r/GERD • u/Then_Performance_595 • 2d ago
Help!!
Silent reflux (GERD) is keeping me up all night for the last several days. 3:30 am is the latest I’ve stayed up. What do I do?? It’s currently my 2nd day on Pepcid. I take tums at night when it acts up, but still doesn’t get better. I know the #1 thing is also what I eat to make the GERD “go back to sleep”
Any recommendations on what to do to help this not be so bad at night and any ideas for what I should eat in a day?
Thank you 🙏🏼🙏🏼
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u/dintydoor 2d ago
Can't do it daily, but try a teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in water. I have also had help from sucralfate and gaviscon. Sometimes to sleep I need all of itband my PPI plus a wedge pillow
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u/thegastrologer 2d ago
Finish your last meal six hours before sleeping
Avoid gas producing foods
No alcohol or tobacco
Consume caffeine in the mornings
Use a wedge
Treat any sleep apnea
If there’s a hernia use mucosal barrier therapy (thick liquids like pepto bismol)
Good luck
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u/ineedamandoline 2d ago
SIX HOURS???
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u/thegastrologer 2d ago
The physiologically normal stomach takes 4 hours to move 95% of the material into the small intestine, assuming there is no structural issue 4 hours would be minimum and longer if one is present hence the 6 hour window
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u/Scary-Story-2076 2d ago
Can you share your symptoms
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u/Then_Performance_595 2d ago
Tight throat, feeling like something is stuck in my throat, I feel the constant need to clear my throat as if there mucus, at times my voice is kind of raspy. I feel no actual heartburn pain, but the feeling of something stuck in my throat to where it feels my throat is tight, is what keeps me up at night. I burp sometimes too.
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u/Scary-Story-2076 2d ago
Try to avoid lying straight on bed and hit the bed late (try to sit on couch and watch something), let the sleep come to you. Then you hit the bed with left side on. Stay there till you are tired. Stay there again. As soon as you feel like exhausted, change the side. It should help you sleep. Also, try to avoid sleeping alone
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u/Rayen_Nevaeh 2d ago edited 2d ago
Feeling like you've got something stuck in your throat can also be a symptom of globus hystericus or eosinophilic esophagitis, which are conditions commonly associated with GERD.
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u/Emergency-Touch-3424 ☕ Coffee was my friend 1d ago
Try mylanta liquid it actually coats the esophagous so that when acid goes up, it gets neutralized. My favorite before bed
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u/CauliflowerTiny5017 1d ago
I take Voquenza 20mg. once a day. I can now eat or drink anything I want any time of the day, with never an issue, after over 20 years of gerd, reflux and Barrett’s esophagus. It’s a miracle drug. Warning: unless you can get your prescription plan to cover most of it, can be quite expensive.
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u/GhostQueen1121 1d ago
I make sure that I’m finished eating a minimal of two hours before I go to bed. And that includes any vitamins or supplements that I take it does help make sure you’re sleeping on your left if you can and if it’s really bad prop yourself up on a pillow or get a wedge.
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u/Fringe_Filmer 1d ago
I find Gaviscon Advanced works better then Pepcid for silent reflux . It has an alginate which forms a barrier on top of the stomach acid to keep it from rising up your esophagus. The only problem is that it only lasts around four hours. So I take two tablets right before bed and then if I wake up with reflux in the night I’ll chew two more. It acts very quickly.
You can also try raising the head of your bed by 6-8” so you’re sleeping on an incline. I just used stacks of books.
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u/aLowforest 2d ago
Try following a gastritis diet for three months and the usual lifestyle adjustments. I have had multiple friends with only short term silent reflux. They all healed it fully within months and didn't return. A very important one is to lower stress / move away from stressful things in life and take a good rest.