There may be a lot to laugh about on late night television but when it comes to acid reflux and late night heartburn it is no laughing matter. Nothing bugs me more than waking up to find myself suffering from the pain and discomfort caused when my stomach acids flowing up into my esophagus. You may have the same problem or you would not be reading this article.
If you get a nasty bitter taste on your palette or your throat is burning and raspy and you feel you might want to puke you are probably suffering from late night heartburn. You are not alone it has been estimated that more than three quarters of the 60 million sufferers of heartburn experience night time acid reflux. It can keep you wake or wake you to a sit up position in a flash. Not only does this affect your sleep but it sticks with you all day as you become lethargic because of lack of sleep.
If you are one of the millions suffering from late nigh heartburn you can do something about it. Take a look at these few tips to help you to relieve the burning sensation that keeps you awake at night.
1. Do not eat right up until you hit the pillow. With our all too busy lifestyles we tend to eat our last big meal of the day later and later. Then as we watch TV or sit around and talk with our families we have this snack or that snack and then we get up and go to bed. You really need to space your last meal or even snack at least two hours before bedtime as this will help prevent acid reflux by giving your stomach acids a chance to work on digesting the food intake before you lie down flat which allows the acid to flow into your esophagus.
2. You might also try to sleep with your head elevated a bit. I knew one guy who slept in his recliner chair for the first couple of hours before he got up and went to bed. Personally when I go to sleep I don't want to wake up and go to bed so I do number one on a regular basis.
3. Alcohol has a tendency to relax the sphincter muscle that resides between your stomach and esophagus. This muscle is what I call the check valve that is supposed to keep the acids from escaping up into the throat lining which is what causes the pain and discomfort of heartburn. This is another one of those pleas for you to back-off from drinking too much especially late at night and if you do not want to suffer form late night heartburn.
4. Finally stay clear of all those spicy, greasy and acidic foods. Foods like tomatoes, grapefruit, oranges, hot peppers and chillies, greasy burgers and french fires late at night can really come back to haunt you and hand out some woozy nightmarish reflux.
If you will follow even these few tips you will have a better nights sleep without the late night heartburn and night time acid reflux.
