OK, I've had an occasional heartburn incident every so often when I was younger, but recently I've had episodes that were unbearable (as in I was up for an hour and a half dealing with this last night.) And the frequency of them has increased. So for those of you that have dealt with heartburn issues, what do you recommend? I'd prefer an OTC, but if a prescription one is by far better, I may consider it. Thanks.
you are sure it isn't actually, like, your heart right? If it is that serious go see a gastroenterologist
When this happened to me, I took note of my diet, kept a record of my heartburn flare-ups, and started changing my diet slightly until I zeroed in on some things that seems like culprits. I was like you, a couple through my life before this, and then suddenly it was frequently/constantly for a week at a time or even more. In the end, I changed three things. 1) tried to relax and not sweat the small stuff as much, even though I didn't think I was sweating the small stuff that much before. 2) reduced my consumption of very spicy foods (certain peppers), and tomato sauce (mainly pepperoni pizza). and the big one 3) stopped drinking so much gatorade. This is the one that seemed to snap me out of it. YMMV.
not my thing, but my friend found that when she got older, she just had to quit the spicy foods except on much more rare occasions. And she used to eat the hell out spicy stuff.. just a change in body chemistry or whatever
I eat really clean and I still have heartburn issues, I tried Prilosec OTC and it worked great in the short term.. After being on Prilosec for about six months I would get dizzy or light headed so I quit the Prilosec and and my doctor tried Aciphex.. Aciphex did little to nothing for my heartburn so he switched me to 40mg of Nexium a day, I have been on this stuff for almost two years now and I haven't had any side effects.. Unfortunately it is the the most expensive out of all the drugs even with insurance, but for me it's well worth it.. Also, with all these medicines they will not work on demand if you have a sudden bout with heartburn, they need to be in your system for a few days to have any effect..
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booze and fatty foods send me over the edge. Zantac is my answer. ALWAYS works, and you can get a generic version at wally world or any drug store or grocery store. I'd totally have to live healthy if it weren't for Zantac..........it guarantees me an early grave.
I've been dealing with this for a while, too. I have to take something if I think I'm going to have a beer. For some reason, if I drink a beer w/o having taken something, I get this extreme pressure in my stomach/chest like I have to let out the world's biggest burp...but it never comes. It's excruciating. Otherwise, I get heartburn pretty easily now w/o taking something. I've been taking OTC Omeprazole (generic Prilosec) for quite some time. It does the trick on a daily basis. I do need to get back to the doctor, though, because this has become a daily thing and it's really starting to piss me off.
Dietary changes and Zantac 150 FTW. I had heartburn so bad last year, that it made me incredibly nauseous and I actually had to go to an emergency clinic. Ever since then, if I'm about to eat something particulary greasy or acid-inducing, I pop a Zantac pre-emptively. It helps a lot. You'd also be surprised at what foods induce heavy amounts of stomach acid. One shocker to me was tomatoes.
Start taking a 2 to 4 pill dose of Alfalfa after each meal, and before bed. You can find it on the vitamin aisle. A gastroenterologist's nurse gave us the tip. It works wonders on the natural side of things. Thank me later. If that doesn't begin working to heal your stomach, I have found through research (the hard way) that cutting back on sauces, i.e. ranch, bbq, honey mustard, etc. helps to tone it down. If you still cannot find relief from the Alfalfa dietary supplement and diet modification, prilosec OTC works pretty well. I per 24 hours for 14 days. I got mine under control with it, then keep it maintained with the Alfalfa. Costco has a Kirkland Signature brand of this (Omeprazole) at about 1/3 the price, fwiw.
I noticed when I was on a high fat / low carb diet that my occasional heartburn incidences went away.
a highly tannic red wine is probably the worst for me. I've realized lately that I've been drinking more beer or Scotch or Irish Whiskey. I've got several hundred bottles of wine in my closet, and I can't remember the last time I tasted wine. Sad.
Oh ya........forgot to mention (and of course, your mileage may vary), but I gave Prilosec a good shot (took it for the full two weeks), and it just didn't help me NEAR as much as taking Zantac when needed.
It works, but only one of the two worked, so I flip back and forth, plus I started Chantix 9 days ago. Time will tell.
Never ever take meds.. those are fake and could damage your health more. I had 3 diffrent prescription from my eent, prilosec, nexium , forgot the other one and it made my condition worse. now i can't eat spicy food because my throat is always inflamed. Avoid OILY food. that's what triggers reflux. So far the best medicide if you are tempted to eat oily food before goin gto bed, take a teaspoon of applie-cider vinegar ( organic ).
