'I took it until pain stopped'

SINGAPORE - Since she was a teenager, she would reach for her stash of over-the-counter medicine whenever she felt a gnawing pain in her upper abdomen.

Business manager Rachel Lee, now 36, would sometimes pop as many as 10 antacid pills a day to try to ease the pain caused by gastroesophageal reflux disease (Gerd), more commonly known as heartburn or acid reflux.

Acid reflux is a digestive disorder where the acidic content of the stomach flows back into the throat (the oesophagus).

"I didn't know when or how often I was supposed to take the medicine. I just took it until the pain went away," she told The New Paper.

A local survey shows that 40 per cent of acid reflux patients, such as Madam Lee, do not take their medicine regularly.

Conducted by the Gastroenterological Society of Singapore ahead of World Digestive Health Day on Thursday, the survey shows that a busy lifestyle is the most common reason for not taking the medication as prescribed.

Even when Madam Lee was prescribed Dexilant for her acid reflux a month ago, she failed to keep up with her two-week prescription.

It should be taken once daily, but she neglected to take it on a few days.

SUPPLEMENTS

"Every day, I have to take iron, calcium and omega-3 supplements because I am breast-feeding. The pills are big so I have to space them out," said the mother of a one-year-old daughter.

"Nobody likes to be popping pills all the time."

Madam Lee said the prescription drug is more effective than over-the-counter medicine and the pain now strikes her only once in a while.

But such irregular consumption may mean that the patient will continue to feel the burning sensation from the acid for prolonged periods, said Dr Daphne Ang, a consultant gastroenterologist at Changi General Hospital (CGH), and the survey's chief investigator.

"If the medication has to be taken 12-hourly and (patients) only take it once a day, it may lead to symptoms when the medication has worn out and they are due for the next dosage," she said.

For patients with erosions in the lining of the oesophagus, CGH's gastroenterology chief Ang Tiing Leong said taking medicine irregularly may lead to complications like strictures, which is the narrowing of the oesophagus due to healed ulcer scar tissues.

Prescription and over-the-counter treatments for Gerd work slightly differently, explained Dr Jarrod Lee, a gastroenterologist in private practice.

The former helps to reduce the acidic content of the acid reflux so it does not irritate the lining of the oesophagus, while the latter neutralises the acidic content in the stomach and oesophagus. But neither reduces the number of acid reflux episodes, he added.

This article was first published on May 27, 2014.
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