You can calm down heartburn quickly by neutralizing stomach acid or keeping it from rising into your esophagus. The fastest options include taking an antacid, drinking a glass of cold water with half a teaspoon of baking soda, or simply standing upright and loosening any tight clothing around your waist. Most episodes respond well to a combination of these simple strategies, and you have more tools available than you might think.
Fast-Acting Relief You Can Try Right Now
If heartburn is hitting you in the moment, start with what’s already in your kitchen. Half a teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in a glass of cold water neutralizes stomach acid almost immediately. It works because sodium bicarbonate is a base that reacts directly with hydrochloric acid in your stomach. Don’t exceed five teaspoons in a day, and avoid this remedy entirely if you have high blood pressure, kidney disease, or heart problems, since baking soda causes your body to retain water.
Over-the-counter antacids containing calcium carbonate (the active ingredient in Tums and Rolaids) also work within minutes by neutralizing acid on contact. They’re the fastest pharmacy option, though relief typically lasts only one to two hours. If you need something longer-lasting, H2 blockers like famotidine take about an hour to kick in but keep working for four to ten hours. Proton pump inhibitors are the strongest option, but they’re designed for daily use over weeks and won’t help much in the middle of an active flare.
Chewing a piece of gum is a surprisingly effective trick. It floods your mouth with saliva, which naturally contains bicarbonate, a built-in acid buffer. That extra saliva washes down into your esophagus, diluting and neutralizing acid along the way. Sugar-free gum works fine, and bicarbonate-containing varieties may work even better.
How Your Body Position Changes Everything
Gravity is your ally against heartburn. When you’re lying flat, acid pools at the opening between your stomach and esophagus. Simply sitting or standing upright lets it drain back down. If heartburn strikes while you’re in bed, don’t just stack pillows under your head. That can actually bend your body in a way that increases pressure on your stomach.
Instead, elevate your entire upper body. Wedge pillows designed for acid reflux sit at a 30- to 45-degree angle and raise your head six to twelve inches, according to Cleveland Clinic recommendations. This keeps your esophagus above your stomach so acid drains away rather than lingering. Putting blocks under the head of your bed frame accomplishes the same thing.
If you’re going to lie on your side, choose the left. When you sleep on your left side, the junction between your esophagus and stomach sits higher than the pool of acid in your stomach, letting acid exit your esophagus more quickly. Right-side sleeping does the opposite, positioning that junction below the acid level. Up to 80% of people with recurring reflux experience symptoms at night, so this one change can make a noticeable difference.
What You’re Wearing Might Be Making It Worse
Tight clothing around your midsection compresses your stomach and the muscular valve at the top of it, called the lower esophageal sphincter. That valve is supposed to act as a one-way door, keeping acid in your stomach. When a snug waistband, belt, or shapewear squeezes your abdomen, it increases the pressure inside, forces the valve open, and pushes acid upward. Loosening your belt a notch or changing into something with an elastic waist during a heartburn episode can bring noticeable relief surprisingly fast.
Food and Drink Adjustments That Help
What you eat before heartburn hits matters, but what you consume during an episode can help too. Plain water dilutes stomach acid and washes it back down. Alkaline water with a pH of 8.8 goes a step further: research from UCLA Health found it can neutralize pepsin, the stomach enzyme that damages esophageal tissue when it refluxes upward. You’ll find alkaline water at most grocery stores.
Ginger has real evidence behind it. It speeds up gastric emptying, meaning food and acid move out of your stomach faster instead of sitting there and splashing upward. One study found that 1,650 milligrams of ginger daily significantly improved reflux-like symptoms. You don’t need a supplement to try it. Ginger tea, made by steeping a few slices of fresh ginger root in hot water, is a gentler way to get some benefit. Just make sure it cools down before you drink it, since very hot liquids can irritate an already inflamed esophagus.
Avoid the common triggers while you’re still symptomatic: coffee, alcohol, citrus, tomato-based foods, chocolate, mint, and anything fried or very fatty. These either relax that esophageal valve or stimulate extra acid production. Eating smaller portions also helps, because a full stomach puts more pressure on the valve. If heartburn tends to hit at night, finish eating at least two to three hours before lying down.
When Heartburn Keeps Coming Back
Occasional heartburn responds well to the strategies above. But if you’re reaching for antacids more than twice a week, something deeper is going on. Most people in that situation have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), where the esophageal valve is chronically weakened. A doctor will typically recommend a proton pump inhibitor taken daily for several weeks to let your esophagus heal.
Long-term use of these medications is generally safe, though not without trade-offs. Harvard Health Publishing notes that extended use is linked to a slightly increased risk of infections and the possibility of lower blood levels of vitamin B12 or magnesium. Earlier concerns about bone thinning, dementia, and kidney disease have largely been reassured by more recent research. Still, the goal is usually to use the lowest effective dose for the shortest time needed, then manage symptoms through lifestyle changes.
Heartburn vs. Heart Attack
Heartburn and heart attacks can feel remarkably similar. Even experienced doctors sometimes can’t tell them apart from symptoms alone, according to the Mayo Clinic. That said, there are patterns worth knowing.
Heartburn typically produces a burning sensation in the chest and upper abdomen, shows up after eating or when lying down, comes with a sour taste or mild regurgitation, and improves with antacids. A heart attack is more likely to feel like pressure, tightness, or squeezing in the chest that radiates to the arms, neck, jaw, or back. It often comes with shortness of breath, cold sweats, lightheadedness, or sudden fatigue. Women are more likely than men to experience jaw or back pain, nausea, and shortness of breath as their primary symptoms rather than chest pain.
If you have persistent chest pain and you’re not sure it’s heartburn, especially if it comes with any of those additional symptoms, call 911. This is the one situation where it’s better to be wrong about heartburn than to wait and see.