Zantac reduces the amount of acid your stomach produces. I have worked on reducing acidity primarily with diet. I was eventually able to get off enzymes. I now suspect that part of why I was able to get off enzymes is because of reducing acidity. My CF doctor told me that pancreacarb had sodium bicarbonate in it to counteract acidity because the acidity could destroy the enzymes before they had a chance to work. That's part of why I recently began thinking that getting my acidity under control is part of why I was able to get off enzymes. And I wonder if the excess acidity that people with CF are prone to is part of why they need enzymes to begin with -- that maybe the high acidity destroys what enzymes they do produce.
One study found that people with CF purge sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) at higher rates than normal. Bicarb is a natural antacid. One approach I have taken is to increase consumption of foods leavened with baking soda and decrease consumption of foods leavened with yeast. Sea salt also helps correct excess acidity and has become important to my diet. I have also found that it helps to skew my diet towards more alkaline foods, like apples, watermelon, corn, and lettuce. For a year or more, I had a big helping of lettuce 4 to 6 days a week. If I skipped it too many days in a row, my stomach would become a mess. I read somewhere that lettuce is the best food for making you more alkaline and that cucumbers and celery are also strongly alkaline foods. I don't tolerate cucumbers too well but I am fine with lettuce. So I did a lot of lettuce for a time.
HTH and good luck with this.
