Zantac No Longer Working...

[NorthernElf]

It's been a rough week. I have had a lot of stomach cramps and burning in my stomach. I have been gluten free but I do like my coffee ! Anyway, sorry if it's too much info but add some female hormones in & the monthly thing & I have had some wicked stomach issues. I think my Zantac 150s no longer can contain it. Normally, I take one every am, get up & have my coffee, and I'm fine. If I have a drink before supper (rarely) I will take a Zantac before that as well. Anyway, it doesn't seem to be working anymore, even twice a day.

So I guess my question is - for those of you that have reflux issues, what do you use ?? I have tried..ugh, I can't remember the name - the purple pill one that starts with N...it didn't work. If the Zantac no longer works - what else is there ?? I am planning on seeing my doc in 2 weeks - I prefer to go in there armed with what I need because I have a "useless' doctor who looked at a negative blood test & decided I couldn't have celiacs...and yet gluten makes me really ill.

Anyway, I was just wondering what everyone is using for reflux issues - and even how many out there need something.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

I have had reflux issues for many years--in addition to the gluten issues, I have a hiatal hernia,which allows stomach acid back up in my esophagus, yuck.

I went from Tums to Pepcid to Zantac to Prilosec to Nexium. Nexium worked well in huge doses--but then I went gluten-free.

Eventually I was able to take one Prilosec (well, generic Prilosec) in the morning, and it works just fine. Funny thing, though--I ran out of the Prilosec, and found some Zantac that hadn't expired--and it didn't work at all, even in the same strength.

So you might try a different acid blocker--they're pretty much all over-the-counter now, anyway--and see if a different one works for you. They're all variations on the same molecular structure, anyway.

You also might try switching from coffee to tea--coffee is VERY acidic and gives me the runs AND reflux. Or try hot chocolate with a leetle bit of coffee in it, and gradually phase out the coffee.

[ravenwoodglass]

Have you ever tried Pepto Bismal? I have used that on the rare times that I need it for years. It coats my tummy and does away with the pain without the rebound effect the acid blockers cause. When I was given a script for those drugs I decided to try the pepto first as I have little trust of script drugs and I have never had to fill the script plus usually one dose does the trick for the whole day. I found the very dark stool disconcerting the first time I used it but that is normal and nothing to worry about.

One last note, when you have a drink before dinner what are you drinking? If it is a gluten grain derived alcohol, even distilled, it may be that drink that is continueing your distress. There are some of us who will react to distilled gluten grains.

[TrillumHunter]

Any chance it's low stomach acid? I tried the acid blockers with no effect. I started taking two tablespoons of good apple cider vinegar in about four ounces of water twice a day. It has really helped! If my stomach is burning, I can take a dose and feel better within 15 minutes. I use the Bragg's brand as it has the good bacteria and it's more palatable. There is info on the board about low stomach acid. AVC is pretty good for you in general. My husband drinks for his stomach pain as well.

HTH

[rumbles]

TrilliumHunter is right on the money. Most people that believe that they have

acid reflux from too much stomach acid actually have it from too little stomach

acid; both cause acid reflux. Pharmaceutical companies make a fortune on

convincing people that they have too much acid. (Plop-plop, fizz-fizz, oh what

a relief it is . . . that your money is now in their bank account.) If you have low

stomach acid and you take acid blockers (all except Gaviscon, which is not a

blocker, it's a foaming agent that creates a foam barrier on top of the acid so

that it doesn't splash up), they cause a further reduction of stomach acid

over time, making the problem worse.

Most doctors don't bother to test the amounts stomach acid - they take the

pharmaceutical companies word and prescribe acid blockers, then when that

brand stops working and the patient complains, they switch to another brand,

and then another, and . . . .

There is a simple home test to determine if you have low stomach acid. First

thing in the morning, before you eat or drink anything, mix 1/4 teaspoon of

baking soda in a glass of water, and drink it. For the first five minutes (only -

stop counting after five minutes), see whether you let out a healthy burp. If

you let out a healthy burp, you have adequate stomach acid; if you don't

(don't bother counting those tiny burps that no one can hear), you have low

stomach acid, and will need to take acid supplements (gluten free Betaine HCL;

start with low dose 250 mg at first until your system gets use to having acid

available again, then work up to 648 mg, increasing the dose until you're back

to normal digestion again) when you eat anything with protein in it.

If you have low stomach acid (hypochlorhydria) and you take the Betaine HCL

supplements, you will probably find that you will have fewer or lesser allergy

problems. Without acid in the stomach, the first stages of protein digestion

don't take place, so food is entering into the intestines in an unnatural state,

which causes a release of histadine, leading to allergy symptoms (usually at

least a few hours after eating, which makes it really hard to put the allergies

together with food consumption, at least until the acid problem is corrected

and the allergy symptoms begin to weaken).

The following is a link to an Internet site that describes the stomach acid test

that I wrote about above; if you google hypochlorhydria, you will find that many

doctors are starting to get on board and recognize that the problem is low stomach

acid, - but most of them want to be the ones to diagnose the problem, and want

to prescribe, and want to see their patients repeatedly for something that can

very easily be determined by the baking soda test and handled by supplements

that are available at most health food stores.

Open Original Shared Link

rumbles.

[Candacelee]

I called the manufacturer of Zantac today and they told me that they cannot guarantee where their raw materials are sourced from and so they cannot guarantee the product is gluten free. This is a huge red flat to me. 

[kareng]

  On 2/20/2014 at 11:17 PM, Candacelee said:

I called the manufacturer of Zantac today and they told me that they cannot guarantee where their raw materials are sourced from and so they cannot guarantee the product is gluten free. This is a huge red flat to me.

Pretty typical CYA a statement. They don't use any gluten ingredients but don't test for gluten.

Most of the info on this thread is almost 5 years old. Products change so please don't go by this old info.