Baking soda an old remedy used to alleviate heartburn
Q: Why don’t you recommend baking soda for heartburn? I haven’t seen it in your columns, but it gives me fast relief with no side effects. I don’t have heartburn every day, but when it hits me at night, I don’t want to suffer for any length of time.
A: Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is an old-fashioned antacid. How old? Some medical historians trace its origins back to 3000 B.C. and the ancient Sumerians. They used burned seaweed containing sodium carbonate to ease indigestion.
Modern baking soda is not derived from plants, though. It is still used for heartburn. The directions on the box recommend ½ teaspoon dissolved in 4 ounces of water. Relief is fast but temporary. People with high blood pressure should be cautious about the sodium content of this home remedy.
Q: My primary care doctor prescribed Voltaren Gel last year when he diagnosed me with arthritis in my thumb. I was having trouble sleeping at night because it was throbbing so badly.
I can’t take oral NSAIDS, but I’m super pleased with how this gel works! Within a few minutes of application, my thumb is pain free. The relief lasts for hours. I usually apply it only at night.
In my opinion, this should be taken off the prescription list here in America. It should be more readily available, as the only downside is the expense.
A: Good news! The active ingredient
Baking soda works as an antacid.
diclofenac is now available without a prescription as Voltaren Arthritis Pain Gel.
The prescription that your doctor wrote was likely for a 100-gram
(3.5 ounce) tube of 1% diclofenac. It costs around $70. The OTC product costs about $10 for a tube half that size. That means the nonprescription gel costs less than a third as much as the prescription product.
We are glad to learn that you have not experienced side effects. Some people are so sensitive to NSAIDs that even a topical gel causes them digestive distress.
Q: I had been taking the blood pressure pill amlodipine for five years. Then, about three months ago, my feet and ankles swelled up like tree trunks all of a sudden.
My doctor didn’t think amlodipine would do that after so much time, but I convinced him I should quit taking the medicine. The swelling has gone down completely now. How common is this side effect?
A: Amlodipine
(Norvasc) is a popular blood pressure pill in the calcium channel blocker (CCB) category. Women may be more susceptible than men to swelling of the legs and feet due to this medication.
A review of more than 100 studies concluded that the longer people take CCBs, the more likely they are to experience this type of edema (Journal of Hypertension, July 2011). Up to a quarter of patients may eventually develop this complication. We hope your doctor has found a different kind of medication to help you control your blood pressure without unpleasant side effects.
Q: If you are not totally bored with home remedies for hiccups I would like to share my story.
I stopped one coworker’s hiccups by asking if he knew “Jane” was pregnant. He knew three Janes, one of which was his girlfriend. None of them were pregnant, but his hiccups immediately disappeared as he focused on figuring out the possible outcomes of that situation!
Another coworker was cured when I walked over to tell her that her mother was calling for her on the customer service line. She was so confused as to why her mother would contact her that way that she forgot to hiccup! The difficulty lies in finding appropriately confusing or distracting questions.
A: We admire your ingenuity! We have no good explanation for why this strategy might work, but others have reported similar success.