Acid reflux, GERD, and heartburn are big business. The acid blockers like Nexium and Prilosec that are commonly prescribed to treat these conditions are often both unnecessary and potentially dangerous.
Studies show that these proton pump inhibitors can cause cardiovascular problems, fractures, and other serious health conditions.
Since these ailments are some of the most common that individuals experience, it may be worthwhile to explore options to the pharmaceutical offerings.
In general, the problem with blocking acid production over the long term, whether with prescribed medications or over the counter remedies, is that you’re weakening the digestive process and creating nutritional deficiencies. You need stomach acid to help make nutrients available and to protect you from harmful microbes.
A Common Cause of Heartburn
If we know what’s causing our distress we’re much more likely to relax and do something to support our condition rather than exacerbating our stress-induced discomfort with more concern and anxiety. This is the first and very likely most important step.
So, it helps to become informed, worry less, and to do something constructive.
A basic knowledge of physiology would suggest not eating a full meal immediately after being chased by a bear.
The fight or flight response that’s generated by a dangerous predator fuels muscles and blood sugar …. and shuts down the digestive process because it’s not needed and would rob resources that would be better utilized for survival.
In today’s world fight or flight physiology is routinely triggered with no predator in sight. Old, unresolved stressors program our nervous systems to perceive a threat when none is actually present. The emotions that we’ve buried, ignored or even forgotten, like hurts, betrayals, and anger, linger deep within us and are perceived by the unconscious as threatening.
It’s this activated stress response that chronically inhibits digestive processes and fuels symptoms like heartburn and many other digestive symptoms.
The stress response inhibits the production of digestive juices, shunts blood flow from the lining of the digestive tract to muscles, and inhibits the normal movement of the digestive tract, just for starters. It’s as if the digestive process has gone on vacation, yet we still burden it with food.
With the impairments to the digestive function that I’ve just described this food often sits immobilized, unprocessed, and undigested. Acids from this stewing mess percolate up and irritate the esophagus, and if inhaled irritate the lungs.
The esophagus itself can actually constrict and shorten in this stress driven scenario. In this case, the esophagus pulls the stomach up into the diaphragm, creating a hiatal hernia, and the sufferer can experience even more discomfort, including burping, pressure, and hiccuping.
Another even more serious result of the stress response is that the movement of the digestive tube can become immobilized, or frozen in a condition called gastroparesis, making eating virtually impossible. In this state, a feeding tube that carries nutrients directly to the stomach may be necessary.
Neutralizing the Cause of Heartburn
It helps to understand that the stress response upsets the functioning of the autonomic nervous system and more specifically the vagus nerve. When the vagus nerve is activated the process of digestion flows smoothly.
On the other hand, when the vagus nerve is inhibited we experience stress-related symptoms.
From this point of view, we can work on two fronts. First, we can address the source of the stress if at all possible and do our best to eliminate or neutralize it. And secondly, we can take direct steps to re-activate the vagus nerve and reap its self-regulating benefits.
In this post, I’ll offer a process that draws from my L.A.A.S.E.R. and SomaSensing self-regulation protocols.
- Understand that your discomfort is a stress-related imbalance of your autonomic nervous system.
- Acknowledge the intensity of any emotional discomfort related to your condition. For example, notice how concerned or anxious you are about your discomfort.
- Take a brief inventory of upsetting or troubling issues or events that when resolved would provide you with a significant sense of relief. Unaddressed, these issues can be silently triggering the stress response. Once they’re consciously acknowledged they have less influence on the nervous system. Simply identify one or more issues and notice how they make you feel and the intensity of the feelings without going into analyzing the issues. (Noticing feelings curiously and kindly without judgment or analysis activates the vagus nerve.)
- Breathe Slowly. Slow breathing with a relaxed belly activates the vagus. Continue to breathe slowly, at the rate of about five seconds per inhale and five seconds per exhale for one minute.
- You can repeat this brief process at intervals throughout the day to support the activation of the vagus nerve and the reprogramming of your autonomic nervous system. An additional twenty-minute session once or twice daily would even more profoundly support your return to health.
There are also a variety of nutritional agents and herbal teas that can aid in soothing an irritated digestive lining. These remedies will be of significantly greater help after the vagus nerve is activated and the process of digestion is normalized.
Steve is a retired Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Acupuncture Physician, and HeartMath Trauma-Sensitive Certified Practitioner with over 35 years of clinical experience in the fields of Energy Medicine, Energy Psychology, and Biofeedback. 