this is a great question. when patients come in or consumers and ask me about heartburn as a pharmacist i have to ask them a few questions to find out what kind of heartburn are they having. for instance if they are having heartburn at night they really need to see a physician. i need to find out how frequently they are having their heartburn. if they are having it everyday or is it only one or two times a week? then i need to ask them some questions about their diet because what they may not understand is that diet caffeine acidic foods even smoking could lead to heartburn. then i will look at them and say okay are they taking any other medications? my elderly patients hopefully they have their medication list with them. i will be able to take a look and see what's appropriate for them. there are a variety of different products that are available. if it's just something for quick relief then you could use like an antacid like a maalox or a tums something along those lines. if it's something that maybe needs a little bit more consistency then we can go more towards a pepcid type of product which works a little differently by cutting down on the amount of acid in the stomach. if they complain that they have had it more frequently during the day for a number of days then the choice might be something like prilosec otc which they are going to take for about 14 days. if they come back to the pharmacy after that and the 14 days and it hasn't worked then i am going refer them back to their physician or their healthcare provider for further evaluation.
how do i choose an over-the-counter heartburn medication?