Learn How To Sleep With Acid Reflux
Acid Reflux during the day is more bearable then nighttime Acid Reflux. During the day many times you could feel and predict heartburn about to hit you. During the day besides reacting to heartburn you could even be proactive. During the day you are vertical so gravity is at its best and can respond.
How can you be proactive?
There are certain foods that will effect different people differently. Many times we know which foods effect us. Example; you had a hamburger and 1 hour later you have heartburn. A week later the same things happen. Ideally you don’t eat hamburger, but you love it so you eat it. As soon as you feel the burn you say to yourself how stupid was that move. You swear off hamburger and next week you are at a barbecue the same thing happens. While the best thing is stop eating hamburger you could try to eat 1/2 a burger. If that doesn’t work be ready with a medication your doctor prescribed or recommended.
Why is it important to be proactive?
Being proactive allows for reducing or eliminating the pain and damage.
Why can nighttime Acid Reflux be so much more painful and have a very negative effect on your life?
- Main thing it hits you by surprise and by the time your are awaken much damage has been done and the pain is already well on its way and therefore more severe.
- Since nighttime reflux happens when gravity doesn’t aid the digestive track, acid can leak and sit on the bottom of the esophagus and you might not even feel pain. This can cause silent damage and is called silent reflux. Just recently my friends wife had minimal symptoms and was informed she has Esophageal Cancer and now on Chemotherapy.
As you can see Nighttime Reflux is more problematic then heartburn during the day. What can we do about nighttime reflux? The short answer is educate yourself to know what you can do with regard to lifestyle changes. Here are a few tips:
- Knowing and staying away from the bad foods that tend to Reflux through the sphincter, which sits on the top of the stomach. Bad foods are fatty greasy foods, chocolate, alcohol, etc.
- Eating smaller meals – don’t stuff yourself.
- Don’t gulp your food – chew it well.
- In order to reintroduce gravity while you sleep lift the head of your bed 6 – 8″, for me it was a game changer. The best way of lifting the head of the bed is a Acid Reflux mattress wedge. Studies show that lifting the head of the bed reduces the incidents of Reflux and if you do reflux the acid clears much quicker as opposed to siting in the bottom of the esophagus. It is important to note lifting yourself with pillows isn’t the same because that position causes a bend in the stomach, which put upward pressure on the sphincter valve.
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