You can usually make heartburn go away within minutes by taking an over-the-counter antacid or drinking a half teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in cold water. For longer-lasting or recurring heartburn, the fix involves a combination of the right medication, eating habits, and sleep position changes that keep stomach acid where it belongs.
Fast Relief Options
Over-the-counter antacids containing calcium carbonate (like Tums) work the fastest because they directly neutralize stomach acid on contact. They’re your best bet for occasional heartburn that hits after a meal. The tradeoff is that the relief doesn’t last very long.
If you need something stronger, H2 blockers like famotidine (Pepcid) reduce the amount of acid your stomach produces and provide about eight hours of relief. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) like omeprazole (Prilosec) are the most powerful option and suppress acid for 15 to 21 hours a day, but they can take up to four days to reach full effect. PPIs aren’t designed for quick relief. They’re better suited for heartburn that keeps coming back over weeks.
A simple home remedy that works in a pinch: dissolve half a teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of cold water and drink it. Baking soda is a natural acid neutralizer and can ease the burning quickly. Don’t use this approach for more than two weeks, and avoid it entirely if you’re on a sodium-restricted diet or have high blood pressure, kidney disease, or heart disease. It contains a significant amount of sodium. Also, don’t take it within one to two hours of other medications, since it can interfere with absorption.
Stop the Burn Before It Starts
Most heartburn happens when the valve between your stomach and esophagus relaxes at the wrong time, letting acid splash upward. Your stomach naturally triggers these valve relaxations after meals to release swallowed air. In people prone to heartburn, acid rides along with that air. Anything that increases pressure on your stomach or keeps it full longer raises the odds of this happening.
The most evidence-backed dietary trigger isn’t any single food. It’s meal size and calorie density. Large, high-calorie meals stretch the stomach more, which triggers more of those valve relaxations. Eating smaller, more frequent meals is consistently more effective than eliminating specific foods.
That said, many people notice that coffee, chocolate, citrus, fried foods, spicy dishes, and tomato-based sauces make their symptoms worse. The research on these individual triggers is surprisingly thin, but that doesn’t mean your personal experience is wrong. Citrus and acidic foods, for instance, may not increase actual acid reflux but can irritate the esophageal lining directly, creating that same burning sensation. Pay attention to your own patterns and cut what consistently bothers you.
Timing Your Meals Matters
Wait at least two to three hours after eating before you lie down. This gives your digestive system enough time to move food out of your stomach, which significantly reduces the chance of acid creeping upward when you’re horizontal. If you can’t wait that long, staying upright for at least 30 minutes after eating still helps. The longer you wait, the better. For fluids alone, a 30-minute buffer before reclining is usually sufficient.
This is especially important at dinner. Late-night eating is one of the most common heartburn triggers simply because people go to bed shortly after.
How You Sleep Changes Everything
Two adjustments at bedtime can dramatically reduce nighttime heartburn. First, raise the head of your bed six to eight inches using bed risers or a wedge pillow. This keeps gravity working in your favor all night. Propping up with regular pillows doesn’t work as well because it bends your body at the waist, which can actually increase stomach pressure.
Second, sleep on your left side. When you lie on your left, your stomach sits below the junction where it connects to your esophagus. Acid pools away from that opening, and gravity helps keep it there. Sleeping on your right side does the opposite, positioning the stomach above that junction and making reflux more likely. This is one of the simplest changes you can make, and it’s surprisingly effective.
Loosen Up, Literally
Tight waistbands, belts, shapewear, and high-waisted pants increase pressure inside your abdomen, which pushes stomach contents upward. Research published in the journal Gastroenterology found that abdominal compression from a waist belt aggravates reflux primarily by impairing the esophagus’s ability to clear acid once it splashes up. If you’re prone to heartburn after meals, wear loose-fitting clothing around your midsection, especially while eating and in the hours afterward.
Chewing Gum as a Quick Fix
Chewing sugar-free gum after a meal stimulates saliva production, and saliva is naturally alkaline. It contains bicarbonate, which buffers stomach acid. Swallowing that extra saliva helps wash any acid back down from the esophagus and neutralize what’s there. It won’t stop a severe episode, but for mild post-meal heartburn, it can take the edge off while keeping your breath fresh.
Ginger for Digestive Relief
Ginger speeds up the rate at which your stomach empties, which means food and acid spend less time sitting around creating trouble. A small study of cancer patients found that 1,650 mg of ginger per day significantly improved reflux-like symptoms and nausea. Most of the clinical work on ginger has focused on nausea rather than heartburn specifically, but the underlying mechanism (faster gastric emptying, less stomach distension) directly addresses one of heartburn’s root causes. Ginger tea, ginger chews, or capsules with around 1,500 mg daily are the dosages most commonly studied.
When Heartburn Keeps Coming Back
If you’re reaching for antacids more than twice a week, that’s a sign something beyond the occasional trigger is going on. Long-term daily PPI use, while effective, comes with potential downsides including reduced vitamin B12 absorption, a higher risk of bone fractures, and increased susceptibility to certain gut infections. These risks are manageable under medical supervision but are worth knowing about if you’ve been taking them on your own for months.
Persistent heartburn also deserves attention because the symptoms overlap with more serious conditions. Heartburn and cardiac chest pain can feel remarkably similar. Even experienced physicians sometimes can’t distinguish them without testing. If your chest pain comes with shortness of breath, radiates to your arm or jaw, or is accompanied by lightheadedness, treat it as a potential cardiac event rather than assuming it’s reflux.