I have had acid reflux since 3:30PM yesterday. I've taken malox, pepcid AC and have eaten ice cream to try and relieve the pain. It is now 2:41AM and I have not been able to sleep more than 30 minutes (if 30 minutes). Please HELP.
Q: Is there anything that I could take for instant relief of acid reflux so that I could sleep?
Answers (2)
9/30/09 3:57pm
Hi Dinah,
A chiropractor recently told me about chewing licorice root. So I looked it up and sure enough, it's there. it's best to get Deglycerhinizated licorice (known as DGL) to avoid certain other problems. It's also not recommended if you have high blood pressure. You might want to read up on it first. I got it in chewable tablets, because she said to chew it well, and it helps heal the stomach (actually said to help heal ulcers) and I hope the esophagus as well!
P.S. I sometimes use ice cream to calm my stomach too - but I have found a low-fat version I really like (Edy's slow-churned). In fact, eating a high-fat food could increase your reflux (yeah, not what we want to hear, I know!)
Good luck, hope this helps!
10/ 7/09 8:46am
I'm so glad you've got relief. I have been able to reduce my use of Prilosec but not get off it entirely - and may not be able to.
It turns out the DGL licorice has the stuff removed that causes high blood pressure (the "glycerrhinizica acid and glycerretinic acid". But if you've got that severe a case, well - my GPs line of thought about alternative meds is, it can work for a while... and mostly I've found he's right about that. I take plenty of Rx's too.... ya gotta do what ya gotta do. And you don't want any more damage to your insides!
1/ 2/10 9:01am
I take aciphex once in the morning but I still sometimes get acid reflex at night and so I take 2 150mg zantac at night and it goes away, then if I sleep on my left side it seems to help alot. Hope this helps you.
1/ 5/10 9:32am
I tried Zantac, even 150 mg gives me burning diarrhea - not pleasant! I sleep on my left side a lot, it definitely does help. (I prefer my right side, however, my right shoulder has been in a lot of pain, so I have TWO reasons to sleep on my left side (LOL).
When Prilosec isn't enough I will add Maalox or Tums, or if it's a very upset acidy stomach, PeptoBismol, something like that ...
9/30/09 7:49pm
I took anxiety medication with my other meds, so I would not have a anxiety attacks while trying to sleep but I would go right to it unless you had troble breathing while trying to fall to sleep.
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By Dinah— Last Modified: 10/21/10, First Published: 09/28/09
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Hi Ellen:
Thanks for responding, I could not handle it any more I had to go to the doctor for help. The meds she suggested was Protonix. OMG it works so far so good, I got results in one day. Thanks for the licorice idea but I am hypertensive.