Sarah comes into the pharmacy after seeing a news alert about the medication her mother takes for her stomach ulcers. “I saw something on the news about problems with batches of ranitidine,” she says, “and I wanted to check the batch my mum has is OK?”
What is ranitidine used for?
Ranitidine is a histamine H2-receptor antagonist that inhibits basal and stimulated secretion of gastric acid. Ranitidine has a long duration of action and clinical studies have shown it can relieve the symptoms of excess acid production for up to 12 hours.(1,2)
In acute periods, if heartburn, indigestion or acid reflux symptoms (known as dyspepsia) persist after 2-4 weeks without relief from antacids and alginates such as Gaviscon, a doctor may suggest using a proton pump
