How To Sleep For Heartburn
According to the national sleep foundation gerd or gastroesophageal reflux disease is a type of chronic illness that can pose a serious threat to your health when left untreated.
How to sleep for heartburn. Nighttime heartburn affects four out of five people who suffer regular heartburn and acid reflux the discomfort and bitter taste can make sleep uncomfortable even elusive. Back sleeping is the worst for those with acid reflux at night. Heartburn at night affects 4 out of 5 individuals who get regular acid reflux and heartburn. That burning sensation that you experience with heartburn is due to stomach acid flowing back up the esophagus the tube that brings food to the stomach from the mouth.
Try a mattress lifter a wedge shaped pillow or add a pillow to help keep your stomach contents from moving upward. Sleeping on a large specially designed wedge shaped pillow can be effective in managing gerd related sleep problems. How does gerd affect sleep. When acid escapes from your stomach and you are sleeping flat on your back it is able to flow freely into your esophagus and beyond and stay there.
Try proton pump inhibitors ppis. Sleeping on a specially designed large wedge shaped pillow is an effective way to manage sleep problems related to acid reflux. Sleep with your head elevated. People with gerd often experience heartburn at night which can disrupt their sleep.
Raise the head of the bed by 4 to 6 inches so you can sleep with your head and chest elevated. To prevent acid reflux at night. The wedge shaped pillow keeps you partially upright creating more resistance. Ppis block acid production in your stomach and can help to relieve your acid reflux symptoms.
While insomnia and acid reflux are two different medical problems they often co exist together to throw in a double whammy. If you ve been waking up at night with heartburn here are tips to help you sleep better. How to sleep with acid reflux 1. A national sleep foundation poll found that adults who have bedtime heartburn are more likely to have sleep issues such as insomnia daytime sleepiness and restless leg syndrome.
Use a wedge shaped pillow. Acid reflux adversely affects sleep quality by awakening the patient from sleep during the night.