GET A HANDLE ON HOLIDAY HEARTBURN

(These tips are from Consumer Reports magazine)

Holiday heartburn: Why you may not need "the purple pill"

As we gear up for the holiday season with food and drink aplenty, many of us will suffer from heartburn — about 15 million people have it on any given day — especially those over the age of 50 or women who are pregnant.

If you find yourself with tell-tale signs of heartburn, your first and best bet is to try an inexpensive over-the-counter antacid like Maalox, Mylanta, Rolaids, Tums, (or generic) or drugs like Pepcid AC or Zantac 150, or generic (known as H2 blockers).

But if you suffer from heartburn twice a week or several months on end, you may have GERD, short for gastroesophageal reflux disease, a condition that makes you prone to acid reflux, and you should see a doctor. People with GERD are often recommended a Proton-Pump Inhibitor (PPI) drug. PPIs are effective and safe to treat more frequent heartburn or GERD, but beware: the price tag could drain your budget.

Last year, U.S. consumers and their insurance companies spent $4.8 billion on Nexium, one of six prescription Proton-Pump Inhibitors currently available, making "the purple pill" the second highest-selling drug in 2008, behind Lipitor. Indeed, Nexium, Prevacid and other expensive PPIs have likely been over-prescribed.

But here's the good news: A new Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs report on drugs to treat heartburn, GERD and gastric ulcers, finds that no one Proton-Pump Inhibitor (PPI) drug works better than any other.

If you do need a PPI drug, you could save about $200 a month by asking your doctor if one of several alternatives to Nexium, such as our Best Buy Drugs selections, Prilosec OTC or its generic version, omeprazole OTC (which costs less than $1 a day) would work as well for you. Also, Prevacid, a prescription PPI, will be available in mid-November without a prescription. We expect that the new over-the-counter Prevacid24HR will be comparable in price to Prilosec OTC.