Burning in the chest and throat. Trouble swallowing. The feeling that food is stuck in your chest or throat. Chest pain (that can be confused with a heart attack). Chronic cough, sore throat and hoarse voice. Sound familiar? If you’re suffering from these common symptoms of heartburn, acid reflux, or GERD, you’re not alone. It’s estimated that upwards of 25 million people suffer from these symptoms on a daily basis.
So, what do you do?
Take the little purple pill, of course.
The fact that you likely know what that little purple pill is without mention of a brand name is a tribute to the power of advertising. But in case you’re drawing a blank, the little purple pill to which I am referring is Nexium. Or maybe you’re like Larry the Cable Guy, and you reach for Prilosec.
Nexium (esomeprazole), Prilosec (omeprazole), and Prevacid (lansoprazole), are in a class of medications called proton pump inhibitors (PPI). PPIs reduce the amount of acid in your stomach, which can provide symptom relief for those suffering from acid reflux disease or GERD. There is another class of medications also used to treat these symptoms known as H2-antagonists or H2 blockers. Zantac (ranitidine), Pepcid (famotidine), Tagamet (cimetidine), and Axid (nizatidine) are H2 blockers which also reduce the amount of acid secreted by the stomach.
Okay, let’s think this through. Stomach ac ...
