How To Sleep With Gerd and Finally Stop Painful Acid Reflux From Ruining Your Night
Plus learn what to look for an over-the-counter antacid supplement
Painful acid reflux keeps one in three people with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) from getting a good night’s sleep, according to a University of Oklahoma research review. And all that tossing and turning can affect your quality of life, leaving you feeling foggy and drained the next day. Fortunately, we’ve rounded the best advice on how to sleep with GERD and block acid reflux at night. Read on to see the simple home remedies and drugstores fixes that actually work.
What is GERD?
GERD occurs when a small ring of muscle called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) weakens or becomes too relaxed, allowing stomach acid to creep back up into the esophagus. Unlike acid reflux, which tends to be less intense and affects nearly all of us at some point in our lives, GERD is a chronic condition with flare-ups at least twice a week. Symptoms of GERD include heartburn or a burning sensation in your chest, a chronic cough, chest pain, trouble swallowing and backwash of food or bile in the throat, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Woman's World Answers
Why GERD flares up when you sleep
“When people sleep, they are usually horizontal which makes it easier for stomach acid to flow back into the esophagus, the muscular tube connecting the throat to the stomach,” explains David Clarke, MD, President of Psychophysiologic Disorders Association. “This can cause pain that interferes with sleep. In some cases, the acid can reach the back of the throat and cause temporary choking.” And if you’re stressed, Dr. Clarke says it may worsen GERD symptoms.
Essentially, GERD causes pain and discomfort of the stomach, esophagus and throat, which can make it difficult to sleep comfortably, adds Chelsie Rohrscheib, PhD, Head Sleep Expert and Neuroscientist at Wesper. People with GERD tend to have poor sleep quality and may develop insomnia, she notes. (Learn how to tell if you have insomnia here.)
How to sleep with GERD
Dietary and lifestyle changes tend to be the first line of defense in treating acid reflux at night and making it easier to sleep with GERD. Here, six proven strategies that can help:
Cut back on trigger foods and drinks
There are certain foods that can cause or worsen acid reflux at night. That includes carbonated beverages, garlic, onions, high fat foods, spicy foods, fried foods, acidic foods such as citrus and tomato, caffeine, alcohol, chocolate and peppermint, says Dr. Clarke. Avoid these if they trigger flare-ups for you, or at least aim to scale back on them in the evening so they don’t disrupt your sleep.
Instead, opt for fiber-rich foods like bananas, oatmeal and whole grains, which may help absorb stomach acid and make it easier to sleep with GERD, Dr. Clarke says. He also suggests having a cup of chamomile tea, ginger or licorice tea, which can soothe the digestive tract.
Eat more often
To avoid acid reflux at night and sleep more soundly, “eat smaller, more frequent meals and avoid talking while eating,” Dr. Clarke suggests. “Large meals or swallowing air while talking can put more pressure on the lower esophageal sphincter muscle, leading to more acid refluxing into the esophagus.” (Discover more GERD self-care tips.)
Time your last meal right
Eating dinner earlier may mean the difference between sleeping soundly and waking with acid reflux. In a study in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, people who put down their forks at least three hours before bed had 87 percent lower odds of GERD symptoms like heartburn and acid regurgitation compared to those who ate closer to bedtime. By giving your stomach time to empty before bed, you’ll reduce pressure that can push acid upward.
Put your pajamas on early
Tight-fitting clothes can put pressure on the abdomen and worsen reflux, Dr. Clarke says. To sleep better with GERD and reduce nighttime flare-ups, try putting your pajamas on before dinner. A study in the journal Gastroenterology suggests that waist compression—like wearing a snug belt or fitted waistband—can trigger eight times as much acid exposure in the esophagus, leading to twice as many post-meal acid reflux events compared to no compression.
But simply letting your stomach sit comfortably as you eat lowers internal pressure on your belly, making acid less likely to rise and helping it clear more quickly if it does. The result? You’ll set yourself up for reflux-free sleep.
Swap your sleeping position
“We usually recommend elevating the head of the bed by at least six to eight inches to prevent the reflux,” says William Franklin, MD, Founder and Medical Director of Victory Medical. If you don’t have an adjustable bed (we don’t either!), try raising your head by resting it on top of a few pillows.
Also smart: Sleeping on your left side if you’re prone to GERD. The simple trick, which harnesses gravity by keeping the stomach below the esophagus, helps the stomach clear acid up to 61 percent faster than sleeping on your right side or back, according to an American Journal of Gastroenterology study of people with GERD. Not only that, for at least half of people, left side-sleeping was so effective that acid exposure in the esophagus dropped to zero.
Look for this OTC remedy
Antacids can also offer some relief for GERD symptoms at night. Dr. Clarke recommends a product with alginate (such as Enzymedica Heartburn Soothe), which floats on top of excess stomach acid and helps neutralize it before it reaches your esophagus. You can also opt for calcium carbonate to help decrease the acidity of the stomach acid, notes Dr. Franklin.
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