Nexium vs. Others?

[NoleInOrlando]

Zantac only marginally worked for me. My doc said I could "ratchet up" the dosage a bit, but there was no need since my insurance pays for Nexium (only $20/month). Paying for OTC Zantac would cost more then that.

[starling72]

I tried OTC Zantac for about a month before my doctor's appointment and it only took away the heartburn...my "flutters" still remained and retained their frequency and duration. Since starting Nexium, they've almost disappeared...only had a couple today and that was while drinking very cold water (hot/cold seems to stimulate this just as much as eating poorly). And even those were much less intense than before, so I'm hopeful Nexium is helping where OTC Zantac fell short.

[actudan]

I used Prevacid, Aciphex, and Nexium. All but the aciphex seemed to work for me. You just may have to experiment with the other ppis that your insurance covers and hope for the best. If not, you will just have to pay the $!

Good luck!

[prostator]

This is a good topic. I've been taking Prevacid for about one month and a half. I saw my primary doctor recently, and he seemed to have a low opinion of Nexium. He said Protonix was superior to all the others in supressing acid. Any truth to that?

[starling72]

Just a quick update:

I took Nexium 40mg for 40 days (30-day prescription + 10-day sample) and all symptoms basically went away. Doctor took me off it at end of 30-days and asked me to take Prilosec OTC for a month or so to see if anything came back.

For the first 2 weeks, all went well...no heartburn and only a few "flutters." I'm sorry to report that for weeks 3 & 4, I've slowly been experiencing a recurrence of my original symptoms...more frequent esophageal "flutters", a feeling of something in my throat occasionally, slight chest pains if the wrong food is eaten, etc. Apparently, I needed to follow the longer, 2-month regimen of Nexium or go on it "permanently."

Will return to the doctor next month and request more prescription strength medicine.