Patient/caregiver was instructed upon therapeutic indications for ranitidine use as follows:
- Acid in the stomach, when produced in excess, can result in abdominal pain and burning sensation in the stomach. This can also result in poor digestion of food with bloating, belching, and abdominal fullness with discomfort.
- Excess acid production in the stomach can also result in erosion of inner lining of stomach and duodenum, contributing to development of gastric and duodenal ulcers.
- Acid produced in the stomach can also get washed up into the duodenum, resulting in GERD, with symptoms of heartburn, chest pain, abdominal discomfort, and burning sensation in the throat.
- Ranitidine blocks the action of histamine on H2 receptors in the acid producing parietal cells of the stomach, and helps to inhibit or reduce the amount of acid secreted in the stomach.
- By reducing the amount of acid secreted, ranitidine helps with relief from symptoms of heartburn, dyspepsia, and GERD.
- Ranitidine can be used in combination with antibiotics, to treat peptic ulcers secondary to H. pylori infection. The reduced acid secretion with ranitidine can contribute to healing and preventing gastric ulcers from developing.
- Reduced acid secretion with ranitidine use also helps with relief of symptoms of Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, which is a condition caused by excessive acid production in the stomach.
