Many of the antacid advertisements fall into two categories- either they are for ‘acid suppressors’ which take forty minutes to take effect but which last long, and so demean normal antacids (calcium carbonates et cetera) for not lasting. or they (the ads) are for normal antacids, and demean the non-immediacy of acid suppressors.
this is not good. mainly because i know that myself and many others are convinced of the sheer efficacy of drugs.
why is that not good? because i feel that many people may take both. pop an acid suppressor, and then munch on a tums if one can’t wait any longer to eat.
my question is, is it dangerous (or at least not so good) to take both a pepcid ac and a tums? will that screw with the pH of the tummy in a not-so-good way? am i correct in the assumption that eating both is something of which to be wary?
While I can’t offer you a pharmacology/ drug safety answer, I can tell you that my wife has had terrible acid reflux her whole life. And she does exactly what you suggest. Tums is the immediate stop gap, followed (generally) at least an hour later by a Pepsid AC.
My wife has never had a problem with this, and both my mother and friend, who are doctors, are aware she does this and have never cautioned her against it. Personally, I believe the mechanism of action is different so it shouldn’t be a problem. Tums lowers the pH of stomach by neutralizing the acid, while the Pepcid lowers the stomach’s secretion of acid (I think). Of course, IANAD so consult your physician for the real answer…
Or call the 800 number on the Pepsid package and ask them
There is one problem with raising stomach pH, regardless of whether you do it by eating alkaline buffers or suppressing HCl secretion. A very low stomach pH is one of your important defenses against ingested pathogens. If you stomach isn’t acid you are more susceptible to things like salmonella and intestinal parasites.