What is the best meds to take for heartburn? Zantac, Prevacid, pepcid, prilosec, etc.?

Are you asking generally? Or rather, do you just want to know how to control heartburn after a spicy meal? Zantac and/or Maalox work best.

However, if you are a chronic heartburn sufferer with Acid Reflux Disease, then as a fellow GERD-slave who has been on several meds, let me break it down for you:

Prevacid - absolutely useless... I was on it for 5 months and it did nothing for me. It was expensive, it did nothing, and is now available in the antacid aisle at your local pharmacy. You can try it, but for me it was useless.

Aciphex - like Prevacid, this did NOTHING for me. It was a waste of time.

Expand this post...

Zantac - the classic OTC. Don't bother with Zantac 75, it's not powerful enough. Go for the mint-coated Zantac 150. It is the blue coated variety of this pill. The mint coating (mint actually diminishes GERD symptoms) is pleasant and the med works fairly well. However, Zantac is a short term solution... you will need 2 doses in one day, and even so, it won't last beyond a few short hours.

Nexium - The best GERD med I was ever on. However, the nausea side effects were so severe I dry vomited at least once a week. I had to stop taking it.

Dexilant - Like Nexium it is extremely effective, heals esophageal damage and aggressively shuts down your proton pump inhibitors (acid producers in the stomach). However, I have experienced severe abdominal pain on this medication. It is relatively new to market and may yet have long-term side effects that are unknown.

Of all of these, I recommend Nexium and Dexilant, but Nexium most of all. I hope that, if you do manage to get on Nexium, that you do not have severe side effects. Note that most Healthcare Providers do not recognize GERD as a significant disease, and thus Nexium will be very expensive. Dexilant, on the other hand, has a patient discount program wherein you may receive up to $55 off of your prescription.