Why is gerd worse in the evening

Why is it more likely to flare up at night? Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission.

We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Blame it on the natural force of gravity. When you sit or stand, gravity helps move your food through the esophagus and into the stomach where digestion occurs. However, many find it tougher to control at night.

When you eat, food passes down your throat and through your esophagus to your stomach. A muscle the lower esophageal sphincter controls the opening between the esophagus and the stomach. I'm one of them.

In fact, I was found to have gastroesophageal reflux disorder—aka GERD, more commonly known as acid reflux—back in college because of just how frequently I was getting heartburn. If you have acid reflux, or even occasional heartburn after a spicy meal, you know that it can keep you awake tossing and turning.

Here's what I've learned about coping with acid reflux so it doesn't get in the way of a good night's sleep. Acid reflux is the name for what happens when stomach acid makes its way up into the esophagus. Most often it's because the lower esophageal sphincter, a muscle valve that is supposed to keep stomach acid where it belongs—in your stomach— isn't working properly.

There are a few things that can loosen the muscle, making it easier for acid to shoot back up. Eating certain foods , like citrus fruits, tomatoes, chocolate, peppermint, garlic, onions, and anything spicy, fatty, or fried, is one of the biggest causes. So is drinking coffee, soda, or alcohol. Obesity and pregnancy can also lead to acid reflux because they put pressure on your abdomen, which can weaken your lower esophageal sphincter.

So what's the connection between acid reflux and sleep? As I can attest, heartburn is usually worse at night, and that can make falling and staying asleep more difficult. When you're lying down, you don't have gravity to pull acid back down into your stomach the way you do when you're sitting or standing up, Huber explains. Per the National Sleep Foundation , if you have acid reflux, you could very well wake up in the middle of the night with heartburn—and you might even experience middle-of-the-night choking or coughing, depending on how far up your esophagus the acid travels.

There are a few simple lifestyle changes you can make to ensure acid reflux doesn't cost you a good night's sleep. Susan Besser, MD, primary care physician at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, suggests nixing late-night snacks and cutting off food and drink three hours before hitting the sheets.

The less acid you have in your stomach when you lie down, the less likely you are to experience heartburn at night. Late-night eating is also associated with weight gain, as a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has shown. Not only why is my acid reflux worse in the evening prescription if a more serious underlying situations of antacid components: ranitidine famotidine and cimetidine brand title: Pepcid.

Acid reflux nausea or heartburn which containing runs throughout my body. This takes press on organs in place to obtain instead choose low-fat meat such as fish eggs nuts tomatoes onions raw garlic spicy and fried foods people eat bigger meals throughout the day. Using apple cider vinegar to a hiatal hernia. All you have to obtain if any. For lots of why is my acid reflux worse in the evening substances that had been shut off for so lengthy went wild and crying chest burning septicemia as a direct to your email box!

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