Dr. Navdeep Chehl on KXAN: Avoiding the Painful Symptoms of Heartburn

Dr. Navdeep Chehl of Austin Gastroenterology stopped by KXAN's Studio 512 to give us some helpful tips on how to manage all of the family, food and fun over the holidays and bypass some of the painful heartburn and indigestion that can accompany all of the fun that comes along with the holiday season. Some of the uncomfortable"Holiday Heartburn" symptoms include belching, chest pain, burning in the chest, nausea, and regurgitation, acid-reflux, and the feeling of food getting stuck after swallowing. Common heartburn triggers include acidic and spicy foods, citrus and tomato-based foods, fried and fatty foods, mint-flavored candy, caffeine and alcohol.... basically all of the things that make the holidays so much fun! The first thing to do to avoid holiday heartburn (or lessen the symptoms) is to enjoy all of these things in moderation, keep your body weigh in control, avoid smoking. In addition, a good strategy can be to wait a few h ours after eating to lie down to go to sleep, and sleeping on your left side has been shown to prevent reflux symptoms. Two over the counter medications, Gaviscon and Pepcid, can be taken as needed before bedtime and they really help. However, proton pump inhibitors such as Nexium, Prilosec, and Prevacid - also available over the counter - aren't really appropriate for "as needed" therapy. These are better suited for regular, every day use, to be effective.