Heartburn Symptoms - Are You Losing Sleep Over It?

Because heartburn symptoms vary with each individual and other factors, it can be hard sometimes to sure the type of heartburn you have. Nearly half of all heartburn sufferers can’t accurately identify their condition. Is this a serious problem?

Well it could be if you are one of those who have heartburn attacks twice a week or more. Twice a week may not sound like a lot, but to a doctor, having heartburn symptoms more than twice a week is the difference between occasional indigestion and perhaps something more serious.

So why take chances, wouldn‘t it be better to make these heartburn symptoms go away? Learn the difference between occasional pain and the beginning of gastro-intestinal problems.

Anything that will point the finger. Here is the short list of symptoms to help you with your heartburn treatment plan. If you experience conditions such as chest pain, belching and burping as well as a bad taste, bad breath, hoarse cough or urge to regurgitate you probably need to start some form of heartburn treatment.

One common heartburn symptom comes at night. If you are one of those who gets up frequently, in the middle of the night, to deal with a heartburn attack then you are a good candidate for someone who needs to take control of the situation.

If you’ve taken the usual antacid before bed, without success then here are a couple of things you should be doing. To start with, a diary with daily food notations should include
1. What you eat
2. What time you eat
3. How many grams of food

Changes in these three items will usually solve the problem. Here’s what to look for.

What you eat - Meat is harder to digest, fruits and vegetables are digested much faster. Even after the stomach prepares the food, it still has to pass to the small intestine where 90 percent of the processing takes place.

What time you eat - You probably wouldn’t want to run a 10K race just before bed, your stomach feels the same way. Keep it light.

How many grams - The last meal should be the smallest. Serve your plate and weigh it. That’s what you’ve given you stomach to work on while you relax in front of the TV.

A sensible approach is to completely switch your meals. Make your morning meal the largest meal of the day and the evening meal the smallest.

The best way to overcome heartburn is the willingness to make changes. Success stories have happy endings because people take time to understand the problem and do what it takes to fix it. Heartburn is a symptom that won’t go away by itself but can be fixed before damage occurs. As you work through this look to natural remedies for help. There are many, some right there in your kitchen.

About the Author: