Acid Reflux: Advice from a Pharmacist

[@jephrenman]

Great video! I wish I had known a lot of this years ago - I've suffered from pretty bad heartburn since late 2007. I ended up on Zantac to treat hives last year and it ended up helping with heartburn as a bonus (duh). Wish I had been on it sooner.

[@MedVize]

Hope the treatment is going well for you! Glad to hear it was helpful.

[@KokiTee]

Baking soda has helped me when I've run out of Tums. I find the relief from baking soda to be more immediate and I think it's more effective. Obviously I'm not a doctor; what's your opinion on using baking soda?

[@MedVize]

Hey Kirk, baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, a natural antacid. It can be used in acid reflux as it does a great job at neutralizing the acid. However, there have been no studies to test for the safety of using baking soda. This is concerning because you can get problems in your digestive tract if your pH levels get too high, or become more basic, in other words. For that reason, I would only recommend using it if it's the only option available in your household at the time of really bad symptoms. But would definitely not recommend it for long term use since safety risks are not fully understood. -Richard