GERD and Sleep Position

I have starting sleeping on my stomach using the Falcon position and found the aerophagia is mild to none. This is a huge improvement for me.

I just hope stomach sleeping doesn't worsen the GERD. I ate some horrible stuff Wednesday and had a bad GERD attack that night. Hopefully it was just the food and not related to stomach sleeping.

I know all the good treatments for GERD and generally practice them and considered myself cured until Wednesday night. I am just trying to determine if the stomach sleeping is a contributing factor.

Any information on how sleeping on the stomach affects GERD?

http://heartburn.about.com/b/2009/03/21 ... ing-up.htm

Heartburn Myth: "Nighttime heartburn sufferers must sleep sitting up."
Saturday March 21, 2009
A study conducted by the Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia found that sleeping on you left side is the best way to avoid nighttime heartburn. Sleeping on your right side may increase your heartburn symptoms because the acid takes longer to clear out of your esophagus when you lay on your right side. While sleeping on your back can allow acid to slip back into your esophagus more often, sleeping with your head elevated, such as on a wedge pillow, will allow gravity to keep the acid in your stomach.

rooster wrote:Anyone know which positions are best/worst for GERD? I started sleeping on my stomach a couple of weeks back and just had a bad attack last night - first time in a long time. (I won't tell you what I ate, but it will be a long time before I eat it again. )

Hi Rooster. The absolute best position we found was adding a 4 inch spacer of lumber or bricks under the front legs of the bed. Have been doing it for over 10 years now. Sleeping on your left side also seems to help.

Definitely left side. I also found that I swallow a lot more air when I lay on the right.

Left side with head elevated is best. I use a GERD wedge.

Hi Rooster,

After falling off & adjusting my wedge pillow all during the night (much like the challenges of a new CPAP mask ) . . . I finally invested in a mattress with adjustable base. I have a remote that I can adjust the head (and feet, and vibrate the bed which I don't really like). I can tell you that it's fabulous to have that adjustable base when you have GERD. Some nights I need to elevate it more than others.

Only certain mattresses can be used on adjustable bases, the memory foam works the best. When mattress-shopping for my aching bod, it turned out that the TempurPedic had a mattress that suited me better than any I could find. It was only then that I discovered I could order an "adjustable base" as an option. What a great solution for me Both the mattress and the adjustable base are probably among the BEST investments I've made in my life. No more aches, no more pains, no more struggling with wedge pillows which were not nearly as effective for GERD. Just a touch of a button and I can raise my upper body as high as I need. (There are split mattresses as well, so your spouse can remain in a flat position if preferred). TempurPedics are rather costly . . . but a great health investment IMHO.

Joy

A conundrum of sorts....left side best for gerd and right side best for aerophlagia. Things that will help...move your dinner time up....eat at 5 PM if you go to bed at 10 PM. Eat your big meal at noon and then a light meal at dinner....no steaks for dinner. Take a half a tablet of ranitidine an hour before bedtime. Raise the head of the bed or mattress 4 inches.

I have starting sleeping on my stomach using the Falcon position and found the aerophagia is mild to none. This is a huge improvement for me.

I just hope stomach sleeping doesn't worsen the GERD. I ate some horrible stuff Wednesday and had a bad GERD attack that night. Hopefully it was just the food and not related to stomach sleeping.

I know all the good treatments for GERD and generally practice them and considered myself cured until Wednesday night. I am just trying to determine if the stomach sleeping is a contributing factor.

Any information on how sleeping on the stomach affects GERD?









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rooster wrote: I ate some horrible stuff Wednesday and had a bad GERD attack that night.

Rooster,

The suspense is killing me...will you please tell us what the horrible thing you ate was?

mar

robertmarilyn wrote:

rooster wrote: I ate some horrible stuff Wednesday and had a bad GERD attack that night.

Rooster,

The suspense is killing me...will you please tell us what the horrible thing you ate was?

mar

We have been traveling this week and were at the mercy of various hosts (charities for whom we do volunteer work) for our food yesterday. I really do appreciate that the hosts fed us and it was my responsibility to control of my intake, so I am not passing the buck for my bad results.

Lunch was two nude brand-x hot dogs with chili and then there was a late dinner was the toppings of three pieces of Domino's meat lovers pizza (I don't eat bread because DreamStalker told me not to). Wow, those frozen toppings that Domino's uses are nasty!

I had a stupid attack. I paid for it. I accept the concept of individual responsibility.

Don't trust anything Graduate hospital has to say. I went there for stomach surgery in 1988 and it was the dirtiest, scummiest hospital I've ever seen. There were blood hand prints on the sheets that hang between the beds and everywhere the Sharps containers were overflowing with needles and the nurses just kept pushing more in with bare hands. It was a nightmare! I went through 4 rooms until I found a clean room to finally bed down in. And I should not have stayed because every day since I have had stomach problems. When I went in for surgery the doctor didn't show up for hours and in the meantime I laid there naked and cold and the interns (or whoever they were) danced around singing Gilligan's Island theme song verses I didn't know existed and they did Gilligan's Island trivia... it was horrible and traumatic! Finally a doctor showed up, not my doctor--some stranger, and did my procedure. In 1988 (before blood was tested automatically) they routinely gave you blood, even if you didn't need it. No wonder Philly had so many cases of AIDS. I had to claim I was a Jehovah Witness so they wouldn't give me blood. (And I'm not a Jehovah Witness- but there is nothing wrong with JWs, claiming I was one saved me from getting AIDs!) So, please, don't trust anything Graduate Hospital says. They should be lucky they are open at all. I haven't had a day since that I didn't have stomach problems because of their surgery-- and I never did find out exactly who did do my surgery. I'd bet they let the kids do it, that's why it was botched. Funny thing is that the hospital dropped my co-pay/deductible. When has a hospital ever done that???

Sorry about that, I just went off when I read the words Graduate Hospital!