I have took 5 months of Protonix, hasn't healed my gastritis and esophagitis. I took zantac which stopped the burning in my stomach. When i took Protonix it did not shut down the acid pumpers in my stomach causing it to burn like its on fire when I am at work. I take zantac in the morning and one more at night time. I stopped taking protonix since it is not doing its job on shutting down the acid in my stomach. Zantac seemed to help shut the acid down in my stomach. I heard Nexium covers 16 hours on shutting down the acid pumpers in the stomach. But Protonix isn't even doing its job shutting any stomach acid at all. Please help me. I am very desperate because my gastritis hasn't healed yet. I have tried mylanta, gaviscon, maloox. I have tried Prevacid which doesn't seem to help either. I really don't want to be on medicines/pills forever. Is there another PPI I can try for a month or two? Which PPI has worked for you? Has anyone had the same situation like me? Should I get a prescription from my doctor for Nexium, Aciphex, Dexilant, or other ppis? Which one would you suggest that I should take? *cries*--->it really burns my stomach, i'm tired of it help! T.T
The following user gives a hug of support to tofumix: catkaru (06-05-2011)
Well, if the Zantac is doing well enough, stick with that! But if it's not, why don't you try over-the-counter Prilosec? It's by far the cheapest, especially if you can get store-brand on the discount day.
Nexium is very similar chemically to Prilosec. Prevacid is also available over the counter. Dexilant helps some people who didn't respond well to other PPI's, BUT, be warned, it's very expensive, around $6 per pill. (When I tried it earlier this year, I used a discount card, about 1/3 of the normal price.)
Also, Dexilant is very similar to Prevacid. Dex=right, lev=left, so Dexlansoprolol is the right-handed molecule of Prevacid, (lansoprolol.)
You may also wish to try drinking aloe vera juice or taking the amino acid l-glutamine. Both supposedly can help heal gastritis. In my opinion, the l-glutamine has more evidence going for it, and quite a few conventional medical doctors are getting into its use as an adjunct treatment to serious conditions that can affect the stomach.
If you have erosions, Zantac will not heal them. You need Nexium, Prilosec, etc for that to happen. Since you can't take Prilosec, I would check with the doctor about Nexium.
I took Nexium for years until the insurance stopped paying for it. The pharmacist told me Prilosec OTC was the closest non-Rx equivalent, and fortunately for me, it works perfectly.
Protonix not working, zantac is okay help? 
Hi,
