Best Sleeping Position to Relieve Acid Reflux

Best sleeping position for acid reflux

Sleep is very important for our body. This is the time when our body repairs and build damage tissues. When we are young kids, we sleep longer than 8 hours but now as we grow older, our body sleeps only about 6 to 8 hours. As we sleep our body recharge to gain energy so that when we wake up we can do our activities in full power. Also when we sleep at night, our stomach begins to digest food that we have had taken during dinner, thus it secret acids to aid digestion. As for my observation and experience, these acid that our stomach secreted can also be a major factor that cause pain at the upper abdomen, heartburn and back pain.

If my sleeping position is the usual flat position, I could feel heartburn in the middle of the night or pain at the upper abdomen when I wake up in the morning. These position is the easiest way for me to sleep but unfortunately this is a big NO NO for people with acid reflux or GERD like me. I think sleeping in this position will irritate the sphincter, a connection between stomach and esophagus. When the sphincter is irritated due to stomach acid then it could create stomach discomfort during the day. I take a glass of water early in the morning when I wake up but unfortunately in doesn't completely relieve the pain.

So what is the best sleeping position with acid reflux individuals?

According to world wide web, the best sleeping position for acid reflux is to position your upper body in a 45 degrees angle. The reason for these, is to prevent acid from back flowing to our esophagus. Because of the law of gravity, the acid will not be able to go up if you're going to sleep incline position.

Have you notice at the hospitals that there beds can be adjusted almost at 90 degrees angle?
This is because patients with GERD or acid reflux can adjust there sleeping position in a 45 degrees incline position. I been hospitalize for 2 days and I like their bed.

I have been sleeping in 45 degrees angle and I can say that this sleeping position is the best for individuals like me with acid reflux. I have noticed that when I sleep in this position, I feel less or no pain at my upper abdomen and no back pain. I wake up feeling good without any sort of pain that I usually felt when I sleep in a flat position.

My conclusion is that the best sleeping position for acid reflux is the incline position where my upper body is position in a 45 degrees angle or sleep sideways. I could use my pillows to pile them like a ladder so that I could create a comfortable incline position.

How about you, what sleep position you do to cope with your GERD? How do you feel when you wake up in the morning?

Posted in: acid reflux,acid reflux sleep,gerd sleep