Long Term Effects of Taking GERD Medications | Dr. Joshua T. Taylor, MD, FACS

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Are there any long term effects of taking GERD medications?

With the use of PPIs and H2 blockers, typically a 2 week course is what is recommended. Certainly by the FDA in terms of treatment for GERD symptoms and then stopping that. Most of these medications now have become over-the-counter. So that is the regimen that would typically be recommended on these over-the-counter PPIs or H2 blockers - is a 2 week treatment & then coming off of them to see if the GERD symptoms have resolved. If they have not resolved, typically, that would then require a patient to be under a doctor's treatment for a prolonged treatment with these medications.

There certainly are risks with taking these medications long term. Women are more at risk for developing things like osteoporosis, because calcium absorption can be affected by that. There's a little bit of a higher risk of developing things like infection, especially lung infections. And there are some concerns about developing the risk of other cancers long term as well.

It's an individual treatment plan for each patient with the physician. But that should really be under a physician's care.

Dr. Joshua T. Taylor, MD, FACS is a board certified general surgeon who specializes in advanced robotic surgery for thyroid disease, GERD symptoms, hernias and more. Learn more about Dr. Taylor with TSC Rutherford in Smyrna, TN at The Surgical Clinic by visiting https://thesurgicalclinics.com/tsc-rutherford/.

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