I cant sleep cause of my GERD. dont know if I have it, doc suspects it but its get so bad that like I said in my previos topic, that it feels like there are holes in chest and that I feel like im going to swallow my tongue any minute.

So what do you guys take? Mom says TUMS are bad and dont work...she takes this crap that takes a WEEK to start working so...whatever. I just need some opinions from EVERYONE.

The strongest medicine OTC that is NOT a Proton-Pump (PP2) inhibitor is Xantac. If you just have occasional GERD, try taking this - it is effective before and after the fact. You can also chase Xantac with a Tums as necessary. By the way - don't take more than 20 Tums a day - it will give you terrible diareah.

The next step is to try a PP2 Inhibitor. The only one available OTC now is Prilosec. Taking Prilosec may take up to 2 weeks to work, and you are supposed to take it every day. It can be very effective for people with regularly occuring, but moderate GERD.

If your GERD occurs regularly, but is super-awful, you may need to experiment with the other PP2 inhibitors, which are only available via prescription. Nexium is probably the most well-known of these, but there are many others. Don't be afraid to ask your physician for some samples or a prescription - these medications are generally quite safe and doctors hand them out like candy. Protonix is another well-known brand.

i take ranitidine/cimetidine but it doesn't help. neither does my nexium. i take tums but they don't help much. gaviscon tablets help some, but i try to limit how many i take because supposedly you can get aluminum poisoning and stuff. i actually sleep with one in my mouth to try to help my LPR...