If you have changed your diet and already used some regular heartburn tablets but still suffer from acid heartburn a few times a week, you can consider yourself a sufferer of acid reflux disease or GERD.
It means that no matter what natural remedies or over the counter medication you try, you still suffer from persistent heartburn. This is caused by your stomach over producing acid that rises up and inflicts persistent heartburn. Another reason why the acid rises up is down to a low functioning esophageal sphincter muscle. This muscle normally closes after food is eaten, preventing the acid from rising up. In some cases this muscle become dysfunctional and allows the stomach acid to rise, even though the stomach is not actually overproducing. The good news is there are prescription strength medications that can help. One such medication is called Nexium and it’s one of the top 3 prescribed drugs in the US.
Nexium contains the active ingredient Esomeprazole and is used to manage the overproduction of acid in the stomach. It is known as a PPI (Proton Pump Inhibitor), an effective type of medication that works by targeting the acid producing cells in the stomach and effectively turning some of them off. In effect, less stomach acid is produced, dissipating the majority cause of heartburn, meaning that you suffer from less heartburn. If you have suffered from stomach acid discomfort for a long time then you should also ask your doctor to check your esophagus for erosions. Erosive esophagitis can be caused by this kind of excess stomach acid that rises up from the stomach and causes esophageal damage. Nexium can help repair these erosions but is only available after a Doctors diagnosis and with prescription. It’s not a quick cure though, repairing these erosions can take up to 2 months but moving forward you will have a much healthier gut and esophagus.
A word about ordering online and taking cheap generics:Â You should not take generic Nexium as it does not have an official quality generic version available. Make sure your pharmacist gives you real brand Nexium and double check before he hands it over to you. If you are ordering from an online pharmacy make sure you are getting branded Nexium. Normally you can tell by the packaging and the look of the pill.
Nexium ordered from other countries can appear different, even though the manufacturer is the same. For some reason, production and marketing vary from continent to continent depending on what, we’re not sure! For example Nexium from Israel (as sold on IsraelPharm.com) is a pink pill but it is exactly the same as the purple pill sold in the US! It is officially manufactured by the same company Astra Zeneca and the company take full responsibility for the production.
Top tips for taking Nexium. Nexium should be taken once a day and approximately one hour before a meal. You might also find it beneficial to raise the head side of your bed on blocks by 10cm to improve gastric movement. Alternately prop yourself up 10cm on pillows, it will have the same effect.
Before you start taking Nexium you should exhaust all other methods of trying to reduce heartburn. This includes lifestyle changes like not smoking and reducing stress to avoiding trigger foods like citrus, spicy, fried and caffeinated consumables. A comprehensive list of factors can be found on WebMD.
Have you got any questions to ask our managing pharmacist Saul Kaye? Let us know and we’ll be happy to answer your questions.
