Heartburn : Heartburn is a painful burning feeling just below or behind the breastbone. Most of the time it comes from the esophagus. The pain often rises in your chest from your stomach and may spread to your neck or throat. Almost everyone has heartburn sometimes. If you have heartburn very often, you may have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
Normally when food or liquid enters your stomach, a band of muscle at the end of your esophagus closes off the esophagus. This band is called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). If this band does not close tightly enough, food or stomach acid can back up (reflux) into the esophagus. The stomach contents can irritate the esophagus and cause heartburn and other symptoms. Pregnancy and many medications can bring on heartburn or make it worse.
Medication
Antacids may be taken after meals, at bedtime, or when needed, to bind excess acid in the stomach and to coat the esophagus. Histamine H2 antagonists are medications that block the action of histamine (a chemical that stimulates stomach cells to produce acid) on the acid-producing cells of the stomach. This decreases acid production to hopefully decrease symptoms. Examples include:
• cimetidine (Tagamet),
• ranitidine (Zantac), and
• famotidine (Pepcid).
Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are another class of drugs that block the production of acid by the stomach. PPIs include:
• omeprazole (Prilosec, Rapinex),
• rabeprazole (Aciphex)
• pantoprazole (Protonix)
• lansoprazole (Prevacid), and
• esomeprazole (Nexium).