your doctor may have prescribed preventative treatments like proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), H2 blockers, or antacids. However, if you’ve ever read the labels on these medications, you may have noticed that they don’t recommend use for longer than a couple of weeks. Furthermore, long-term use of some of these medications can have some serious side effects.
Read MorePPIs include such brand names as Prilosec, Prevacid, Protonix, and Nexium, and they are used very frequently because they are generally effective and most patients don’t experience side effects. Short-term side effects of PPIs can include headaches, nausea, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal discomfort.
However, as with most medications, even if the patient does not experience any short-term side effects, there can be side effects that occur with long-term use of the drug. These long-term side effects may be serious, and recent research has looked more closely at the dangers of PPIs that can accompany chronic usage of this class of drugs.
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