Ranitidine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Ranitidine is a medicine sold in the U.S. under 6 brand and generic names. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Available as
- Injectable · Syrup · Tablet · Capsule · Tablet, effervescent
- Sold as
- 6 products — Zantac, Zantac 150 and Zantac 300, and others
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Yes
- Half-life
- about 2.5 to 3 hours
Every ranitidine product we track (6)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
| # | Drug | Rating | Type | Form | Generic? | Pharmacy pays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 72/100 | Prescription | Injectable | No data | — | View → | |
| 2 | 72/100 | Prescription | Tablet | No data | — | View → | |
| 3 | 72/100 | Prescription | Capsule | No data | — | View → | |
| 4 | 70/100 | Prescription | Capsule | No data | — | View → | |
| 5 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Tablet | No data | — | View → | |
| 6 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Tablet | No data | — | View → |
What ranitidine pills look like
Imprint codes, colour and shape from the FDA’s labelling data. Match the imprint on your pill — or search any imprint.
Ranitidine and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for ranitidine: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadAlthough interpatient variability exists, the dose of ranitidine in breastmilk is less than the dose used in newborn infants. Ranitidine itself is not a concern during breastfeeding, but it can break down to a toxic compound if not formulated and stored properly. An alternate drug might be preferred.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised December 15, 2025. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about ranitidine
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 71,953 reports naming ranitidine, and the FDA flagged 95% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- breast cancer10,551 reports
- prostate cancer9,962 reports
- colorectal cancer7,422 reports
- renal cancer7,075 reports
- bladder cancer6,926 reports
- oesophageal carcinoma3,950 reports
- hepatic cancer3,125 reports
- gastric cancer2,993 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean ranitidine caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved August 26, 2026.
How long ranitidine stays in your system
The elimination half-life of ranitidine is about 2.5 to 3 hours. This is the elimination half-life in adults with normal kidney function, as the label states it. Ranitidine is not a prodrug, and its metabolites (N-oxide, S-oxide, desmethyl-ranitidine — together under ~6% of the dose) are not described by the label as active or longer-lasting than the parent, so there is no active metabolite that outlasts it. The label names two populations where the number changes: in older adults the half-life is 3 to 4 hours, because renal function declines with age; in significant kidney impairment (creatinine clearance 25-35 mL/min) the average plasma half-life was 4.8 hours in four patients, and the label says these parameters shift roughly in proportion to creatinine clearance. In liver impairment (compensated cirrhosis) the label reports only minor, clinically insignificant changes in half-life. Separately, note that ranitidine products were withdrawn from the US market in April 2020 at FDA's request over NDMA contamination; the label above remains the source of the pharmacokinetic figures.
Ranitidine Tablets USP (Rising Pharma Holdings, Inc.) — DailyMed label, Clinical Pharmacology / Pharmacokinetics ↗Half-life is how long the body takes to clear half a dose. It is not the same as how long a drug test can detect it, and it varies with age, kidney and liver function.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
How long does ranitidine stay in your system?
The elimination half-life of ranitidine is about 2.5 to 3 hours — that is how long the body takes to clear half of a dose. This is the elimination half-life in adults with normal kidney function, as the label states it. Ranitidine is not a prodrug, and its metabolites (N-oxide, S-oxide, desmethyl-ranitidine — together under ~6% of the dose) are not described by the label as active or longer-lasting than the parent, so there is no active metabolite that outlasts it. The label names two populations where the number changes: in older adults the half-life is 3 to 4 hours, because renal function declines with age; in significant kidney impairment (creatinine clearance 25-35 mL/min) the average plasma half-life was 4.8 hours in four patients, and the label says these parameters shift roughly in proportion to creatinine clearance. In liver impairment (compensated cirrhosis) the label reports only minor, clinically insignificant changes in half-life. Separately, note that ranitidine products were withdrawn from the US market in April 2020 at FDA's request over NDMA contamination; the label above remains the source of the pharmacokinetic figures. Half-life is not the same as how long a drug test can detect the drug, and it varies with age, kidney and liver function.
Can you take ranitidine with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run ranitidine against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What brand names is ranitidine sold under?
We track 6 ranitidine-containing products in the U.S.: Zantac, Zantac 150, Zantac 300, Ranitidine Hydrochloride, Zantac 25 and Zantac 75. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does ranitidine come in?
Across the brands we track, ranitidine is currently marketed as injectable, syrup, tablet, capsule and tablet, effervescent, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic ranitidine?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic ranitidine product alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Ranitidine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/ranitidine
- MLA
- “Ranitidine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/ranitidine.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for ranitidine on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.