Uh oh. I've been prescribed one daily for the past few months. It's actually made the attacks less frequent and more bearable. I'll be looking into this, thanks for posting. 

I've never taken PPIs unless you count very rarely, Tums or homemade Alka-Seltzer.  Heartburn is simply not a problem I normally have.  A change of diet should be tried before resorting to medications.  Avoid or eliminate fried, fatty, or overly spicy foods. Quit caffeine altogether. Eat five to six small meals instead of two or three large meals.  Never go to bed or lie down after eating.  Sleep with the upper body inclined.  Be as active as possible.

Homemade Alka-Seltzer:-  In a juice glass, put 1T. of baking soda, 2T. apple cider vinegar.  As soon it starts to fizz, fill cup one third to one half with room temp. water.  Drink quickly.  It tastes nasty but does the trick!  

If hospitalized, avoid taking anything that is "recommended" for everyone!  Three years ago I had emergency surgery to repair a strangulated umbilical hernia.  Every day post surgery they came around with probiotics, stool softener, anti-heartburn meds, and at night, a sleeping pill.  These were given to EVERYONE, that I could see.  I asked about every medicine before taking it, and if it wasn't specifically ordered by my doctor, I only took it if I felt a need for it. For me this meant the sleeping pill once.  The other things I didn't take as there was no need of them.  

As far as pharmaceuticals go, rantadine ( Tagamet)  and famotidine (Pepsid) are H2 (histamine) blockers and not PPI's. Their action is different and not as strong as the PPI's and I think the major side effect is partially blocking B vitamin absorption, which the PPI's do as well.
Sometimes when the natural remedies don't do the trick I will use these, but I never used PPI's.

Poor vitamin B absorption can lead to mental illnesses.