If your doctor has prescribed a heartburn medication, it’s important to use it exactly as prescribed in order to get the greatest benefit. For many people with frequent or severe heartburn symptoms, this could mean taking the medication regularly every day, not just when they have symptoms.
If your symptoms are mild (<3 times per week), you may consider discussing "on-demand therapy" with your doctor. This means taking the medication for a few days when you need it for symptoms, and not taking the medication when you don’t have symptoms. In this case, H2-receptor blockers are usually the drugs of choice due to their rapid onset of action (amount of time it takes for a drug to start working). People with more frequent symptoms will need to continue taking their medication regularly each day.
Frequent heartburn is a symptom of a medical condition called GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). Taking a medication that provides acid suppression can help resolve your symptoms and heal damage, but it won’t make GERD go away.
It’s so important to keep taking your heartburn medication exactly as your doctor recommends. If you have any questions about whether your treatment is working for you, how to use your treatment, or how long you may need to continue treatment, talk to your doctor.
All material copyright MediResource Inc. 1996 – 2026. Terms and conditions of use. The contents herein are for informational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Source: www.medbroadcast.com/healthfeature/gethealthfeature/Heartburn-What-To-Expect-From-Treatment