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For many, bedtime is an hour of dread. While your spouse dozes off contentedly, you're sitting up, anxiously armed with a fistful of antacids, bracing for the arrival of your nightly tormentor -- heartburn.
If painful heartburn keeps you up at night, you're not alone. According to one 2005 study, about 25% of people in the U.S. say heartburn wakes them up at least two or three times each month.
What's worse, the consequences of nighttime heartburn last well past sunrise, says John R. Saltzman, MD, a gastroenterologist and director of endoscopy at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston.
That's because when you don't sleep well, you're exhausted, dragging yourself through the next day. Your job and family life can suffer. And heartburn at night is often more severe than during the day. It's more likely to cause damage to the esophagus -- damage that can sometimes lead to cancercancer.
But there's plenty you can do to end the nightly torture. With some changes to your habits -- and in more severe cases, medicine -- you should be able to sleep soundly again.