pains starts with the long run motive of getting cured. From mild to severe cases of heartburn your doctor or pharmacist may have prescribed the drugs for you or you may have bought it at your local pharmacy shop as over-the-counter medication for heartburn treatment. What you may not have known is that there are several types of heartburn medicines for different degree and the duration of heartburn. You may not have also understand how this medications work, their general effect on your gastrointestinal tract or body system. In this article you will find out the types and know more about them, which I believe will help you to seek for better options for curing your heartburn.
Frequent and severe heartburn is the most common manifestation of acid reflux, indigestion and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and may also be a sign of other underlying disease such as peptic ulcer disease (PUD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), hiatal hernia and others. So it is best to seek the advice of a doctor before resulting to taking heartburn medicine. Normally the first option to curing heartburn starts from using home remedies for heartburn which include lifestyle changes, diet switch and natural remedies.
Types of OTC medicine use to treat occassional and mild heartburn are: Antacids, histamine
receptor antagonist (HRA) OTC, and the proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) OTC.
These medications are classified in order of their effectiveness ranging from the antacids to the PPI which are most effective, but with more side effect. They are used to neutralize or reduce the stomach acid (thus, also called Acid Reducers) and prevent their build up in other to curb their backing up into the food pipe - esophagus through the lower esophagal sphincter (LES), where they usually cause the heartburn pain.
Heartburn Medicine: Group 1 - Antacids.
The antacids are known to provide instant relief from occassional and mild heartburn. Their effect is usually short lived about 30 minutes to 2 hours. They may be liquid (in the form of suspension) or solid which are chewable however, the liquid work faster than tablets form. The antacids neutralize stomach acid in other to produce heartburn relief caused by indigestion or GERD. Some, such as Pepto-Bismol coat the esophagus acting as a barrier between the lining of the esophagus and stomach acid.They don't usually cause serious side effects (contraindications) but they can occur when taken in
excess, overuse or abuse. Side effect usually include diarrhea, stomach cramps, changes in bowel movement and others depending on your body system. Therefore, you should take antacids exactly as directed by your doctor or by following the label on the package.
Examples of antacids include:
- Gaviscon
- Alka-Seltzer
- Polygel
- Gelusil
- Milk of Magnesia
- Maalox
- Pepto-Bismol.
Heartburn Medicine: Group 2 - Histamine receptor antagonist (HRA) OTC.
Histamine receptor antagonist (HRA) OTC or H2 blocker function to reduce stomach acid hence also classified as acid reducers. Histamine is a chemical in the body that is involve in proper digestion of food. It stimulates the production of acid after meal, consequently H2 blocker are taken to suppress their effect thereby reducing the quantity of acid produce in the stomach.
H2 blocker can actually relief heartburn and help cure reflux but this is most likely to occur if you have never treated heartburn before and it's still in the mild case. At bedtime, they can be taken to reduce night time stomach acid production and heartburn.
Examples of HRA OTC are:
- Axid AR
- Zantac 75
- Tagamet HB
- pepcid AC
Heartburn Medicine: Group 3 - Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI) OTC.
PPIs OTC med work by blocking and reducing the production of stomach acid. Their action as stomach acid reducers is more pronounced and last longer than others. They are the most effective medication available in terms of reduction in stomach acid secretion.
Some of the PPIs that are available at your local medicine store which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved as over-the-counter drugs in treating frequent or severe heartburn and acid reflux symptoms occurring more than 2 times in a week are:
- Prevacid 24HR (lansoprazole),
- Prilosec OTC (omeprazole),
- Zegerid OTC (omeprazole and sodium bicarbonate).
They are intended to be taken in not more than a period of 14 days (2 weeks) and in lower doses; and not more than 3 times a year. The best time to take PPIs is usually an hour before meal time.
Their side effect can also include headache, bloating (feeling of being full), constipation, diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, flatulence, and very high risk of bacterial infection and bone fracture.
What we have learn about OTC medication use in treating acid relux
The OTC first regime of treatment of heartburn due to acid reflux, indigestion or GERD using medication is antacids. If symptoms persist, H2 blockers are use for mild and occasional cases, then progress to using PPI OTC for severe cases.
All these types of medication poses different side effects. Infact, people with kidney disease are advice not to take antacid except by doctor recommendation.
A safer way of getting rid of heartburn at the onset without side effect is by using simple home remedies for heartburn which include lifestyle change, diet switch, losing weight and stop smoking.
Please contact your doctor if you must use heartburn medicine to treat your acid reflux.
