How to sleep with a stomach ulcer?

For those of you who don’t know, stomach ulcers are open sores that are present on the inside of the stomach. They can cause pain and disrupt your sleep.

Treating these ulcers can take time, but how can you sleep during this treatment? To sleep better during a stomach ulcer, you must ensure that you sleep on your side or your back (also check the top rated mattresses for back sleepers).

You can use different pillows or adjustable beds for elevating your head and preventing the flow of any stomach acids (check the best selling pillows for back sleepers). Make sure to take those prescribed medicines and avoid any spicy food.

You have to ensure you eat at least 3 to 4 hours before you go to sleep. Reducing stress, avoiding alcohol and smoking, and providing good sleep hygiene are important.

Let’s look into these things in more detail, shall we?

Effective Ways to Sleep Better in Stomach Ulcer

Using an adjustable bed to find the ideal sleep position

Getting a comfortable night’s sleep with a stomach ulcer can be difficult. But what’s the best sleep position to go for during a stomach ulcer?

You need to understand the location of these stomach ulcers, as they can vary. It means no one to sleep with if you have an ulcer.

However, you need to sleep on your side or your back and see which of these positions is most comfortable for you to sleep in.

In some cases, sleeping on your stomach can further worsen the pain in your abdomen. Therefore, your best option is to go for an adjustable bed.

If these stomach ulcers have been a chronic problem for you, then an adjustable bed is a better option for you to consider. This way, you can incrementally alter your body position, which might help you find a pain-free spot.

And this might help you sleep better. These beds can assist in alleviating snoring and dealing with acid reflux, back pain, and GERD (also check the 10 amazing mattresses for adjustable bed).

Take your prescribed medication

Your physician most likely has already prescribed you a range of different medicines for reducing those caused by these ulcers and assisting you in sleeping in a better way.

Any treatment of those peptic ulcers relies heavily on the cause. But medical treatment would be for reducing the colonization of H. pylori bacteria, if there are any. This will limit the use of NSAIDs and speed up the entire healing process of your ulcer.

Some prescribed medications can help you sleep better during stomach ulcers.

Antibiotics for killing H. pylori

If H. pylori are causing an ulcer, your physician will prescribe medicines that kill these bacteria. The medications may include amoxicillin, tinidazole, metronidazole, levofloxacin, tetracycline, and clarithromycin.

Medication for reducing gastric acid

The commonly prescribed medicine for reducing gastric acids is proton pump inhibitors, and they treat peptic ulcers effectively. The medications might include lansoprazole, omeprazole, esomeprazole, rabeprazole and even pantoprazole.

Apart from that, another class of drugs comes in handy in reducing gastric acid in the stomach: histamine blockers like cimetidine, famotidine, and ranitidine. These medications are available both over the counter and by prescription.

Medications for neutralizing stomach acid

These medicines are mostly available over the counter, and the antacids react with stomach acid and provide quick relief. But based on the compositions or formula of these drugs, some of them might also have slight side effects such as diarrhea or constipation.

Medications for protection of the stomach lining

Your physician might also include some of those cytoprotective medications as well. These medicines protect the inner lining of your stomach from any damage caused by ulcers. These medications include misoprostol and sucralfate.

Avoid any triggering foods before going to bed

You need to avoid foods that might aggravate stomach ulcers and cause pain. This is especially the case before bed, as you must limit sleep disruptions.

Your physician will likely provide you with a list of foods you can eat while dealing with this condition. For instance, people with gastric ulcers are advised not to consume various foods that can cause indigestion or acid reflux. These can be spicy foods that have tabasco or cayenne.

Spicy foods activate your metabolism as they have active ingredients such as capsaicin. This metabolism increase can cause heartburn in some people.

These spices are thermogenic, as they can increase your body’s basal temperature and make you feel more awake.

As different individuals respond to different food items in different ways. Therefore, you must maintain your food diary and take notes of all your meals, snacks, and drinks.

Take your last meal at least 3 to 4 hours before bedtime

It is highly recommended that people should consume their last meal for the day at least 3 to 4 hours before they go to bed. This way, you will feel more comfortable before you go to sleep.

If you are dealing with a digestive disorder like a peptic ulcer in your stomach, you have to avoid a high-fat or high-protein meal before you go to bed.

Different studies suggest that consuming a dense meal with high fat or protein content can cause sleep disruption. You must maintain a strict meal schedule when recovering from stomach ulcers.

Reduce unhealthy habits and stress

Numerous scientific studies have shown that unhealthy habits and excessive stress can have an adverse impact on ulcerous disease.

Stress, alcohol, and smoking can make your ulcers go worse. Moreover, they can cause the recurrence of these ulcers even after your stomach has healed from them.

Therefore, it is important to reduce stress, and you can do so through meditation and exercise. You can also spend more time with your family and friends and participate in other healthy activities. Stress not only disturbs your stomach health but also causes sleep disruption.

Another healthy choice you can make is to quit smoking. Smoking can cause a gastric environment more prone to developing ulcers in your stomach.

