with acid reflux worse. I use tums on occasion. My doctor didn't seem to happy about my decision since I have other medicines that I take also on a daily basis. I wasn't sure if it was a drug interaction. I would like to stay away from prescription medicine b/c of my health issues. Acid reflux seems like it is getting worse now. Does anyone know of any other options that help with the acid reflux other then tums? Not sure if it is enough. I seem to have acid reflux more often.
Nancybreeze
I was prescribed ranitidine for acid reflux and stopped taking it. I felt like it made my symptoms?
- Asked
- 26 Jan 2014 by nancybreeze
- Updated
- 21 November 2018
- Topics
- tums, ranitidine, gerd, doctor, medicine, prescription, symptom
Details:
Added 27 Jan 2014:
some of the other meds are for pain relief, oxycodone, fentanyl patch 25mcg, diazapam, flovent diskus, allergy shots, prolia (for bone density) every 6mos. Newest medicine is the prolia.
I think I might have to find another doctor if this gets worse but was trying over the counter and any suggestions that might help with a solution.
Thanks for taking the time to write in.
Nancybreeze
Responses (6)
kaismama
26 Jan 2014
There are a few otc meds for acid reflux. Don't forget that otc things can interact with your other meds too so you would need to tell us what you take if you want to know interactions.
Sabrina1234
27 Jan 2014
Ranitidine is another name for Zantac , ask you doctor but you can take 300 mg twice a day of ranitidine . If that is not working try pepcid it is also called famotidine . It is an h2 blocker like ranitidine , strong and has less drug interaction , but (call your dr.) I think your stuck for life , I take famotidine 20 mg twice a day for 2years now that's life I hope you find relief !!!
Emeraldgirl
27 Jan 2014
Hello Nancy - I can understand why your Dr is not happy about you stopping your medication for GERD, as complications such as esophagitis, ulcers and a rarer and more serious complication of GERD is cancer developing inside the esophagus (don’t mean to scare you and it is rare). Antacids such as tums only help mild to moderate cases of GERD and they should not be taken at the same time as other medicines because they can stop other medicines from being properly absorbed into your body. They may also damage the special coating on some types of tablets causing the special coating to break down too early, causing the drug to be released in the stomach instead of in the intestines. Ranitidine can also do this, ask your GP or pharmacist for advice. Thus as KM said without knowing what other medications you are on your worsening condition could be due to an interaction with your other medications. There are alternatives to Ranitidine which work differently.
OMPEACEFUL
8 Jan 2017
I have used antidepressants, Rx& OTC pain relievers w/ Ranitidine for 20 years but have finally been able to stop (YEAH!) since my doctor prescribed Pancreatic enzymes (Zenpep.)
Now I only occasionally need TUMS when I eat spicy foods.
I have also been treating for leaky gut symptoms for six months by following Dr. Josh Axe's protocol making smoothies with powdered bone broth & taking his soil based probiotic & glutathione supplements.
Steele1
24 Feb 2018
I have taken 2 pills of ranitidine and it has given me diarrhea bad. Not taking anymore. I was on Pantoprazole (Protonix) for a long time and it worked good, but recently I started getting choked on my saliva so doctor changed it.
felkiwi
21 Nov 2018
I am responding to the chain below. I was on Protonix for a year until I started feeling ill, then I thought I was dying, and finally figured out it was the Protonix. Now the same thing has happened with the Ranitidine I have been on for about 2 years. I quickly found out if you do not take it twice a day every day, your heartburn will quickly return. Now I am having to come off of Ranitidine and looking for information. How do I replace it if I am already on Nexium at night (the Ranitidine alone did not control my acid reflux), and do I come off of it slowly?
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Hello Nancy - I hope that you are feeling somewhat better today. Looking through your drug regime no obvious drugs that would interact with Ranitidine or Tums is obvious. Flovent diskus can cause lower abdominal pain (which is a description of one’s pain and not a diagnosis as most Dr’s think it is), however this is not your complaint. Also Prolia can cause serious infections in the body and one of those places is in the stomach. Tell your doctor if you develop signs of infection, such as: fever/chills, red/swollen/tender/warm skin (with or without pus), severe abdominal pain, ear pain, frequent/painful/burning urination, pink/bloody urine. Yet again this is not your complaint. A side effect of oxycodone is gastritis, an inflammation of the lining of the stomach. It can be caused by irritation due to excessive alcohol use, chronic vomiting, stress or the use of certain medications such as aspirin or other anti-inflammatory drugs.
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The symptoms of is gastritis are: Nausea or recurrent upset stomach ,abdominal bloating, abdominal pain, vomiting, indigestion, burning or gnawing feeling in the stomach between meals or at night, hiccups, loss of appetite, vomiting blood or coffee ground-like material and black, tarry stools. However this is not what you state as an issue for you. I cannot comment on any interaction with your allergy shots as I do not know what is in them. So I don’t know how long you was taking your Ranitidine before you stopped taking it, but maybe recommencing it after talking to your Dr may be what you need to do. It might be that the dose of Ranitidine needs to be increased. Ranitidine is the first drug of choice to treat your conditions. I would leave the Tums alone so that it makes it easier to identify what is causing your worsening condition and adjust treatment accordingly – Take care EG
Hi Emeraldgirl,
Thankyou for taking the time and checking into my list of meds. I deal with a lot of anxiety. With that said I am going to stay off the tums, try the ranitidine I have left and see if things workout. I always have adverse effects to my medication and just get tired of changing all the time. Since my health issues are chronic I just get tired of the doctors. Not sure what the mix is with the allergy shots, but never feel like that is a problem since it does keep the asthma attacks down. I do wonder about the prolia, since that is a medicine once injected stays in your system for 5 mos. and of course the side effects are not much you can do after you get the medicine.
I appreciate your reply!
NB
Hello Nancy – I have chronic conditions also so totally appreciate what you are going through with seeing Dr’s who are not the most helpful or understanding. Also being put on and off different medications. I have found that being my own advocate by researching my conditions and understanding them to be most beneficial; also joining DC has helped me a lot and I am sure you will find this too. Regarding medications sometimes it is just the way it is. You have to see what works best for your condition. I don’t know what caused your GERD but in your case Ranitidine has been prescribed to prevent the complications that GERD can cause. I don’t know how long this medication takes to be active but I would assume that it should offer relief after a few doses. If you are not getting adequate relief see your Dr again the dose might need increasing or they can add another drug to work alongside it or switch to another drug.
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Also a lot of life style changes can be made to improve your GERD. Regarding Prolia (and this applies to any drug that you are taking) be aware of the potential side effects of the drug and if you are showing symptoms of any of them see your Dr. Infections can be treated so don’t worry about the drug staying in your system for a long time. If it is helping you then go with it or do some research and see if there is an alternative that you would prefer to take instead and see your Dr. Remember it is your body and you get to decide what goes inside it, thus if you want to switch to an alternative to Prolia your Dr should be happy to discuss this with you – Take care