I Forgot About Gaviscon and Suffered Needlessly for Many Years

I have a large hiatal hernia with spontaneous reflux even when standing up, according to my latest barium swallow. So, I have heartburn. I take over the counter Nexium, a proton pump inhibitor developed in Sweden. But nothing eliminates stomach acid altogether. So, even if I reduce the acidity in my stomach, if I have reflux up partway in my esophagus, it’s going to hurt, or burn as we say.

The other day I suddenly remembered an over the counter antacid like no other that I probably learned about long before medical school - this one, too, invented in Sweden.

Gaviscon is no ordinary antacid, it forms a layer on top of whatever is in the stomach and actually prevents reflux to a degree and maybe even coats the esophagus if reflux should start to occur.

This is worth remembering, because there are only two medications on the market that can stop reflux, only one of them FDA approved (metoclopramide) with a warning about the possibility of the dreaded side effect tardive dyskinesia. The other one is off-label erythromycin. All other so-called promotility agents that have been developed during my career have come and gone because of nasty side effects, including cardiac.

So, if you are like me, think Gaviscon.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4343538/

https://www.gaviscon.co.uk/discover-gaviscon/#about