The NHS has an important alert for anyone taking pantoprazole for heartburn or acid reflux. The health service's official website provides a wealth of information on hundreds of medications, including vital warnings people need to be aware of if they are taking certain types.

Like omeprazole and lanzoprazole, pantoprazole is a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) that reduces the amount of acid in your stomach. This medicine is used to help treat problems such as gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD), indigestion, and peptic ulcers.

Heartburn is very common in the UK, impacting about one in four adults, which means millions of people. Research shows that around 10% of people in the UK experience heartburn every week. For many, it happens often, sometimes even every day, and is usually linked to GORD.

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As people get older, the risk of heartburn increases, and it often becomes a long-term problem. Some usual reasons for this are eating a lot of fatty foods, being overweight, being pregnant, smoking, and drinking alcohol.

Pantoprazole is a commonly used prescription-only medicine (POM), though some lower-strength options can be found at pharmacies. It can take up to four weeks to see the full results, but many people start to feel better in just two to three days.

Sometimes, pantoprazole is used for a rare issue caused by a tumour in the pancreas or gut known as Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. Pantoprazole is typically available as a tablet. You can get it with a prescription after speaking to your doctor.

People can also purchase lower-strength 20mg tablets at pharmacies to help with heartburn or acid reflux in adults. However, anyone buying this PPI over the counter should be aware of the NHS' warning.

The NHS warns: "If you've bought pantoprazole without a prescription and your symptoms do not improve after two weeks, see a doctor before taking any more." It adds: "If your symptoms have improved, you can take it for another two weeks.

"Do not take it for more than four weeks without talking to your doctor. They may want to do tests or change you to a different medicine." It's really important to stick to the two-week limit for over-the-counter pantoprazole, as it's meant only for short-term relief of reflux symptoms.

If your symptoms keep coming back, you need to see a doctor to find out what's really going on, since using it for too long on your own can hide more serious health problems or cause side effects. Using it for a long time can cover up symptoms of more serious problems like stomach cancer or serious damage to the oesophagus.

Most people who use pantoprazole don’t experience any side effects. This medicine doesn’t have common side effects. However, rare side effects that occur in fewer than one in 100 people can include headaches, diarrhoea, feeling sick or being sick, constipation, a dry mouth, or feeling tired.

If you do experience a side effect, it’s usually mild and will disappear once you stop taking pantoprazole. If a side effect bothers you or doesn’t go away, make sure to talk to a doctor or pharmacist.

The NHS also says: "If you take pantoprazole for more than three months, the levels of magnesium in your blood may fall. This can make you feel tired, confused and dizzy and cause muscle twitches, shakiness and an irregular heartbeat. Call your doctor or call 111 if you get any of these symptoms.

"Taking pantoprazole for more than a year may increase your risk of certain side effects, including bone fractures, gut infections, and vitamin B12 deficiency – symptoms include feeling very tired, a sore and red tongue, mouth ulcers, and pins and needles. If you take pantoprazole for longer than one year, your doctor will regularly check your health to see if you should carry on taking it."