Acid Reflux Medications
Acid reflux medications work primarily by countering the production of acid in the stomach. There are two main classes of medications which are the Histamine-2 Blockers (H2 Blockers) and the Photon Pump Inhibitor (PPI). Both are effective at reliving the symptoms of GERD and acid reflux but work in different ways.
Histamine-2 Blockers (H2 Blockers)
Histamine 2 is found in the body and is one of the factors that is used to tell the stomach how much acid to produce. The H2 Blockers work by blocking that histamine from telling the cells in the stomach to produce more acid. These blockers typically start working in as little as 30 minutes and can from 6 to 12 hours. The most common forms of these medications are Famotidine (Pepcid), Ranitidine (Zantac) and Cimetidine (Tagamet).
Photon Pump Inhibitors (PPI)
Rather than blocking the histamine that causes stomach cells to produce acid. PPIs actually inhibit the acid pump from being able to produce acid. It does this by changing the enzymes that are required for the pumps to be able to fire. Photo Pump Inhibitors are stronger than H2 Blockers and their effects last for 24 hours or more but can take a few days to begin working. Popular forms of these drugs include Esomeprazole (Nexium), Pantoprazole (Protonix), Omeprazole (Prilosec), and Lansoprazole (Prevacid).
It is a fairly common practice for a doctor to start a patient with a H2 Blocker and only move up to a PPI in the event that the H2 Blocker is insufficient in controlling symptoms and reliving the damage done by the acid production.
It is recommended that one takes these acid reflux medicines under the supervision of a qualified medical practitioner only. Most often these medicines are well tolerated but can cause additional problems or drug interactions.