ER docs and Cardiologists have been using these drugs for over a decade to help diagnose/separate a heart attack from severe gastric reflux/GERD.
After doing an EKG and if the results are normal, a quick trial and rx for these drugs will eliminate the heart as the culprit for each patient. If the patient gets better and the symptons go away, they had a severe GERD episode which can be controlled by these drugs and diet.
About 8-10 weeks ago I started getting heart burn during my daily bike ride. After a couple of weeks, it got bad, and antacids didn't seem very effective.
Went to the Doc. EKG, stress test, cardiac cath, angioplasty and two stents later...my heart burn is gone!
The moral to the story is, if antacids don't make your heartburn go away and stay away, it isn't heart burn, and you should call 911.
Oh, I'm only 43 and exercize every day. Don't think it can't happen.