About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Before Using
Allergies
Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to medicines in this group or any other medicines. Also tell your health care professional if you have any other types of allergies, such as to foods dyes, preservatives, or animals. For non-prescription products, read the label or package ingredients carefully.
Pediatric
Antacids should not be given to young children (under 6 years of age) unless ordered by their doctor. Since children cannot usually describe their symptoms very well, a doctor should first check the child. The child may have a condition that needs other treatment. If so, antacids will not help and may even cause unwanted effects or make the condition worse. In addition, aluminum- or magnesium-containing medicines should not be given to premature or very young children because they may cause serious side effects, especially when given to children who have kidney disease or who are dehydrated.
Geriatric
Aluminum-containing antacids should not be used by elderly persons with bone problems or with Alzheimer's disease. The aluminum may cause their condition to get worse.
Pregnancy
Studies on effects in pregnancy have not been done in either humans or animals. However, there have been reports of antacids causing side effects in babies whose mothers took antacids for a long time, especially in high doses during pregnancy. Also, sodium-containing medicines should be avoided if you tend to retain (keep) body water.
Breastfeeding
Some aluminum-, calcium-, or magnesium-containing antacids may pass into breast milk. However, these medicines have not been reported to cause problems in nursing babies.
Drug Interactions
Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking any of these medicines, it is especially important that your healthcare professional know if you are taking any of the medicines listed below. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance and are not necessarily all-inclusive.
Using medicines in this class with any of the following medicines is not recommended. Your doctor may decide not to treat you with a medication in this class or change some of the other medicines you take.
- Amantadine
- Atropine
- Belladonna
- Belladonna Alkaloids
- Benztropine
- Biperiden
- Clidinium
- Darifenacin
- Dicyclomine
- Eplerenone
- Glycopyrrolate
- Hyoscyamine
- Methscopolamine
- Oxybutynin
- Procyclidine
- Scopolamine
- Solifenacin
- Tolterodine
- Trihexyphenidyl
Using medicines in this class with any of the following medicines is usually not recommended, but may be required in some cases. If both medicines are prescribed together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use one or both of the medicines.
- Alacepril
- Amiloride
- Atazanavir
- Benazepril
- Canrenoate
- Captopril
- Cilazapril
- Dasatinib
- Delapril
- Delavirdine
- Enalaprilat
- Enalapril Maleate
- Fosinopril
- Imidapril
- Indomethacin
- Licorice
- Lisinopril
- Methotrexate
- Moexipril
- Mycophenolate Mofetil
- Mycophenolic Acid
- Pentopril
- Perindopril
- Quinapril
- Quinine
- Ramipril
- Rilpivirine
- Spirapril
- Spironolactone
- Temocapril
- Tizanidine
- Tolazoline
- Trandolapril
- Triamterene
- Zofenopril
Other Interactions
Certain medicines should not be used at or around the time of eating food or eating certain types of food since interactions may occur. Using alcohol or tobacco with certain medicines may also cause interactions to occur. Discuss with your healthcare professional the use of your medicine with food, alcohol, or tobacco.
Other Medical Problems
The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of medicines in this class. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:
- Alzheimer's disease (for aluminum-containing antacids only) or
- Appendicitis (or signs of) or
- Bone fractures or
- Colitis or
- Constipation (severe and continuing) or
- Hemorrhoids or
- Intestinal blockage or
- Intestinal or rectal bleeding—Antacids may make these conditions worse
- Colostomy or
- Ileostomy or
- Inflamed bowel—Use of antacids may cause the body to retain (keep) water and electrolytes such as sodium and/or potassium
- Edema (swelling of feet or lower legs) or
- Heart disease or
- Liver disease or
- Toxemia of pregnancy—Use of sodium-containing antacids may cause the body to retain (keep) water
- Kidney disease—Antacids may cause higher blood levels of aluminum, calcium, or magnesium, which may increase the risk of serious side effects
- Sarcoidosis—Use of calcium-containing antacids may cause kidney problems or too much calcium in the blood
- Underactive parathyroid glands—Use with calcium-containing antacids may cause too much calcium in the blood
Find Mayo Clinic on