We haven't mentioned this helpful hint lately, and have a lot of new members: Tex changed my life by recommending that we avoid sleeping on our right sides. It is especially helpful for GERD, but for reasons I don't fully understand, it makes a big difference for me in general gut comfort. I sleep on my left side 90 percent of the time (with occasional belly flops onto my stomach, or moments of lying on my back). But last night, I rolled onto my right side to accommodate a pushy cat, and after a pretty short time, felt slightly uncomfortable.
Especially while having annoying symptoms, this is an awesome, easy, no-risk, totally free way to reduce unnecessary discomfort. Thanks, Tex!
Love,
Sara
Sleeping on the left side - newbie tip!
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
my mother always told with any discomfort in the GI track (for example gas), lie don on your left side for a while. I most of the time sleep on my left side too. It feels like, how should I explain, well lets say lying on the right side, feels like I am working against my bowels and left side is the other way around. The best still feels lying on my belly, but in morning my neck is protesting than.
I thought this left side thing was something everybody knew and was a common thing for anyone with bowel problems. But it seems not. Can you see how wise a mother's advice sometimes can be
I thought this left side thing was something everybody knew and was a common thing for anyone with bowel problems. But it seems not. Can you see how wise a mother's advice sometimes can be
"As the sense of identity shifts from the imaginary person to your real being as presence awareness, the life of suffering dissolves like mist before the rising sun"
Leslie,
When you get to the place in your message where you want to add a smiley, just click on the smiley that you want, and the system will add the necessary code to your message to create the smiley when someone views it.
If you can't sleep on your left side that's not the end of the world - just never, ever sleep on your right side, unless you enjoy having GERD.
Tex
When you get to the place in your message where you want to add a smiley, just click on the smiley that you want, and the system will add the necessary code to your message to create the smiley when someone views it.
If you can't sleep on your left side that's not the end of the world - just never, ever sleep on your right side, unless you enjoy having GERD.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
I, too, was really helped with my acid reflux by sleeping on my left side. I was surprised to hear Dr. Oz say the other day that from a cardiac point of view it is better to sleep on your right side....apparently it makes more room for your heart. http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/best-and ... ide?page=5
Lesley, I'm sure you've tried elevating the head of the bed, and all those obvious tricks... hopefully Gabes will chime in about GERD. She has some successful strategies, including a potassium powder... you could do a search on the site, for posts from her with 'GERD' or 'reflux' and hopefully find more details (she's in Australia, and may be sound asleep just now).
Best,
Sara
Best,
Sara
The smileys are just to the left of the message-composing window. Just click on the middle of the smiley that you want.Leslie wrote:There's my problem. Both of them.
I can't find where I should click the smiley, and
I find myself sleeping on my right side automatically. I think I turn there in my sleep. It's not really in my control.
And I LOATHE the GERD. I want off the NSAIDS.
Most of us tend to change positions when we sleep, but if we consciously avoid a certain position, the body will eventually learn to avoid that position during asleep.
If you want to control the GERD, do whatever you have to do to avoid sleeping on your right side, because I'll guarantee that the GERD will continue, as long as you continue to sleep on your right side.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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Gabes-Apg
- Emperor Penguin
- Posts: 8332
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:12 pm
- Location: Hunter Valley NSW Australia
My Gerd was quite bad, at it's worse i was regurgitating everytime i bent down (putting shoes and socks on, accessing bottom draw at work, vaccuuming, cleaning the shower) and was having to get up 2 - 4 times a night to take a potassium powder
what worked for me;
(in order of their effectiveness)
1. Having 5000iu of Vit D3 every day
2. less water while eating the meal (lots before and waiting 30 mins after eating to drink water)
3. i have my main meal of the day at lunchtime and have small portion light dinner and make sure i eat 2 hours before bed time.
4. use of a potassium powder and calcium carbonate to balance the acid
5. not drinking coffee close to or when eating (make sure I have the coffee either 20 mins before or 20 mins after eating)
6. sleeping on left hand side
7. raised the bed head (i covered some pavers that are 30mm high with fleece fabric, this way it wont leave marks on the carpet)
Even now, if i dont consume the 5000iu a day of Vit D, within 3 days the symptoms start coming back.
I am having 120% of my daily RDI of calcium via a composite powder (this is for gerd and teeth/bone health)
nowadays the only times i have to use the potassium powder more than once a day, is when i havent followed points 1,2 & 3
hope this helps.
what worked for me;
(in order of their effectiveness)
1. Having 5000iu of Vit D3 every day
2. less water while eating the meal (lots before and waiting 30 mins after eating to drink water)
3. i have my main meal of the day at lunchtime and have small portion light dinner and make sure i eat 2 hours before bed time.
4. use of a potassium powder and calcium carbonate to balance the acid
5. not drinking coffee close to or when eating (make sure I have the coffee either 20 mins before or 20 mins after eating)
6. sleeping on left hand side
7. raised the bed head (i covered some pavers that are 30mm high with fleece fabric, this way it wont leave marks on the carpet)
Even now, if i dont consume the 5000iu a day of Vit D, within 3 days the symptoms start coming back.
