The Importance of taking your treatment correctly
It is important for you to take your treatment according to your condition. This
will be advised by your doctor. In principle, this will generally involve an initial
treatment course to bring your symptoms under control and/or heal your condition,
as well as you starting appropriate lifestyle changes. Once started, lifestyle changes
should be maintained, and if your symptoms still persist it may be necessary for
you to continue with your treatment long term in a manner agreed between you and
your doctor.
Peptic ulcer treatment
If you have had a positive test for the ulcer-causing H. pylori bacteria, and have
been prescribed 'triple therapy' (see the "H. pylori positive" section on this page), it is very important
that you take the course of treatment correctly. It is essential that you complete
the course, even if you start to feel better shortly after starting your treatment,
as it is important that all the bacteria are killed.
Most people become free of symptoms following successful completion of a triple
therapy course and require no further treatment.
However if symptoms persist, despite it having been confirmed that the H. pylori
bacteria has gone, and after appropriate lifestyle changes have been made, you may
well be advised to remain on specific treatment for the longer term.
Reflux treatment
The majority of heartburn sufferers will quickly have their symptoms brought under
control by their first course of treatment. Thereafter, this group of patients are
only likely to need to take their treatment from time to time when symptoms flare
up. This should be discussed and agreed with their doctor and tied in with long
term lifestyle changes.
However, patients with more severe reflux disease may have to take an initial ‘healing’
course of treatment for up to 8 weeks. Often, regular, long term treatment will
be necessary in order to keep symptoms under control.
NSAID-induced ulcer treatment
If you have an NSAID-induced ulcer and must unavoidably continue to take an NSAID,
it is likely that your doctor will firstly prescribe you an ulcer healing course
of acid suppressant treatment, usually a PPI. Once your ulcer is healed it is likely
that you will be advised to stay on a lower ‘maintenance’ dose long term to prevent
ulcers coming back.
In summary:
- Overall it is important that you take your treatment as advised by your doctor with
your agreement.
- It is particularly important in more severe cases to take your long term treatment
on a regular basis, as recommended by your doctor, in order to prevent future serious
complications.
- It is also important that you remain faithful to the lifestyle changes which have
helped you to control your disorder.