How long will I have to take the drugs for?

Many heartburn sufferers only need to take their treatment from time to time when the symptoms flare up.

For more severe reflux disease, you’ll need to take treatment more regularly to keep symptoms under control. The healing period can vary, depending on which drug is used and the severity of the inflammation.

If you have been treated for a peptic ulcer with triple therapy and you become symptom-free, no further treatment is necessary. However, if your symptoms remain, further investigations may be necessary.

Patients with oesophagitis or peptic ulcers that come back quickly after stopping treatment, are often advised to remain on specific drugs for a long period or indefinitely.

If you need to take NSAIDs long term for arthritis but have a tendency to develop NSAID-induced ulcers, you are likely to be prescribed an acid-suppressing therapy, such as a PPI, on a long term basis.