Digestive Health
Digestive symptoms can come from anywhere between the oesophagus and the bowel, so a complaint such as abdominal pain or bloating can have several different underlying causes, each treated differently. Reflux and indigestion are only one part of that picture; this group also covers gut motility, constipation, inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatic enzyme replacement and gallbladder-related conditions.
Prednisolone Tablets
5mg · 10mg · 20mg · 40mg
Utilised to manage systemic inflammatory states to alleviate physical pain and support immune system normalisation.
Roxithromycin Tablets
150mg
Utilised to manage systemic and respiratory bacterial pathogens to alleviate clinical disease and support tissue recovery.
Key points
- NIDDK describes dyspepsia as a group of upper-abdominal symptoms that can have more than one cause, rather than a single disease.
- NIDDK notes that treatment for GERD can include medicines that reduce or block the stomach’s acid production.
Medicines for reflux and stomach acid
Nexium, Prilosec, Protonix, Pariet, Prevacid and Dexilant contain the proton pump inhibitors esomeprazole, omeprazole, pantoprazole, rabeprazole, lansoprazole and dexlansoprazole, used for reflux, erosive oesophagitis or ulcer disease. Zantac contains ranitidine, which reduces stomach acid by blocking the H2 receptor rather than the proton pump. Cytotec contains misoprostol, used to prevent gastric ulcers caused by NSAID painkillers rather than to treat reflux itself.
Medicines for gut motility, bowel and pancreatic function
Motilium contains domperidone and Reglan contains metoclopramide, used for nausea, dyspepsia or the delayed stomach emptying that can accompany diabetes. Acofide contains acotiamide for functional dyspepsia, and Ovol contains simethicone for gas and bloating, also used before abdominal imaging or a gastroscopy. Cyclopam combines dicyclomine with paracetamol for abdominal pain, and Bentyl contains dicyclomine alone for irritable bowel syndrome. Motegrity contains prucalopride and Duphalac contains lactulose for constipation, and Duphalac is also used for a liver complication called portal-systemic encephalopathy. Budez CR and Asacol, containing budesonide and mesalazine, treat ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, and Creon contains pancrelipase, replacing digestive enzymes for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.
Biliary medicines and gut infections
Actigall and Urso both contain ursodeoxycholic acid, used for primary biliary cholangitis and to dissolve gallstones. Questran contains colestyramine, used for high cholesterol and for itching caused by partial bile duct obstruction. Biaxin contains clarithromycin, used against Helicobacter pylori infection, and Noroxin contains norfloxacin, used for traveller’s diarrhoea.
Why some products here are not digestive medicines
Decadron, Calcort, Deltasone and Prednisolone Tablets are corticosteroids used for inflammatory, allergic or muscular conditions rather than for the gut specifically. Roxithromycin treats respiratory infections, Florinef is used for adrenal hormone replacement, Renagel binds phosphate for people with chronic kidney disease, and Starlix is a type 2 diabetes medicine.
Further reading
Related articles
28 Jul 2026 ⋅ 8 min read
Misoprostol (Cytotec): An Ulcer Medicine Whose Boxed Warning Is About Pregnancy
Cytotec is licensed to prevent NSAID-induced stomach ulcers, and its boxed warning states it can cause birth defects, abortion, premature birth or uterine rupture. What the label actually requires before it is prescribed.
Read guide