Understanding Acid Reflux Medication and Treatment Options
October 15, 2009 by admin
Filed under Acid Reflux Information
More that half the population of the world is a heartburn sufferer. In one study, more than 45% of 15,000 heartburn sufferers stated they were kept up late at night with frequent heartburn.
More than 70% of all heartburn sufferers believe they will be forced into avoiding foods, events, and making other changes for the rest of their lives to accommodate their condition.
It is a major illness affecting too many people. It can impact quality of life. When that happens, people become desperate for a cure.
The pharmaceutical and medicine companies know this. In response, they have created and sell literally thousands of acid reflux medication options promising to help manage or even cure the condition.
Before you buy up every product on the shelf, it is important that you understand each treatment option, its results, and what those truly mean for you.
Anti-Acids
This is the most common treatment used to control acid reflux and heartburn. It comes in pills, liquids, orally disintegrating tabs, tonics, and countless other forms.
As far as a medication for acid reflux, anti-acids are the cheapest and simplest to use.
Typically, anti-acids are mineral based, such as calcium or magnesium, and include a carbon ion or two. Minerals mixed with carbon have a high degree of alkalinity, the opposite of acid.
When they enter your stomach, they immediately neutralize the acid in your stomach.
This sounds like an easy answer, but it is not. The name acid reflux is a bad description of your problem. What is really happening is your food is not being digested quickly enough and pushes against the esophagus.
The pushing forces the esophagus open and the stomach contents, including digestive acid, flows in.
The acid gives you the burning feeling, but that does not mean you should try to get rid of the acid. That will not solve the problem.
In fact, acid is what digests your food so if you reduce acid then it is going to take longer to move food out of your stomach.
Furthermore, neutralized acid gives off gas which will further increase the pressure on your esophagus.
Many people choose to use anti-acids regularly, many times a day and every day. The may not feel any heartburn, but this is because they are almost completely eliminating their stomach acid.
What they do not know is they are also stopping the digestive and metabolism process. Their body cannot process food as well and many of the nutrients are going to waste.
People on a long-term chronic anti-acid regiment tend to be malnourished and suffering the side affects.
Acid Controllers
Another popular alternative to anti-acids is using acid controllers to treat heartburn. Acid controllers do just what it sounds like.
They control how much acid your stomach produces all the time, not just during meals or periods of peak acidity. They are an extended release type of medication that lasts for hours and sometimes a full day.
For a long time, acid controllers were only available as a prescription. Recently, acid controllers have been released as a acid reflux over the counter medication.
As a prescription, they were expensive. However, once they became an OTC product, the costs almost tripled for half the original prescription dosage.
The costs would be worth it if the acid controllers really worked. Controlling acid is going to give you the same result as taking an anti-acid during an acute heartburn episode.
In the long run, you are going to pay a lot of money to be malnourished and dependent on a pill for the rest of your life.
Natural Alternatives
As you can see, using a acid reflux medication is not a viable solution. As soon as you stop using the medication, your heartburn will return. This is not a cure, but a cure is possible.
The Heartburn No More program can give you the cure you need. In the e-book, you will learn how to correct the bad habits, such as eating toxic foods and promoting a reflux-free environment within your body.
After using the Heartburn No More program, you will finally be able to live acid-reflux free without the use of medications.
Related posts:



