There’s no sense taking a heartburn tablet or liquid or pill if you are not going to help it do its work. No one pill or medicine can fix all of the reasons why you may be getting heartburn or acid indigestion. This is condition that often has a variety of circumstances in order for it to have developed. Distressing symptoms that keep you awake all night, such as coughing, heartburn or vomiting after belching needs much more than just a heartburn tablet or two.

You Must See Your Doctor

Heartburn, acid indigestion or acid reflux disease doesn’t go away on its own. This is also a condition that tends to get worse over time and not better. If you have heartburn more than twice a week, then you need to see your doctor as son as possible. One of the worst things about heartburn is that keeps you awake at night. When your body can’t get enough sleep, your life becomes depressing and you can be more prone to accidents, mood swings and illnesses.

You Can Still Eat Food

You don’t necessarily have to give up your favorite foods right away. You do need to be sure that you eat sitting up – especially if it’s a rich, spicy food. Don’t eat lying down or settled back in the recliner, even heartburn tablets. And try not to eat anything about two hours before going to bed. If you do have to eat something, make it really mild food such as half a bowl of cereal. This is less acid for the heartburn tablet to fight, as well as not having to fight gravity, too.

To Give Up

If you haven’t already, you must quit smoking. Nicotine rips your stomach and esophagus lining to shreds. If you don’t smoke but have a lot of friends who do, you need to see if they will refrain from smoking in your home or if you could go to more ventilated areas to socialize, instead of a bar or pub. The beach is always a great option, if there’s one available.

Many people and healthcare professionals think that anyone who needs to take heartburn tablets on a regular basis should also quit all alcoholic beverages. The National Heart burn Alliance doesn’t go that far, but does highly stress the importance of moderation and eating with meals. They also state that alcohol should never be used to de-stress. You should use deep breathing exercises, playing with your pet or light exercise, instead.

It might not seem like the greatest idea for a book, but if you have stomach heartburn, than keeping a journal about your attacks can prove to be the best thing you ever wrote. Stomach heartburn is a complex condition with a variety of triggers. If you can spot these triggers, then you can avoid painful heartburn attacks by just avoiding the triggers. A stomach heartburn journal can also greatly help your doctor trying to get the bed treatment for you.

A Borrowed Idea

Keeping a journal or written record of your heartburn attacks is an idea borrowed from other medical conditions with very complex triggers. Keeping a journal is also recommended for migraineurs (those who suffer from migraines) or chronic headaches (different from migraines). Keeping a food journal is considered a helpful method for dieting. Keeping any kind of journal about yourself is highly recommended for any psychological disorders.

The Nitty Gritty

Your stomach heartburn journal doesn’t have to be fancy. It doesn’t even have to be hand-written. It could also be a computer program consisting of a template where you fill in the blanks. There are many such forms available for headache and migraine sufferers on the Internet. With a couple of word changes, you can alter those ready-made forms for your stomach heartburn records.

The National Heart Burn Alliance also has a downloadable form for stomach heartburn sufferers on their website at http://www.heartburnalliance.org/reflux_record.php. You need to have Abode Acrobat PDF reader in order to access these forms. If you have Microsoft Word XP or higher, than you already have Abode Acrobat installed in your computer.

All you need to do is note a few things about your attacks. You need the date, the time of the attack (even just day or night will do), what you ate or drank last and any other factors that you think may have contributed to the attack. These factors could include bending over from the waist, wearing tight clothing or severe emotional upset. You could also note if any medicines seem to bring some relief.

You need to keep up with your stomach heartburn journal for a couple of weeks at least before you start to see patterns emerging. This is a long-term form of treatment instead of just taking a heartburn tablet and getting some instant relief. If you forget to make a record of an attack, don’t worry about it. Do the best you can do.

Alcohol and heartburn go together like Bud and Wiser. If you only drink one glass a year, then you probably will not have to worry much about alcohol heartburn. But if you drink everyday, then you are putting yourself in a very painful position. Alcohol not only relaxes the muscles in your stomach and esophagus that holds your stomach acid in place, but it can also burn the lining of your esophagus.

In this article, we won’t talk about alcoholism and alcoholics. That’s a disease in and of itself, with stomach heartburn being the least of an alcoholic’s problems. This is more aimed at the occasional and social drinkers. Please don’t use this article on alcohol heartburn in the place of your doctor’s advice.

For The Occasional Drinker

If you only consume a few drinks a year and have been diagnosed with acid indigestion of acid reflux disease, then you are better off staying away from alcohol entirely, unless you can be sure it’s really watered down and that you don’t fall asleep right away. It’s much easier for the occasional drinker to cut out alcohol altogether than for a steady drinker (someone who drinks at least twice a week). Alcohol heartburn will then be something you can avoid.

For The Steady Drinker

If you don’t already have a problem with alcohol heartburn, you soon will if you don’t cut out the booze entirely or only have it very occasionally. This is especially important if you smoke. Smoking will irritate your stomach and esophagus and putting alcohol on top of it is like pouring paraffin onto a fire (which is not recommended unless you really want a big fire). Many studies show that quitting alcohol is easier than quitting cigarettes, so take it vice at a time.

Clinical studies have shown that when you drink just 12 ounces of red wine with a meal, you will have a much higher percentage of acid in your esophagus than someone who drank a non-alcoholic beverage with a meal. These studies have been repeated using different alcoholic beverages such as white wine, whiskey, beer and vodka, and the results were the same.

The National Heart Burn Alliance recommends that those who drink socially always eat with their drinks in order to help avoid alcohol heartburn. You also should never drink at least two hours before going to bed. But it would be best to cut alcohol out of your diet altogether. They did not condemn drinking wine at Christian or Judaic religious ceremonies, as you are usually only expected to have a small mouthful.

It’s normal for heartburn and pregnancy to happen together, even if you have never gotten heartburn before. The growing baby is pressing on your internal organs so all of your plumbing is a bit upset. You’ve probably also noticed a need to run to the bathroom a lot more. But even when the little tyke is really little, just the hormonal changes your body goes through during pregnancy can be enough to trigger a heartburn attack.

Symptoms

Heartburn and pregnancy feels like any other kind of heartburn, acid indigestion or alcohol heartburn. You feel a tremendous burning up your throat and sometimes in the back of your moth. Often, you might vomit a little. Often the burning will go all the way down to where your heart is, hence where the name heartburn comes from. Both heartburn and pregnancy last up until the baby is finally born.

Things You Can And Can’t Do

Although heartburn and pregnancy related discomfort like morning sickness and swollen ankles are normal, you are not held completely at its mercy. There are many things you can do to ease the discomforts of both heartburn and pregnancy. Please do not use this article in place of your doctor’s instructions.

If you haven’t already, you must stop drinking alcohol and smoking – for the benefit of your heartburn and pregnancy. Both alcohol and smoking (alone or in combination) act as muscle relaxants, even with your digestive system, causing the stomach to spill acid back up your esophagus.

You also need to bend at your knees instead of bending over at your waist. The former position doesn’t put any pressure on your belly. Keeping that in mind, you need to wear looser clothing, too. Try not to gain more weight than your doctor recommends, as the extra fat will press on your innards.

Some pregnant women helped ease their heartburn by chewing gum after they ate. The theory is that the saliva made by the gum chewing helps push the stomach acid down. This doesn’t work for everyone, but it’s certainly worth a try. If you could not eat two hours before lying down, that helps the gum work even more.

What About Drugs?

Any medicine – over the counter, prescription or even alternative therapies like aromatherapy – must be approved by your doctor before you can take them, less you risk harming your baby. The over the counter antacid Tums is generally recommended for pregnant women, but again, you need to check with your doctor to be sure.

Although heartburn can attack at any time of the day, when it’s nighttime heartburn, it’s particularly painful and bothersome. Most people who are diagnosed with heartburn or with acid reflux disease have nighttime heartburn. This only makes sense as lying down can encourage your food to come back up. For some, the loss of sleep is more dangerous to health and sanity in the long run than the actual heartburn.

When To Go To Bed

Part of avoiding nighttime heartburn is knowing when it’s safest to lay down. The last time you should eat is two or three hours before going to bed. Your want your stomach (and the digestive acid inside of it) to be as empty as possible before going to bed. You also really need to avoid alcoholic beverages in this time, too, if not give it up altogether. Some people like to have a “nightcap” to make them drowsy, but you won’t be doing much sleep when nighttime heartburn hits.

Pillows

Many people get some relief from nighttime heartburn by making sure their pillows are stacked up and that their head, neck and shoulders are on an incline. If you move around a lot in your sleep, then you’ll slip off of this incline. There are special acid reflux pillows and wedge-shaped foam to help you stay in place.

Antacids And Medications

There are many antacids to choose from to take when nighttime heartburn wakes you up. As well as over the counter medications in tablets, liquids and pills, there are also prescription medications. With heartburn and pregnancy, you do not just want to pop pills. Many drugs – even over the counter drugs – can harm your baby. You need to talk to your doctor about safely dealing with nighttime heartburn.

If pregnancy isn’t an issue with you, then it’s usually safe to try an over the counter antacid for a week. If you’re still getting nighttime heartburn at least twice a week, you really should see your doctor. Heartburn and acid reflux isn’t something that goes away by itself.

Wear Loose Clothing

Tight clothing – even that really expensive frilly lingerie – can press on your body and aggravate your nighttime heartburn. You might also want to not tuck in your blankets, if they press in on you. And try never to sleep on your stomach. If you roll over in your sleep, you may have to stick a pebble on the front of your pajamas to wake you up and get you back into a proper position.

If an individual is experiencing a burning sensation underneath their sternum or breastbone they may be experiencing what is known as heartburn. Generally, the individual will find that their heartburn is caused by a number of factors. Some of those factors could include the eating of certain foods, certain lifestyle choices or being overweight.

In addition, this condition may be caused by a weakening of the sphincter muscle located between the esophagus and stomach. This weakening allows the flow of the acid from the stomach up into the esophagus. This in turn burns the sensitive lining of the esophagus and therefore gives the severe burning sensation

However, heartburn is simply a way for an individual to describe what they are experiencing. The actual term for this condition is known as gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD.

In addition, it is important to treat this condition. That is because if the esophagus is continually exposed to the stomach’s acid it may cause the ulceration of the esophagus which may lead to cancer.

Therefore, there are many GERD medications that are available to the individual. Some of those GERD medications can be purchased over the counter and some may need to be prescribed by a doctor.

GERD Medication Acquired Over The Counter

If an individual is experiencing GERD there are a number of options that the sufferer can take. One of those options is through the use of medicine.

One of the options available if choosing medication in an effort to reduce symptoms and help to heal any damage to the esophagus is through the use of over-the-counter medication. Some of these over-the-counter medications include the use of Tums, Rolaids, Gaviscon, etc.

If considering antacids it is important to know what the main ingredients in these products are. For example, some of the antacids contain an ingredient called calcium carbonate. An example of this type of product is Tums.

Other types of antacids can contain a combination of ingredients. Some of those ingredients are calcium, magnesium, aluminum with hydroxide, basic salts, etc. Examples of these types of products can include Mylanta, Rolaids, etc.
GERD Medication Prescriptions

In the event that the over-the-counter products prove to be ineffective the attending physician may wish to use prescription medication to treat GERD and try to reduce the adverse affects of this condition. One such medication is a proton pump inhibitor.

These types of GERD medications actually work to minimize or prevent acid in the stomach. This occurs as the medication actually “shuts off” the small pumps in the stomach which in turn decreases the amount of acid in the stomach.

Some of these types of GERD medications include Nexium, Prilosec, Prontonix and Prevacid. These medications are very effective and not only reduce the acid in the stomach, but help to reverse the damage caused by the acid reflux in the esophagus.

The good news in regards to having heartburn or GERD is that there are many options in regards to managing or treating this medical condition. One of the common ways for a doctor to treat heartburn is through prescription medication. One of those prescription medications is Protonix.

Therefore, if considering the use of medication and specifically Protonix it is important to know specifically what medical conditions this medication treats, how this medication works and what are the possible side-effects of taking this medication.

How Protonix Medication Performs

The prescription Protonix medication is a proton pump inhibitor. This means that its specific action is to shut down or inhibit the proton pump process found within the mucus lining of the patient’s stomach.

The timing of this action is accomplished by the Protonix medication during the final phase of the stomach’s secretion of acid. Generally, the Protonix medication is effective following one hour of ingestion and can effectively perform for up to 24 hours.

Also, the usual strength of the prescribed medication is a dosage of 40 mg. Usually the patient is instructed to take one tablet daily to counter the high acidity found within the stomach. In addition, this medication is usually taken in the morning. This daily dosage allows Protonix to effectively treat the hyperacidity of an individual throughout the day.

What Does Protonix Treat?

This medical action makes Protonix medication an extremely effective medication when it comes to treating hyperacidity. Specifically, Protonix medication is prescribed for patients who have erosive esophagitis or GERD. GERD is an acronym that stands for gastroesophageal disease. Subsequently, upon the successful performance of this medication in reducing the excretion of acid, there is less acid in the stomach.

In addition, because there is less excretion of acid in the stomach there is a less likelihood of the acid being refluxed up into the esophagus. Therefore, the body has an opportunity to heal the esophagus because the cause of the burning, acid from the stomach, has been reduced or minimized.

