Excessive hydrogencarbonate can make the stomach alkaline and trigger the production of even more acid. Metal hydroxides are better alternatives because being insoluble, these do not increase the pH above neutrality. These treatments control only symptoms, and not the cause. Therefore, with these metal salts, the patients cannot be treated easily.
The drugs cimetidine (Tegamet) and ranitidine (Zantac) prevent the interaction of histamine with the receptors present in the stomach wall. This resulted in release of lesser amount of acid.