Drug Class: What is Prilosec and why is it prescribed?

Generic Prilosec 10 mg is prescribed for the short-term treatment (4 to 8 weeks) of stomach ulcer, duodenal ulcer (near the exit from the stomach), and erosive esophagitis (inflammation of the esophagus), and for the treatment of heartburn and other symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (backflow of acid stomach contents into the canal leading to the stomach).

Generic Prilosec 10 mg is also used to maintain healing of erosive esophagitis and for the long-term treatment of conditions in which too much stomach acid is secreted, including Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, multiple endocrine adenomas (benign tumors), and systemic mastocytosis (cancerous cells). Combined with the antibiotic clarithromycin (Biaxin) (and sometimes with the antibiotic amoxicillin as well), Generic Prilosec 10 mg is also used to cure patients whose ulcers are caused by infection with the germ H. pylori.