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(More customer reviews)First just want to mention that I have ordered this product twice and both time it was shipped in reasonable time and I had absolutely no problems with the quality of service.
What I wanted to review here is the product itself which I find quite excellent.
First a short introduction:
I have been having heartburns on and off for many years. Even though I try to avoid the things that trigger them they still happen nonetheless. A couple of years ago I was diagnosed with acid reflux disease and it progressed to the point of esophagitis (inflammation of the esophagus) which was causing occasional nausea.
The recommended treatment in these cases is usually antacid combined with eating smaller but more frequent meals and avoiding certain foods. While eating right is relatively easy to accomplish choosing the right medication is a bit more difficult. The products I have heard about the most are Zantac and Nexium. There are simple products like Tums that contain Calcium Carbonate and provide a rapid relief by binding with acid thus reducing the acidity in the stomach, but they also produce gas that may help push the remaining acid up the esophagus. Other products try to regulate acid production and many have various side effects.
The biggest concern I had with many of these was the fact that once the active ingredient wears out the stomach will produce acid again to compensate and sometimes a rebound effect will cause it to produce even more acid than before the medication was taken. Therefore calcium carbonate preparations have only a short lived effect - the stomach will produce more acid to compensate in I believe about 10 minutes. Zantac seems to be the safer choice as it does not have a rebound, actually reduces acid production and is sold over the counter. Nexium while taken on regular basis seems to work wonders, but I hear that when it is terminated there is a chance of a rebound and stomach may temporarily overproduce acid while it adjusts to the lack of medication. Also possibility of various side effects and interactions with other drugs one may be taking make it necessary to dispense Nexium only by prescription. One nice thing about it is though is that it seems to heal the damage caused by acid burns. So I guess when deciding on medication one has to weigh all pros and cons and take into account the severity of disorder...
And that brings me to Gastramet. It contains Vitamin U, licorice and chlorophyll. I was told that licorice and chlorophyl can have the calming effect on the stomach which is certainly nice. It also has a small quantity of calcium carbonate but I suspect it's mostly used to help disperse the contents of the capsule faster. But the most important ingredient in my opinion is the Vitamin U.
Vitamin U is a misnomer - it's not really a vitamin, but when it was originally discovered they thought it might be, so the name stuck. It is a compound - methyl-methionine-sulfonium-chloride - first found in a regular cabbage which makes it as natural as any vitamin. I first learned about it back in "the old country" where it could be purchased over the counter in form of tiny tablets which contained only Vitamin U. I used to take it whenever I had a heartburn and while the relief was not immediate I was sure to feel better soon. It is said to be able to regulate acid and digestive enzyme production in the stomach.
However another property of vitamin U makes it an important aid for people afflicted with acid reflux - a part of its molecule containing sulphur can be easily used by the cells of mucous membrane for regeneration. Mucous membrane is the lining covering esophagus, stomach and the rest of the digestive system. It is what gets "burned" by heartburn or damaged by bacteria in case of an ulcer. Vitamin U provides the building blocks to help it repair itself much faster. A scientific paper and some other references I found on the internet primarily by scientists in Japan and Russia conclude that Vitamin U helps heal the damage to the mucous membrane (specifically mentioned direct damage by alcohol, aspirin, and peptic ulcers). Other references I found list GERD (aka acid reflux disease), heartburn, gastritis and use as a supplement in treatment of colitis.
During my esophagitis I was taking Zantac morning and evening as recommended by my doctor for a very long time and even though it helped it didn't seem to do good enough job until I started supplementing it with Gastramet. Within a relatively short period of time I was back to normal and was able to discontinue the use of Zantac. It's been a very long time now since I had any pain or nausea. I still get occasional heartburn but it's much less frequent than it was. I feel a lot better now and can even drink coffee again (coffee would exacerbate my esophagitis). I still take it for occasional heartburns and sometimes on a daily basis for prophylactic purposes. I feel that the natural source of this compound makes it safer than synthetic drugs.
That doesn't mean that I would recommend it over Nexium which is said to heal the damage as well. Depending on severity of the condition Nexium might still be the right choice despite its side effects. I am not a doctor and this is just my opinion, but I believe that Gastramet offers similar effects in a much safer way. Also it is one of the very few products that contains Vitamin U and only the natural ingredients. Couple other products I found, in addition to Vitamin U, contained acid reducers known to have various side effects.
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