Angel, I was taking a proton pump inhibitor...Prilosec...for seven years and ended up with osteoporosis. If you take these for long periods of time, this can happen. This medication stops the little pumps in your stomach from producing acid so you have very little acid in your body to break down what you are taking and eating. I wasn't able to absorb all the calcium I had been taking...along with everything else. I stopped the Prilosec last fall and now take Pepcid AC and I also use Tums to help out. I also watch what I eat...rarely eat fried foods, acidic foods, etc. The Pepcid AC works differently and is not a proton pump inhibitor.
I'm glad you found this out. I've mentioned this before on the forum but didn't go into a good explanation of it. If you need a medication like this (Prilosec, Prevacid, Nexium, Protonix) sit down and talk to your doctor about it. The FDA is ready to put a black box warning on these for long term use.
Sherrine