Acid build up preventing sleep!

[MsMarvel]

Any tips on how to deal with this? Absolutely shattered, if i get some sleep i wake up feeling awful because of the acid build up while sleeping and still.

Having loads of gaviscon, tried pepto bismol and also on anti sicknesa prescribed by doctor. Symptoms are slowly improving but its just the lack of sleep/worry about waking up in agony thats the killer.

A few nights ago i had a sleeping tablet (not my prescription so not ideal.i know) and it helped so much, got a good nights sleep and actually woke up feeling ok. But now back to feeling shattered and constant acid build up. Any ideas on how to combat this other than carrying on drinking bottles and bottles of gaviscon?

If this is how babies with reflux feel like then i have so much sympathy for them, especially with not being able to communicate it!!

It can be that you are lacking acid apparently.

I get it a lot when stressed. Apples help. Lemon juice didn't although I it had been suggested. I had previously tried indigestion remedies and treatments for reflux (now withrawn) but it never went. Apples were best for me, and reducing tea/coffee. Drinking more water.

If you have a look on Google you will find some info that indicates shortage of acid, and advice.

Have you tried raising the head end of your bed by putting blocks under the legs? That stops acid from travelling back up while you sleep which might help a bit?

The doctor can prescribe omeprazole for you. Get some ranitidine for now (Zantac) it works the best.

Sorry, neant to say in my post im on omezaprole from the doctor as well. Can i take ranitidine with it as well or is omezaprole, gaviscon and ranititdine too much all together?

@Likethebattle, Zantac (ranitidine)is now withdrawn from sale, unfortunately. Omeprazole should be used with care, and not for long tern use, and can make acid rebound even worse when stopped.

I was taking ranitidine until it was withdrawn.

Along with apples and water I just sit up with 2 pillows until I fall asleep. Staying almost upright helps a lot. I still have ranititdine but don't take it.

If you are constipated it can also make it worse.

@nanthewiser I didn’t know that about ranitidine. It was the only thing that helped me until I was put on omeprazole which I’ve been on for years.

I've always relied on ranitidine too. I get nexium now you can buy it OTC. Used to get omezprazole (sp) but the chemist told me nexium is better and safer. Anyone know if that's true? It seems to take longer to work

I was going to suggest sleeping as upright as possible. I suffered terribly with it and my midwife suggested it. Seemed to work for me.
Hope it gets better for you soon

I’ve recently stopped drinking alcohol and it’s almost gone. (That might not be relevant for you.)

Tbh I’d go back to the dr, reflux like that needs further investigation.

Not all ranitidine has been withdrawn. A lot of batches were withdrawn due to an impurity that was found. There are now some new batches available. I was able to buy some last week.
DH takes ranitidine along with omeprazole but I don’t think it is a good habit to get into. It would be better to try other things like raising the head end of your bed, not eating for at least 2 hours before bed etc.

Yep, Nexium is great! I bought mine in Sainsburys. I was also prescribed Omeprazole late in pregnancy when I has awful acid reflux but you have to get that from docs. Nexium seems to work just as well.

Back to the GP, I agree this requires further investigation, it could be an infection. You might need a gastroscopy and to have biopsies. How much Omeprazole are you taking and when?

The reasons for the acid build up is due to nausea/vomitting, which has passed, doctor said this part is likely to hang around for a while so not concerned about severity etc from that point of view. Will try raising the bed and will try apples, i would have thought to avoid them as being acidy but willing to give anything a go!

Frequency of omezaprole is 2 a day, told to gradually reduce to 1 a day when feeling a bit better and go from there.

I found that cutting out chocolate, wine and red meat helped massively - everyone's different but I'd play around with your diet and see whether any changes help.

I was advised to take my Omeprazole first thing in the morning with water (I keep them in my bedside table). It gives them time to work before I start eating. It’s made a lot of difference compared to when I was taking them with orange juice! Also don’t take the Gaviscon within an hour of anything other meds because it can stop them working.

Omprazole first thing in the morning , then another at about 5 ish. Using the gaviscon mainly in the evenings/night as it gives a more instant relief, but trying to to overdo the gaviscon.

Compared to hiw i was im so much better, its just the acid build up first thing in the morning thats the killer!

I read about Silicol Gel on MN.
www.silicol.co.uk/
It is great. It looks and tastes like wallpaper paste but has been great for reducing acid reflux. I think it lines the throat and stomach. Take it before meals. and also bed time if thats a bad time.
It warns that it should not be taken with medication - I guess that that is because the lining reduces the absorption of the medicine.

I agree with the above poster that you should reduce alcohol, chocolate and caffeine too.

Echoing LonginesPrime's suggestion of looking at your diet. Intolerances can come and go. I had almost continuous acid, which was very scary when I woke up because it had refluxed back up to my throat (and possibly irritated my windpipe) and I shot out of bed gasping for breath.

My grandson had been diagnosed with cow's milk intolerance, so I already had some non-milk things in the house. So I tried going mostly dairy-free and that seemed to work. But it came back, and I read somewhere here that gluten can sometimes also be a trigger, so I went mostly gluten-free as well, and things got better again.

If you want to go down the route of seeing if it's a food group then it is a nuisance testing each type. But if it is, it's not necessarily a case of cutting that group out completely, just moderating it somewhat.

The acid is caused by the recent spate of vomitting (ended up in hospital with dehydration which caused acute kidney infection) not had any alcohol, meat or caffeine (bar the odd cup of tea) since new year.

So it's not likely to be food related, though I guess your stomach has not yet recovered.

Do you use lots of pillows to prop yourself up at night? I have four, with one at waist level and the other three for my shoulders and head. When it was at its worst, I used almost every pillow in the house.

Have you tried eating a few almonds in between meals. Also liquorice dgl twice a day before meals made a huge difference.

I cut right down on bread and pasta too.