Additional Information
Heartburn, reflux, indigestion, and sour stomach are a few of the common terms used to describe digestive upset. Self-diagnosis of indigestion does carry some risk because the causes can vary from a minor dietary indiscretion to a peptic ulcer. The pain and symptoms of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, GERD or simply "reflux", may mimic those of a heart attack. Misdiagnosis can be fatal. A bleeding ulcer can be life threatening. GERD, and pre-ulcerative conditions in the stomach are treated much more aggressively since both, if untreated, could lead to oesophageal or stomach cancer. It is primarily for this reason that the histamine H2 antagonists including cimetidine (Tagamet), famotidine (Pepcid), and ranitidine (Zantac), and the proton pump inhibitor (PPI) omeprazole (Prilosec) were made OTC. These drugs stop production of stomach acid and provide longer lasting relief but they do not neutralize any stomach acid already present in the stomach. For example, Pepcid Complete includes calcium carbonate in its formulation, allowing it a faster onset of action.
Read more about this topic: Antacid
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