Heartburn Meds

My doc has me on pantoprazole, but I still get horrible heart burn after I eat even less than 2-3 oz.  What heartburn med works for you?

Holly

I like Prilosec.

I'm on Nexium.

....Prevacid works for me, I use the prescribed dose of 30 mg, and usually take it only one time a week. I also use Tums and Rolaids, to boost my calcium and  magnesium levels...so that would be affecting mine as well.    I think you should try a different one since each of our bodies respond differently due to our own genetic and other influencing factors....also try to cut the amount of your meal to  half  the amount that induces stress, just increase the number of meals or increase your liquid proteins so that you get the prescribed amount of protein in....  listen andtake advantage of what your body is telling you.

How much are you taking and how many times a day? It may just be a question of dosage.

I am on omeprazole (generic for Prilosec).  I am only taking one, 20-mg. capsule a day.  Occasionally, I still get breakthrough GERD or heartburn, and take some leftover generic Pepcid Complete and/or generic Tums.  I have heard of others taking omeprazole at a higher dose +/or the 20 mg more often (such as twice a day).

20mg of prilosec is the over the counter dose, the prescription dose is 40mg.  You might want to either get a prescription for the 40mg strength and then if you have prescription coverage it will be paid for or you can take 2 at a time.  The other option is to take 1 - 2 times daily and this will probably stop the breakthrough GERD.

That is not true. The prescription dose for prilosec is whatever the doctor prescribes.  I had 20mg per day prescribed for years.  Now I take 20mg twice a day,  prescribed.  I get it prescribed simply because it's cheaper since I have insurance coverage for it.

The prescription is a good idea to save people money.  My pharmacy insurer luckily covers mine starting at the 20 mg dose, with Rx, prior approval, and a qualifying diagnosis (such as chronic GERD, since the over-the-counter use is supposed to be for occasional heartburn).  I am so glad my surgeon's office helped me in getting through the hoops to have this covered -- it is a big help.  I had thought about asking for a higher dose or frequency, but I decided to give it a little longer, and I haven't had the breakthrough for I think some months now, so I want to go with the lowest dose that works well enough, since I think side effects can increase with higher usage of this.  (The side effects I am thinking of are calcium loss, and, something I found out after I got diagnosed in June with the bacterial problem campylobacter, was that the PPIs can make us more susceptible to bad things in the guts that used to be killed by our stomach acid.  My bacterial illness luckily responded well to azithromycin.  Even if I am still more susceptible to future diarrheal illnesses, I find the benefit of the omeprazole worth it, since it gives me such good relief of GERD most of the time.)

I take the same medication - generic protonix.  IT works great for me.  Some people need to take it 2 times per day if your heartburn is bad enough. The other options are Nexium or Prevacid.

If the heartburn continues, you might want to be checked for an ulcer.  Try eating small frequent meals, you dont' want your stomach being empty.