# Is Anyone Taking Antacids for Heartburn or Acid Reflux?



## SeaBreeze (Jul 8, 2014)

I get heartburn pretty frequently, usually at night when I'm lying in bed.  I was taking Tums for quite awhile, but calcium carbonate is not the ideal thing to take, and it doesn't dissolve well in your system either.  I'm trying to get away from them.

It seems to be in my family too, I remember as a child my mother taking an over-the-counter antacid named Titralac, it had aluminum in it, so I would never take something like that, knowing what I know now, especially regarding Alzheimer's and aluminum.  My mother had a serious problem with her esophagus when she got older, wonder if that was slow coming on and was giving her the heartburn.  We never ate any spicy foods either in my family.

I also have a bottle of Rantidine and Famotidine in my medicine chest, the off-brand from Costco.  I rarely take those, don't really like taking any pills.  My sister takes antacid pills from the doctor, almost daily I think.

Anyway, I've found that some nights I can get away with just using a half teaspoon of baking soda (aluminum-free Bob's Red Mill) in a little bit of water, and that will help sometimes.

I have a neighbor who takes Tums as a calcium supplement for her bones, I don't think that's good as sometimes calcium accumulates in the arteries and causes strokes, etc.  I don't take any calcium supplements, but if I did it would be citrate.

Is anyone here taking antacids for heartburn or acid reflux problems?


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## Falcon (Jul 9, 2014)

Tums or  "baking soda"  (in a glass of water).  But RARELY since I learned a few things  re: acid reflux,

indigestion or whatever ya wanna call it.

1. Don't ever eat anything close to bedtime. (at least a couple of hours)

 2. Stay away from stuff that you KNOW gives you indigestion. (water melon, bananas etc.)

 3. Don't sleep on your back.  Sleep on your side; preferably your left side. (This also helps
     prevent sleep apnea.)

  If you think you might get acid reflux, Rantidine ,an hour before bedtime, helps prevent it.


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## JustBonee (Jul 9, 2014)

What works for me is an 8 oz glass of warm/hot water with a tablespoon each of raw honey and raw organic apple cider vinegar.

Licorice root is also good for heartburn.


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## Mrs. Robinson (Jul 9, 2014)

I take meds but it was getting ridiculous-2 prescription Ranitidine(supposed to be 1) and 1 OTC Omeprazole. Still occasionally had reflux though. I finally did what I had heard for years and put the head of the bed up on blocks.(We used gray cinderblocks-the flat ones like you would use for stepping stones,they are about 2 inches thick. Used two on each side. I can`t begin to tell you what this has done for me-I only wish I had done it years ago. I just never thought it would help so I didn`t bother. But when my doctor heard how many pills I was taking and was still having reflux,he insisted I lift the bed. You will thank me,I swear.


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## Mrs. Robinson (Jul 9, 2014)

By the way Falcon,I finally heard,only a couple of years ago,about sleeping on your left side. I must be put together backwards inside though because I could only sleep on my right side. Roll over to my left side and the heartburn was instant. Hubby could hear it and would laugh. Since we raised the head of the bed,I can sleep on any side I want. It`s wonderful!


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## d0ug (Jul 9, 2014)

Another thing the doctor have all wrong. God did not make a mistake he made the stomach acid very strong to digest food.
Here is a Naturopath look at the stomach
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf8YSfMEyqA


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## Ina (Jul 9, 2014)

Thank you Doug, That explained a lot, and I will be watching more from this person. :wave:


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## nan (Jul 9, 2014)

SeaBreeze,  hubby and I have been suffering a lot lately with indigestion and heartburn, I blame the bread because of the gluten as we don't eat much spicy food, and we don't take antacids only carb soda in water,when it gets too bad, but the last few nights I have been having 1/4 cup of aloe vera juice topped up with soda water,and I find that helps, and another thing that helps me is pieces of chilli that have been pickled.


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## d0ug (Jul 9, 2014)

soda cut down on the acid, making the problem feel good, but destroying the digestive system. Use apple cider vinegar before and after a meal or multi enzyme with HCL. watch the video I posted


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## Phantom (Jul 9, 2014)

I take Nexium 40mg  tabs (one / day)

If it  becomes too bad after eating spicy foods the I have a dose of Gaviscon


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## Mrs. Robinson (Jul 9, 2014)

I have also used this. My sister bought it for me and it really does work. 60 seconds after taking it,heartburn is gone. It is all natural-mostly apple cider vinegar and tastes like it-but for those that don`t want to take meds,it`s awesome. I would go through a bottle a day though so I have to take the meds to prevent it rather than treat it after I already have it...


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## SeaBreeze (Jul 9, 2014)

Mrs. Robinson said:


> By the way Falcon,I finally heard,only a couple of years ago,about sleeping on your left side. I must be put together backwards inside though because I could only sleep on my right side. Roll over to my left side and the heartburn was instant. Hubby could hear it and would laugh. Since we raised the head of the bed,I can sleep on any side I want. It`s wonderful!



I learned about the sleeping on your right side gave you heartburn, and years ago it was true for me.  Not now, now it's the left side, which was always my good side, so it's kinda the opposite now.  I've heard that raising the head of the bed was good too, but my husband isn't interested in raising up our king sized bed.  I tried using two pillows just for myself, but that was a real pain in the neck, literally.   I guess they sell some foam wedges also.


