Acid Reflux Medications

Today there are a wide variety of acid reflux medications that provide relief from the pain and suffering caused by this widespread medical condition. Which ever treatment plan you choose to implement, please make sure you select one and follow through with it because the consequences of not doing so can affect your health for the remainder of your life.

Below you will find the most popular treatments used today. Each one of these has there advantages and disadvantages. Double blind medical studies have determined that the results received by the patients who try these medications can vary greatly. Therefore, if you find what you are presently using is not working for you, do not be afraid to try something different which hopefully will be more effective.

I personally prefer the natural approach and have been very successful with the "Acid Reflux Diet". Since the vast majority of acid reflux, heartburn, indigestion and GERD is directly related to the food you eat, making slight adjustments in your diet can end your reliance on medications or drugs to you help control the pain.

Antacids – Antacids like Tums, Maalox and Rolaids are the most popular treatment used today and they are available virtually any place you might go. There effectiveness is marginal at best and they are extremely expensive, especially when compared to the dietary supplement mentioned earlier. They certainly are not a long term solution to any acid reflux sufferer problems.

Over-the-counter-medicines - The most popular of these medications are Pepto Bismol and Carafate. They function by coating the stomach and esophagus, but unfortunately once the coating wears off so does the pain relief. They really should only be used by people who rarely experience acid reflux or heartburn.

Anti-gas or anti-flatulence – These are used by people that experience pressure and bloating when they get heartburn. The most popular of these are Phazyme, Gas-X and Beano.

H-2-receptor blockers – For many years these drugs could only be acquired with a prescription from a physician, but they now can be obtained in a reduced strength form over the counter. They work by shutting off the production of acid in the stomach.

Which is great for short term pain relief, unfortunately most people will need to eat again. When you have your next meal your stomach has not been creating stomach acid as it would normally for hours, so it needs to go into over-drive generating acid to digest the food you are presently consuming.

This means you will end up in the same situation before you took the first pill and will have too much acid in your stomach that will eventually be refluxed up to your esophagus and the pain will return. This starts the never ending downward spiral once again and your life long dependence on these drugs. After your meal you will need relief once more and have to reach for another tablet and shut down you stomachs ability to produce acid once again.

Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs) – These are relatively new medications and the long term affects on the patients that used them have not been determined yet. The most popular of these are Nexium Prilosec and Prevacid. They also block acid production in the stomach, which again is great for short term pain relief but detrimental to your long term health.