I am having 120% of my daily RDI of calcium via a composite powder (this is for gerd and teeth/bone health)
nowadays the only times i have to use the potassium powder more than once a day, is when i havent followed points 1,2 & 3
hope this helps.
Gabes Ryan
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
I was a life long stomach sleeper until last Nov-Dec. I finally realized my TMJ was being affected by sleeping on my side; I was pushing my jaw out of line while I was asleep, in addition to the grinding. It felt really, really weird to sleep on my back or side, but over time I was able to train myself to wake up and change positions if I was on my stomach. I don't have GERD issues, but I have found sleeping on my left side helps move things along a little better. And while I still have TMJ, my jaw's don't hurt the way they did when I slept on my stomach. Change is hard unless there's a strong motivator and I had one that made change worthwhile.
Another thing I find that helps that I don't recall seeing here before, or anywhere else for that matter, is something I read in Prevention magazine over 25 years ago to help with C: massage the abdomen from the right side just inside the base of the hip bone up to just below the rib cage, then over to the left side of the rib cage, then down just inside the base of the left hip bone. The article said this helps with peristalsis (sp?). I do this 10-15 times whenever the C takes hold and most of the time I get relief the next morning. And I've found it really is more effective when sleeping on the left side.
Katie
Another thing I find that helps that I don't recall seeing here before, or anywhere else for that matter, is something I read in Prevention magazine over 25 years ago to help with C: massage the abdomen from the right side just inside the base of the hip bone up to just below the rib cage, then over to the left side of the rib cage, then down just inside the base of the left hip bone. The article said this helps with peristalsis (sp?). I do this 10-15 times whenever the C takes hold and most of the time I get relief the next morning. And I've found it really is more effective when sleeping on the left side.
Katie
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MBombardier
- Rockhopper Penguin
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- Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2010 10:44 am
- Location: Vancouver, WA
I was told to stay on my left side after having a c-section, and after my colonoscopy because it helps with elimination. It got to the point over several years that I was having reflux at times during the day and many times during the night no matter what side I lay on. Nothing seemed to help, as I had been the PPI route and was not going to do that again.
However, not too many weeks ago, I went to fairly strict paleo/primal eating and my reflux disappeared. Recently I consumed a couple of electrolyte-type drinks to restore some balance after my nasty dairy-induced flare. The reflux came back big time after drinking each of them, so it was a good lesson that I should be making my own electrolyte drinks instead of affecting my poor gut with the chemicals in the commercial ones.
However, not too many weeks ago, I went to fairly strict paleo/primal eating and my reflux disappeared. Recently I consumed a couple of electrolyte-type drinks to restore some balance after my nasty dairy-induced flare. The reflux came back big time after drinking each of them, so it was a good lesson that I should be making my own electrolyte drinks instead of affecting my poor gut with the chemicals in the commercial ones.
Marliss Bombardier
Dum spiro, spero -- While I breathe, I hope
Psoriasis - the dark ages
Hashimoto's Thyroiditis - Dec 2001
Collagenous Colitis - Sept 2010
Granuloma Annulare - June 2011
Dum spiro, spero -- While I breathe, I hope
Psoriasis - the dark ages
Hashimoto's Thyroiditis - Dec 2001
Collagenous Colitis - Sept 2010
Granuloma Annulare - June 2011
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MBombardier
- Rockhopper Penguin
- Posts: 1523
- Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2010 10:44 am
- Location: Vancouver, WA
Oh, and Katie, you are right--that does help with peristalsis. In fact, 54 years ago my pediatrician diagnosed pyloric stenosis in me, a 1-month old baby, because the action in my gut was going the opposite way. Pyloric stenosis is where the pyloric value between the stomach and the small intestine does not develop properly during gestation, and little food can pass through into the small intestine. I am sure children died of it before people understood what was going on and an operation was developed to fix it. That was a great diagnosis, as pyloric stenosis occurs primarily in first-born sons and I was a second-born daughter.
My GI found it quite interesting that I had had pyloric stenosis and chit-chatted with me about it right before my colonoscopy.
My GI found it quite interesting that I had had pyloric stenosis and chit-chatted with me about it right before my colonoscopy.
Marliss Bombardier
Dum spiro, spero -- While I breathe, I hope
Psoriasis - the dark ages
Hashimoto's Thyroiditis - Dec 2001
Collagenous Colitis - Sept 2010
Granuloma Annulare - June 2011
Dum spiro, spero -- While I breathe, I hope
Psoriasis - the dark ages
Hashimoto's Thyroiditis - Dec 2001
Collagenous Colitis - Sept 2010
Granuloma Annulare - June 2011
My brother apparently had a pyloric stenosis, and he was a third-born, (second son), FWIW. He was diagnosed at about 1 week, I believe.
Tex
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.