This is sometime why you get this awful taste, similar to vomit, when you overeat, eat too much acidic food or drinks, or even when you drink too much alcoholic beverages. Heartburn on its own, once in a while does not mean you have GERD. When heartburn becomes chronic, which means at least twice a week for at least three months, then you have reason to suspect GERD.

There are certain food you should avoid to lessen to times you experience heartburn. There are some food or drinks that weaken the lower esophagus muscle (LES) and can irritate your esophagus.

Starting with beverages, you should avoid the following drinks: lemonade, orange juice, cranberry juice, milk shake, grapefruit juice, wine, sodas, and coffee or tea – decaffeinated or not.

When talking about food, the ones you should take care not to eat too much of, especially three hours before sleeping are citrus fruits, fatty meats, ice cream, chocolate, cottage cheese, vegetables, French fries, nuggets, sour cream, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, doughnuts, brownies, and junk food like potato chips or corn chips.     

If you wake up in the middle of the night feeling hungry, avoid taking a big snack, and focus more on settling your hunger with food like apple, a small baked potato, banana, fat- free dairy products, white or multi-grain bread, graham crackers, baked potato chips, jelly beans, rice cakes, and pretzels. Also, never consume too much even if they are considered safe food.

It is also advisable that if you must take a snack in the middle of the night, that you allow at least 30 minutes before going back to sleep.

On the other hand, if you came from a party and had a few drinks, the best way to settle your stomach for the night is to drink a full glass of water. This is an age old trick to counter the effects of the alcohol and avoid indigestion and a heavy head the next day.

It is also important that you do not lie down with your head at the same level as the rest of your body, but then neither should it be at an extreme angle. All you need to do is keep your head a few inches above the stomach so that you let gravity play an important role in keeping your food and the stomach acid in place.

The usual treatment for heartburn consists of antacids which are over-the-counter drugs. Samples of these popular antacids are Maalox, Tums, and Rolaids. There are also drugs that aim to lower the production of acids in the stomach. These are called H-2 Receptor blockers, and the generic names are cimetidine or ranitidine, among others. These drugs are considered maintenance drugs as compared to antacids which are like temporary acid pain relievers.

There are also drugs that you can take that will heal the esophagus from further acid damage, and these can also be bought over-the-counter. These generic medicines are omeprazole and lansoprazole. What they do is to block the production of acid and are termed as proton pump inhibitors.

It must be noted that before taking any kind of medication, even over-the-counter drugs, you must talk to your doctor. It is possible that a lifestyle check as well as a dietary change can solve your problem, and you need not take any medicine at all.

For instance, if you sit at an incline after meals, and avoid tight fitting clothes, you can prevent acid from traveling upwards. You should never lie down though wherein your head is at the same level as your stomach. This could encourage regurgitation which could be unpleasant at best.

Suppose you start taking OTC drugs but there heartburn still persists, if you visit your doctor, he might prescribe stronger medicine for you such as metoclopramide which is a prokinetic drug that allows for quicker digestion as well as strengthening the LES or the lower esophageal sphincter. This LES is a muscle that is found at the lower part of your esophagus. Normally, it would open to allow the food to go to the stomach, and then close after. GERD happens when this LES does not close properly.

Prokinetic drugs help this muscle function better.

It is also very possible that not just one drug will help you but a combination of drugs. In addition, some of these drugs should never be taken as a maintenance drug, and should only be taken for a few weeks. The only person who can help decide this would be your doctor, and this is why it is imperative that you consult with a doctor from the moment you experience chronic heartburn.

Heartburn is when acid from your stomach goes to your esophagus area because the ring that is suppose to block it does not close. This is a very simplistic way of explaining how a person gets heartburn.

A heartburn is never about a heart attack or any other kind of heart problem. It is called that mainly because of the location of the pain which is in the chest area and can go all the way up to the neck and jaw. This is a severe pain sometimes and can be hard to handle.

The Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) comes into the picture because it will explain why heartburn is always happening to the patient. It is very important to be able to diagnose this problem because it can become a life-threatening condition if not attended to properly.

This condition can become serious because the acid can cause major damage to the esophagus area, and in some cases have been known to cause cancer in the esophagus.

If you can start to pinpoint the triggers of a heartburn attack, then you can prevent GERD from getting worse. For instance, instead of taking a citrus drink that is known to be acidic like orange juice, why not drink water instead. You should also eliminate products that contain caffeine since it too can contain too much acid.

Other trigger points for heartburn are smoking, eating too much and too often, drinking too much alcoholic drinks, insufficient exercise and taking the wrong position after eating. Basically, you need to avoid food and beverages that cause you personally to have indigestion, and likewise with any other activity or position.

For example, for some people, walking after eating helps them digest better, while for others, it’s eating fruits like pineapple and papaya. It will also help if you avoid tight clothes especially in the middle stomach area because this puts too much undue pressure on the stomach.

Overweight people and pregnant women also have a tendency to experience heartburn. It occurs because of the extra weight and pressure on the abdomen as well as changes in the hormone levels.

Heartburn occurs even with the most careful patients, and in these cases, doctors will recommend a mild antacid, at least initially to treat the acid. The problem with not seeking medical advice even if heartburn continues to persist is that the acid could cause too much damage to your esophagus. This can become a very serious condition, and could require surgery is not taken care of as soon as possible.

GERD stands for Gastroesophageal reflux disease, and though this may be a common condition, found in about 20% of the U.S. population, it is by no means an insignificant situation. At worse, you could end up with cancer of the esophagus, but before we go to the extreme, you should know that there are ways to control GERD.

Before any treatment, there should be signs. One sign is heartburn but there are others. Regurgitation is another symptom, and it happens when your stomach acid gives you this bitter taste in your mouth, similar to the vomit taste. There are two other symptoms of GERD which are difficulty in swallowing also known as dysphagia; and water brash which is when you experience salty or sour liquid in your mouth.

On the other hand, even if you do not experience any of these symptoms, it is still possible that you have GERD but you just have a high tolerance for pain and you are not sensitive to the acid taste. In this case, if you have a chronic cough, chest pain, hoarseness, or asthma, it could also mean you have GERD.

Once you start feeling heartburn for a extended period of time, and you visit your doctor, the following tests could be done on you to confirm the presence of GERD. These tests are the gastric emptying test, 24 hour monitoring of your pH, an esophagoscopy, the Barium swallow test, and a esophageal manometry.

You will also have to have a physical exam and provide a detailed history of your and your family’s medical treatments.

When you start to feel heartburn, there are also quick relief methods you can take such as sitting up if you are lying down, but avoiding the bent position. You can also stop smoking if you do, take smaller meals instead of large meals, and avoid certain drinks and food that are known to be acidic like orange juice, coffee, tea, chocolate, and potatoes.

It will also help if you avoid overeating and gaining excess weight. This is because the extra weight can cause too much pressure inside the abdominal area and result in a tendency to have heartburns or poor digestion.  

As a last ditch effort to treat the GERD problem, a doctor may recommend surgery, but only if medication and treatment do not work at all.