Posts Tagged ‘stomach acid’
Heartburn at Night is the Most Common
Many of the individuals who suffer from heartburn specifically suffer from nighttime heartburn. Nighttime heartburn occurs because when you are lying down there is less gravity affecting the sphincter of the stomach and it is easier for acid to escape and irritate the esophagus. This may occur because you have just eaten and are very full or for some reason you have a high pressure in your stomach.
Simple Ways to Prevent Nighttime Heartburn
You can prevent nighttime heartburn by not eating before you go to bed. It is recommended that your last meal should be about 2 to 3 hours before you go to sleep. Nighttime snacking is not going to help. Also you can switch your main meal from dinner to lunch so you have less food in your stomach at night and therefore less acid production and less pressure.
To keep acid production constant without fluctuations you can spread your meals out to 4 to 6 small meals during the day instead of 3 larger meals. This allows your body to digest your food more effectively and provides you with an even energy level throughout the day. There is another advantage to smaller meals and more of them during the day. You will increase your metabolism giving you more control over weight gain.
The Cause Maybe Just Certain Foods You are Eating
As with regular heartburn nighttime heartburn can be caused by the foods you are eating. You may find that you are experiencing nighttime heartburn after you eat certain foods. If this is the case then you need to avoid those foods or just not eat them at dinner or late in the day. Foods known to aggravate your stomach and cause heartburn include chocolate, beans, fruit juices, spicy foods, coffee and citrus fruits to name but a few.
Propping yourself up on pillows and sleeping on a slight incline can compensate for the change in gravity and stop nighttime heartburn. Another simple option is add a 2 to 3 inch blocks to the head of your bed to get the slight incline you need. Also it is scientifically proven the sleeping on your left side helps with digestion and sleeping on your right side will only increase your heartburn. Sleeping on the left also decreases stomach acid.
Avoid Tight or Restrictive Clothing
Sleeping in restrictive or tight clothing can make it difficult to digest food or increase pressure in your stomach and force acid into the esophagus. Also drinking alcohol late in the day and at night will relax your sphincter and increase acid production in the stomach promoting conditions for heartburn. It is possible to consume alcohol without getting heartburn but you may need to do this at a specific time of day or chose a specific type of alcohol that does not affect you as much.
If you are frequently suffering from heartburn then you should visit with your doctor as heartburn can turn into a more serious condition. Keep in mind that antacids can mask symptoms of other illness and is not recommended as a long-term solution.
What Heartburn Feels Like
Anyone with a penchant for big meals probably has had heartburn once or twice. Some of us tend to feel this pain a lot more than others. Actually answering the question "what does heartburn feel like?" is actually trickier than you might think. When we think of heartburn, we think of the dull, burning pain in the heart. True heartburn has nothing to do with that vital organ, however. Heartburn happens in the esophagus, the food chute from our mouth to our stomachs, where some stomach acid came up to cause that pain. Since the burning usually feels somewhere near to where we think the heart might be, it tends to confuse some to think of it as their heart that is hurting.
Heartburn or Angina?
The problem is that angina and heart attacks can feel a lot like heartburn. Keep this is mind if you or your family have some history of heart trouble. If you have had a history of it, you want to play it very safe and never dismiss any chest pains you might be feeling. Always consult a doctor when determining when it is safe to assume a chest pain is heartburn or something more serious.
If you're one of those people who feel like you've had heartburn every other day, you might treat it as such as long as it feels the same as all the other times (consult your doctor, as always, to determine if this is a safe move for you). If you decide to attack your problem like it's heartburn, there are some things you can try.
If your heartburn usually happens when you lay down to sleep, try propping yourself up so your head is above your stomach and feet. Gravity may help keep the acid at bay. Some people like drinking lots of water to ease the symptoms—if this works for you, great! But for most people, this may not be practical right before bedtime.
Self Medicating Options
If you feel the need to medicate it, you can try your own solution of baking soda and water (unless you are watching your salt intake for health reasons such as hypertension, pregnancy or nursing). You can also try antacids that are sold in myriads of brands and colors. They often work, but reportedly not for long. Other medications slow the stomach's production of its acid, but these are said to take a longer time to work—but they may last for a longer period of time.
If you are having repeated problems of heartburn, you really should see a doctor. Even if you feel confident that it's only a case of heartburn, it could be something like gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Sometimes called acid reflux but even more serious condition that appears the same is heart related issue. Get advice before it gets worse.
You've got a lot of company when you've got heartburn. Rather than wondering what does heartburn feel like, just play it safe and get your doctor's advice and get it treated properly. It will be well worth it to not have to deal with the pain and inconvenience of heartburn.