The ‘relief’ you’ll get from this type of med can come at a very high price.

The sinister reason your heartburn keeps getting worse

It’s called “The trampoline effect.”

And if you’re taking any medication — prescription or OTC — for your heartburn, you’ve probably already suffered from it.

Studies have shown that taking proton pump inhibitors for as little as a month — and then stopping — can cause “rebound acid hypersecretion.” That means your stomach starts making even more acid than it ever did before.

So of course, you start taking them again! And that’s just the kind of drug Big Pharma loves, the lifetime med you can never get off of.

“These drugs are habit-forming, dangerous and overprescribed, but the FDA hasn’t properly warned consumers.” That’s what Dr. Sidney Wolfe, founder of Public Citizen said about proton pump inhibitors.

If the name doesn’t sound familiar, just think “Purple Pill,” or Nexium, Prilosec or Zegerid.

Public Citizen never heard back from the FDA about its 2011 petition to have a black box warning put on their labels. So now it’s suing the agency to force a response.

And of all the terrible side effects these drugs have, one stands out as the most bizarre. It’s what can happen when you try to get off them.

Besides a black box warning about acid rebound, Public Citizen asked the FDA to make the drug companies include a patient “Medication Guide.” It also wants a “Dear Doctor” letter to go out to make sure your doctor is aware of this awful side effect.

The group has also called for OTC versions to have “equivalent, prominent warnings.” That way, the type you grab at the 7-11 won’t look so innocent anymore.

In addition, Public Citizen has asked for that black box warning to list three more serious side effects. These are risks anyone who takes these meds needs to know about:

• Serious infections, including pneumonia and C. diff. That’s an infection that causes watery diarrhea that can occur up to 15 times a day and can be life threatening.
• Severe magnesium deficiencies that can cause a deadly cardiac arrhythmia, and
• Fractures of the hip, spine and wrist.

Some of these warnings already come with different Rx versions of these drugs. But you won’t find them on the OTC products. And it sure doesn’t look like the FDA is in any hurry to display them all in a place where they’re sure to be noticed.

Dr. Wolfe said that the Public Citizen petition is “urgent” because without “these additional, serious warnings,” the use of PPI drugs will increase. And the worst part, he said, is that “large numbers of patients” didn’t need to take them in the first place.

The FDA will no doubt respond to the recent lawsuit. It has to by law. But it doesn’t seem likely to require that black box warning the group is asking for.

Because if it did, it would finally be admitting how very dangerous these drugs are — and have been all along.

Sources:
“Public Citizen sues FDA for failing to take action on petition concerning dangerous proton pump inhibitors” April 30, 2014, Public Citizen, citizen.org