Nobody likes encountering heartburn – we all want the burning sensation to end as quickly as it can. Most of us would trust our first instinct and make a mad dash to the pharmacy to get ourselves a bottle of over-the-counter antacid to get rid of the burning pain.

This may be an understandable reaction, but antacids aren’t always the best solution to heartburn. In fact, there are times when you could go through a whole box of antacids before experiencing that much-needed relief – albeit for just a few minutes.

Furthermore, you wouldn’t want to trust antacids as any sort of remedy for gastroesophageal disease, or GERD – this is worse than any heartburn you may be used to experiencing. If you’ve been using antacids for long periods of time, then you may want to watch for the side effects that often plague antacid users. These include diarrhea and kidney problems due to the magnesium they retain from the excessive antacid use. H2 blockers, on the other hand, are a much-recommended alternative to conventional antacids.

H2 blockers are also over-the-counter, but they last a bit longer. One of the drawbacks is that instead of instant heartburn relief like antacids provide, H2 blockers may take half an hour or longer. And this would be through cutting down on the stomach’s production of acids. Also, there are side effects, just like there would be with most other medicines – these include diarrhea, vomiting, constipation and/or vomiting. If you’re a GERD sufferer, then you’ll need stronger treatment, since they don’t prevent heartburn on a long-term basis.

Which leads us to the next topic, which would be treatment through proton pump inhibitors. What’s good about proton pump inhibitors, or PPIs, is that they totally eliminate the production of acid in your stomach, and not just cut down on it. This is perfect for GERD sufferers – no longer do you have to make do with antacids that won’t work anyway – PPIs give that much-longed-for sensation of quality relief. However, there have been some weird after-effects to PPIs. In the December 2006 issue of the Journal of the American medical Association, they connected the use of proton pump inhibitors to hip fractures. The studies also associated PPIs with increased chances of suffering from pneumonia.

Always make sure you seek the advice of a health care professional to assess the severity of your heartburn symptoms. These medications may all have their advantages in curing heartburn, GERD and its symptoms, but all of them come with risks you need to be aware of.

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