There have been numerous studies that indicate the increase in stomach acid is caused by smoking. It can cause further worsening of the disease.

You need to avoid alcohol as it can irritate your stomach’s mucosa. If you consume this, binge drinking can erode your stomach lining and lead to excessive bleeding and inflammation.

Minimizing distractions before you go to bed

To enjoy sound sleep as you recover from a stomach ulcer, you must consciously reduce distractions before you go to bed. You have to avoid any noisy environment, bright lights, or any extended use of a screen.

You need to block out any noises with the help of earplugs. The purpose here is to get into a silent zone and calm your senses before bed. It will help you in healing, and you will be able to fall asleep much more quickly.

You can use noise-cancellation gadgets, earplugs, or other soft, calming music in the background. You can listen to brown noise in your earphones, which is an excellent way to block out ambient noise before sleep.

Moreover, flashy and bright lights can disrupt your sleep, so you can try dimming your lights a few hours before it’s time for you to go to bed.

Turning them off would be a better choice but if you need some light in your bedroom, then go for the dim ones. Bright lights in bedrooms might even cause headaches in some people.

Limiting the use of those electronic devices is important as well. These devices emit blue light, which is responsible for disrupting sleep.

Therefore, it’s a good idea to stop using these devices before bed. It can increase your sleep hygiene and help you deal with bad dreams and nightmares.

How Do Stomach Ulcers Disrupt Sleep?

Stomach ulcers are open sores in your stomach

These stomach ulcers are commonly referred to as gastric ulcers, and they are open sores that can develop on the inner lining of your stomach.

The mucosal layer of your stomach causes peptic ulcers. It is caused by imbalanced protective gastric elements like mucus, mucosal blood flow, bicarbonate, or prostaglandins. Some other aggressive gastric factors include pepsin and gastric acids or helicobacter pylori infection.

Bloating and pain are the common symptoms

According to excerpts, the most common symptoms of these conditions are sharp stomach pains, epigastric discomfort, fullness, heartburn, belching, bloating, nausea, and fatty food intolerance.

According to another study, some less common symptoms are loss of appetite, changing appetite patterns, occasional vomiting with blood, tarry stools, and unexpected weight loss.

NSAIDs might cause stomach ulcers

Any long-term use of NSAIDs like ibuprofen, aspirin, and other non-cancerous and cancerous lesions in the duodenum and stomach, and an increase like Zollinger-Ellison’s Syndrome can result in stomach ulcers.

If you take NSAIDs daily or multiple times throughout the week, you might develop NSAID-based peptic ulcers, as it is caused by NSAID overuse.

Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome might cause ulcers

Another cause of these ulcers is ZES. This syndrome is a neuroendocrine tumor that secretes a hormone called gastrin that causes your stomach to produce much acid that can result in peptic ulcers. ZES is a rare disease whose annual occurrence ranges from 0.5 per a million population.

Key Takeaways

1. Understanding Stomach Ulcers

Stomach ulcers, often termed gastric ulcers, are primarily caused by an imbalance between stomach protective mechanisms and aggressive gastric factors. Common symptoms include sharp stomach pains, bloating, and heartburn. Factors like the overuse of NSAIDs or conditions like Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome can also lead to ulcers.

2. Optimal Sleeping Positions

For those with ulcers, the best sleeping positions are usually on one’s side or back. Sleeping on the stomach can exacerbate the pain. Using an adjustable bed can be beneficial as it allows individuals to find the most comfortable position.

3. Medications and Treatments

There’s a range of medications available for ulcer treatment:

• Antibiotics: These target the H. pylori bacteria, often responsible for ulcers.
• Gastric Acid Reducers: Proton pump inhibitors and histamine blockers, among others, help manage gastric acid levels.
• Stomach Acid Neutralizers: Over-the-counter antacids can provide quick relief from discomfort.
• Cytoprotective Medications: These protect the stomach lining from ulcer damage.

4. Dietary Considerations

Foods that aggravate ulcers should be avoided, especially close to bedtime. Consuming spicy foods, for instance, can lead to indigestion or acid reflux. It’s essential to have the last meal at least 3 to 4 hours before sleep.

5. Lifestyle Modifications

A holistic approach to managing ulcers involves:

• Reducing Stress: Stress can exacerbate ulcer symptoms. Adopting relaxation techniques like meditation can help.
• Avoiding Alcohol and Smoking: Both can irritate the stomach lining and further worsen ulcers.
• Improving Sleep Hygiene: This includes minimizing light and noise disruptions and reducing screen time before bed.

Conclusion

Try out different techniques to improve your sleep if you’re dealing with stomach ulcers. You can begin by adjusting your sleep positions and then try to take different medications to deal with this condition.

Make some drastic lifestyle changes here to ensure your stomach health improves and doesn’t get in the way of your sleeping patterns.

When your stomach stays healthy, you can enjoy sound sleep at night and get up the next day as fresh as ever, ready to take on whatever the day throws at you.

References

https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/peptic-ulcers-stomach-ulcers/symptoms-causes

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stomach-ulcer/