Esomeprazole 20mg & 40mg Tablets

Esomeprazole 20mg and 40mg tablets cost £18.99 for 28, £28.99 for 56 and £38.99 for 84. Every price includes your online consultation and prescription, with no separate consultation fee.

Esomeprazole 20mg tablets or capsules (such as Nexium Control) can be bought from pharmacies and shops by adults aged 18 and over to treat heartburn for up to 14 days. The esomeprazole 20mg and 40mg tablets we supply are prescription-only, and you need a prescription to take esomeprazole for longer, at 40mg or for conditions such as ulcers.

Esomeprazole treats acid reflux and heartburn (GORD), heals and prevents inflammation of the food pipe (reflux oesophagitis), heals and prevents ulcers caused by anti-inflammatory painkillers, and treats Helicobacter pylori infection – usually for 7 days alongside two antibiotics.

Take one tablet a day, with or without food, swallowed whole with water – do not crush or chew it. If you find tablets hard to swallow, check your patient leaflet: many brands can be dispersed in half a glass of still water (no other liquids), stirred until it breaks up and drunk within 30 minutes, then the glass rinsed with more water and drunk.

You should start to feel better within a few days. To heal oesophagitis, a course is usually 4 weeks, with a further 4 weeks if needed. For longer-term use, your prescriber will aim for the lowest effective dose – or taking it only when needed – and review it regularly, because long-term PPI use is linked to low magnesium, low vitamin B12, bone fractures and gut infections.

Common side effects include headache, stomach pain, diarrhoea, constipation, wind and feeling sick. Harmless stomach polyps can also develop. Tell your prescriber if you get a rash on sun-exposed skin with joint pain, yellow skin or dark urine, severe or persistent diarrhoea, or symptoms of low magnesium such as muscle cramps or a fast heartbeat.

Do not take esomeprazole if you are allergic to it or similar medicines (such as omeprazole), or if you take the HIV medicines nelfinavir or rilpivirine. It is not recommended with atazanavir. Esomeprazole should be avoided with clopidogrel unless essential – a different PPI is usually used instead. Tell your prescriber if you take warfarin, methotrexate, digoxin, tacrolimus, cilostazol, citalopram, diazepam, phenytoin, ketoconazole or itraconazole, erlotinib, or St John's wort.

Esomeprazole is a closely related form of omeprazole. At usual doses, PPIs work about as well as each other for most people. Your prescriber will recommend the one that suits you.

There is less information about esomeprazole in pregnancy than about omeprazole, so omeprazole is usually recommended instead. The esomeprazole licence advises against using it while breastfeeding, so omeprazole is usually preferred. Speak to your prescriber or GP if you are pregnant, trying for a baby or breastfeeding.

If you have taken it for more than a few weeks, stopping suddenly can cause rebound acid, where symptoms temporarily come back worse. Your prescriber may suggest reducing the dose gradually or taking it only when needed. See our guide to stopping PPIs.

Call 999 or go to A&E if you are vomiting blood or have black, tarry stools, or have sudden chest pain that does not go away. See a GP urgently if you have difficulty swallowing, unexplained weight loss or persistent vomiting, or are 55 or over and have lost weight along with indigestion, reflux or upper tummy pain. Also see a GP if your symptoms have not improved after 4 weeks of treatment.