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## SeaBreeze (Jul 9, 2014)

nan said:


> SeaBreeze,  hubby and I have been suffering a lot lately with indigestion and heartburn, I blame the bread because of the gluten as we don't eat much spicy food, and we don't take antacids only carb soda in water,when it gets too bad, but the last few nights I have been having 1/4 cup of aloe vera juice topped up with soda water,and I find that helps, and another thing that helps me is pieces of chilli that have been pickled.



Nan, I've tried the aloe vera plain, and that didn't help, maybe I'll add some plain seltzer next time.  I've heard about pickled foods being good for heartburn also.  I did the apple cider vinegar thing for awhile, but no real results.  I actually forced myself to go a couple of weeks without antacids, and instead drank a full glass of water when I had the symptoms, it was okay, but I quickly slipped back into old habits.


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## Mrs. Robinson (Jul 9, 2014)

Mrs. Robinson said:


> I have also used this. My sister bought it for me and it really does work. 60 seconds after taking it,heartburn is gone. It is all natural-mostly apple cider vinegar and tastes like it-but for those that don`t want to take meds,it`s awesome. I would go through a bottle a day though so I have to take the meds to prevent it rather than treat it after I already have it...



Ooops-forgot to post the link lol....

http://www.amazon.com/Stops-Acid-Reflux-Caleb-Treeze/dp/B002TC8CDO


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## Mrs. Robinson (Jul 9, 2014)

SeaBreeze said:


> I learned about the sleeping on your right side gave you heartburn, and years ago it was true for me.  Not now, now it's the left side, which was always my good side, so it's kinda the opposite now.  I've heard that raising the head of the bed was good too, but my husband isn't interested in raising up our king sized bed.  I tried using two pillows just for myself, but that was a real pain in the neck, literally.   I guess they sell some foam wedges also.



We never raised the head of the bed because A)I couldn`t imagine it would really work and B)It sounded like a big pain in the neck to do. In reality,it took us about 5 seconds per side (and we have a very heavy 4 poster bed). I am kicking myself for not doing it years ago-really. It is dramatic the difference it has made. No more heartburn/reflux at night-not once!


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## Pappy (Jul 10, 2014)

SeaBreeze....I took Previcid for more years than I can remember. Doctors just keep rewriting prescription so I took them. Like Mrs. Robinson said, elevating the head of the bed at least 6 inches helped more than anything. Also, when I retired, the Previcid went in the trash can and my daily pressures went way down.
now, I take a Tums once in a while but nothing else for that problem.


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## oldman (Jul 24, 2014)

I know this is an older post, but I wanted to throw in my two-cents. I have had heartburn ever since I was in grade school. I think that I can thank my Mother for this ailment. When I was a kid, she ate Rolaids like I eat M&M's. I flew her first class from Baltimore to San Francisco once. For lunch in first class, she was offered some very good meals. The Captain and the First Officer are not permitted to have the same meals, so I won the coin toss and I chose the beef tips. My Mom chose the Spinach Lasagna. She developed heartburn just after lunch and had it for the full week that we were there. I flew my Mother and my wife out to the coast with me for a week of vacation and it was one long week. Two trips to the ER and two trips to a walk-in clinic and she didn't get rid of it until a few days after we got home. I think she had every medicine that was available at the time. Sometime medicine can be a mystery.


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## ClassicRockr (Jul 24, 2014)

I take 20mg (1/2 tab of a 40mg) of doctor prescribed Pantoprazole each AM. If I forget to take it in the AM, it's assured that I'll be chewing some Tums sometime during the day.


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## Mike (Jul 24, 2014)

All my life I suffered from Heartburn and ate tons
of antacids that didn't really work for very long.

A few years ago I was prescribed Lansoprazol, I
take one 15mg tablet daily and have never had
heartburn since the first day I took one.

A half teaspoon of "Bicarbonate of Soda" in milk
is better than most antacid tablets that can be
bought from a pharmacy.

Mike.


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## Lon (Jul 26, 2014)

A routine health exam picked up a pidgeon  size egg in my gall bladder years ago. Out with the gall bladder and I haven't had heart burn since. Of course there are those on this forum that would rather not be tested or undergo such nefarious activity to benefit the medical or pharma industry.


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## kcvet (Jul 26, 2014)

Mrs. Robinson said:


> We never raised the head of the bed because A)I couldn`t imagine it would really work and B)It sounded like a big pain in the neck to do. In reality,it took us about 5 seconds per side (and we have a very heavy 4 poster bed). I am kicking myself for not doing it years ago-really. It is dramatic the difference it has made. No more heartburn/reflux at night-not once!



same here. just put a few blocks of wood under the head post. worked for me


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## kcvet (Jul 26, 2014)

SeaBreeze said:


> I get heartburn pretty frequently, usually at night when I'm lying in bed.  I was taking Tums for quite awhile, but calcium carbonate is not the ideal thing to take, and it doesn't dissolve well in your system either.  I'm trying to get away from them.
> 
> It seems to be in my family too, I remember as a child my mother taking an over-the-counter antacid named Titralac, it had aluminum in it, so I would never take something like that, knowing what I know now, especially regarding Alzheimer's and aluminum.  My mother had a serious problem with her esophagus when she got older, wonder if that was slow coming on and was giving her the heartburn.  We never ate any spicy foods either in my family.
> 
> ...



see a GI guy. he can run the telescope down and find out quick


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