THE HEARTBURN PILL TRAP

It's one thing to go on Prilosec to tame heartburn and GERD. It's an entirely different thing to try to get off it.

- SEAN O'NEAL

FOR ME, there was life before Prilosec, and I wasn't sure there would ever be life after.

I had my first taste of acid reflux at age 12, after some particularly greasy school cafeteria fries. It was hot and sour, like someone squirted soap at the back of my throat. My mom gave me a Tums from her personal stash. By college I was chugging Maalox, stacking the empty bottles along my dorm-room windowsill like beer cans. It was funny to me, but my doctor had a more sobering take: I had all the telltale signs of gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, and I'd need to get it under control before it led to something even more serious, like ulcers or esophageal cancer. 

He prescribed me omeprazole.

It was as though a light switched on or, more accurately, like a tap shut off. Omeprazole is a proton pump inhibitor, or PPI, which blocks the enzymes in the stomach that produce acid. For someone like me, whose gut churns out acid like Nicolas Cage makes movies, PPIs can be a life changer. In 2003, when omeprazole went over the counter as Prilosec OTC, I started taking it daily.

PPIS, which also include Nexium, are prescribed as 14-day treatments-OTC versions say so right on the box. But the convenience of PPIs, along with their unparalleled ability to relieve heartburn, is enough to keep users like me coming back for years. Maybe even for life.

Unfortunately, that long-term usage might also lead to serious problems. The Food and Drug Administration warns that long-term PPI users have an increased risk of bone fractures and low magnesium levels, which can cause muscle spasms, seizures, and irregular heartbeat. Studies have linked PPIs to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, infections like C. difficile, depression, and dementia. Thousands of pending lawsuits accuse PPI makers of contributing to kidney disease, kidney failure, and wrongful death.