Americans must suffer from an awful lot of heartburn, because drugs to treat this painful condition have been best-sellers for a number of decades. The current favorites are proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) such as dexlansoprazole (Dexilant), esomeprazole (Nexium), lansoprazole (Prevacid), omeprazole (Prilosec), pantoprazole (Protonix) and rabeprazole (AcipHex). But before that, the medications for ulcers, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and plain old heartburn were cimetidine (Tagamet), famotidine (Pepcid) and ranitidine (Zantac). These are probably all names you recognize.
Recent reports of serious side effects associated with PPIs have some people looking for alternatives that will still treat their heartburn. But they may wonder whether they are jumping from the frying pan into the fire.
Is Ranitidine a PPI Medicine?
Q. I have been taking omeprazole for several years. With all the recent information about the nasty side effects of PPIs, I have decided to wean myself off it.
Ranitidine is giving me good results, but I am wondering if this product is also a PPI. When I tried to look it up on the Internet, I could not find the answer to this question. Is ranitidine any safer than a doctor-prescribed PPI?
A. Ranitidine (Zantac) is not a proton pump inhibitor (PPI). Like cimetidine (Tagamet) and famotidine (Pepcid), it blocks stomach acid production through a different mechanism.
Because these H2 antagonists are less potent, they are generally less likely to cause complications like chronic kidney disease (JAMA Internal Medicine, Feb., 2016). On the other hand, both types of heartburn drugs can interfere with the absorption of B vitamins (especially vitamin B12) from food (Annals of Pharmacotherapy, May 2002).
You can learn more about both H2 blockers and PPI medications, as well as nondrug approaches to treating indigestion, in our Guide to Digestive Disorders.
10/8/18 redirected to: https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/articles/will-you-get-osteoporosis-if-you-take-omeprazole/
 can help control heartburn. It has fewer serious side effects than the popular PPI medicines like omeprazole, but it can interfere with vitamins.&message=Does Ranitidine Have the Same Risks as a PPI?&redirect_asPath=https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/articles/does-ranitidine-have-the-same-risks-as-a-ppi){kind=link}