Side Effects Of This GERD Medication

As with all medications there may be an associated side effect for the patient who takes this prescribed medicine. Some of those side effects may include the individual experiencing headache, and diarrhea.

In addition it is important to notify the attending physician at once if any other symptoms associated that the patient may feel are a direct consequence in the taking of this medication.

A common medical condition experienced by individuals today is heartburn. Heartburn is that medical condition in which the acid produced by the stomach flows backwards and into the inner lining of the esophagus.

This unnatural flow of stomach acid can be caused by a number of factors. Those factors can include diet, lifestyle choices and a weakened sphincter muscle that lies between the stomach and the esophagus.

In addition, if consulting with a doctor about this issue, the patient may be exposed to a situation associated with this medical condition. The acronym for this condition is known as GERD. Specifically GERD stands for gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Heartburn or GERD is prevalent in today’s society. Therefore, it is important to know what the symptoms are, what are the causes and the treatment plan for heartburn or GERD.

Symptoms

Heartburn or GERD is a very painful and unpleasant medical condition in which the acid from the stomach flows upward towards the mouth. This flow of acid burns the sensitive lining of the esophagus which in turn causes the burning sensation.

Generally, one experiences this pain beginning just underneath the sternum or breastbone and proceeds upward. In fact, many people who have heartburn or GERD experience the unpleasant and bitter taste of the gastric acid in their mouths.

Causes

The condition of heartburn or GERD is especially prevalent at night when one is reclining in bed. This is because gravity and a weakened sphincter muscle, that part of the anatomy that lies between the top of the stomach and bottom portion of the esophagus, allows the backward flow of the acid.

In addition heartburn or GERD can be caused by diet. That is because food such as grapefruit, tomatoes, coffee, chocolate and alcohol have acidic features or may be comprised of ingredients that cause excess acid. For example coffee and chocolate contain caffeine which has been shown to cause hyperacidity in some individuals.

Treatment Plan

There are many treatment plans for individuals who suffer heartburn or GERD. Two specific treatment options include the use of over-the-counter medications. These types of medications include products that are manufactured using calcium carbonate, magnesium and aluminum. Examples of these products include Tums, Rolaids, etc.

Another treatment program utilizes prescription medications. Those medications can shut down the production of acid in the stomach. One of those types of medication are called proton pump inhibitors. An example of this drug is the Protonix medication. Another type of medication may work to minimize the production of acid in the stomach. An example of this type of medication is Cimetidine.

If an individual has an adverse medical condition they are generally offered a number of choices in regards to the treatment of that medical condition. Generally, some of those options include the use of medication, surgery or lifestyle changes.

Another option available to individuals is the use of home remedies. One of those particular conditions that can be effectively treated through the use of home remedies is that condition known as heartburn.

Heartburn is the upward flow of the gastric juices from the stomach into the esophagus. This acid literally burns the lining of the esophagus. Therefore, it is important to treat this condition because the esophagus may become ulcerated and may ultimately lead to cancer. This possible ulceration may be caused by heartburn GERD or gastroesophogeal reflux disease.

Therefore, if considering a home remedy for heartburn there are a number of options available to the sufferer. Some of those options include a change in diet and lifestyle changes.

Change in Diet

One of the easiest steps that can be considered as a home remedy for heartburn is to undertake a change in diet. These changes in diet could include the avoidance of certain foods as well as incorporating other foods in one’s diet.

For example, there are certain foods that can increase the acidity in an individual’s stomach. Some of those foods can include tomatoes, grapefruit, caffeine, alcohol, chocolate, etc. By avoiding these foods or limiting the ingestion of these foods one can begin to control heartburn.

Additionally, there are changes in diet that can be taken as a home remedy for heartburn. Two of those foods are ginger and the drinking of green tea.

Ginger has been shown to minimize stomach distress and help to soothe the stress that the stomach is experiencing. If considering ginger it can be grinded and the powder can be sprinkled on food eaten. In addition, there are ginger supplements. The recommended dosage is 500 mg taken after each meal along with 8 ounces of water.

Another home remedy for heartburn is the drinking of green tea. Green tea has not only been shown to soothe the lining of the stomach, but helps the digestive process.

Lifestyle Changes

In addition to changes in diet as a home remedy for heartburn there are lifestyle changes that can be considered. Some of those lifestyle changes can include physical activity as well as eating habits.

Some of those physical changes include not smoking or chewing gum before a meal. These actions can produce an air bubbles which can place excess pressure on the stomach which may lead to heartburn.

Also, it is important to properly chew food and eat slowly. This is because the proper chewing of the food and mixture with the enzymes found in the saliva is the first step in the process of food.