The fastest way to stop heartburn is to take a liquid or chewable antacid containing calcium carbonate or magnesium hydroxide, which neutralizes stomach acid in under five minutes. If you don’t have antacids on hand, half a teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in a glass of cold water works as a quick substitute. But several other strategies can help right now, depending on what you have available and when the heartburn hits.
Antacids Work Fastest
Over-the-counter antacids are the go-to for immediate relief because they chemically neutralize acid that’s already in your stomach and esophagus. Chewable tablets and liquid forms tend to act within one to three minutes. These products contain calcium carbonate, magnesium hydroxide, or a combination of both.
A different class of medication, famotidine, works by reducing the amount of acid your stomach produces rather than neutralizing what’s already there. That process takes up to an hour, so it won’t help much in the moment. Some combination products pair famotidine with fast-acting antacids, giving you both immediate neutralization and longer-lasting suppression. If heartburn is your regular companion, taking famotidine 15 to 30 minutes before a meal you know will cause trouble is a better strategy than waiting for symptoms to start.
Baking Soda as a Quick Fix
Plain baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a legitimate antacid. Dissolve half a teaspoon in a full glass of cold water and drink it. You can repeat this every two hours if needed, but don’t exceed five teaspoons in a single day, and don’t use it for more than two weeks straight.
There are a few important limits. Baking soda is loaded with sodium, so it’s a poor choice if you’re watching salt intake or managing high blood pressure, kidney disease, or heart disease. Don’t take it within one to two hours of other medications, because it can interfere with absorption. And avoid mixing it with large amounts of milk, which increases the risk of side effects. Think of baking soda as a one-time rescue, not a routine solution.
Change Your Position Right Now
Gravity is your simplest tool. If you’re lying down when heartburn strikes, sit upright or stand up. This alone can reduce the amount of acid washing back into your esophagus. Avoid bending over, which compresses your stomach and pushes acid upward.
If heartburn hits at night, elevate your head and upper body rather than just propping up with extra pillows (which can bend you at the waist and make things worse). A wedge pillow or raising the head of your bed by six inches keeps your esophagus above your stomach in a straighter line. Sleeping on your left side also helps. The anatomy matters here: when you lie on your left, the junction between your esophagus and stomach sits above the level of stomach acid, so gravity works in your favor. Lying on your right side does the opposite, positioning that junction below the acid pool.
Chew Gum for 30 Minutes
This one sounds odd, but it works through a simple mechanism. Chewing gum stimulates saliva production, and saliva naturally contains bicarbonate, a mild acid neutralizer. The extra swallowing also helps push acid back down out of your esophagus. A 2005 study found that chewing sugar-free gum for 30 minutes after a meal reduced reflux symptoms. It won’t knock out severe heartburn the way an antacid will, but it’s a practical option when you’re at a restaurant or don’t have anything else available.
Loosen Tight Clothing
If you’re wearing a tight belt, fitted waistband, or shapewear, loosen or remove it. Anything that puts pressure on your abdomen squeezes your stomach and forces acid upward. This is especially true after a large meal, when your stomach is already full. Switching to looser pants or unbuckling your belt by a notch or two can provide noticeable relief within minutes.
What Triggered It (and How to Avoid a Repeat)
Stopping heartburn in the moment is one thing, but knowing what set it off helps you avoid the next round. The most common triggers are large or fatty meals, eating within two to three hours of lying down, alcohol, coffee, carbonated drinks, tomato-based foods, chocolate, and citrus. Eating smaller portions and staying upright for at least two to three hours after dinner are two of the most effective preventive measures.
Smoking weakens the muscular valve between your esophagus and stomach, making reflux more likely. Excess body weight, particularly around the midsection, increases abdominal pressure and pushes stomach contents upward. Both are long-term factors, but they explain why heartburn often becomes more frequent over time rather than less.
Skip the Apple Cider Vinegar
You’ll find countless recommendations online for drinking apple cider vinegar to relieve heartburn. There is no published clinical evidence supporting this. Harvard Health Publishing reviewed the claim and found zero studies in medical journals demonstrating that apple cider vinegar helps with heartburn. The logic behind it doesn’t hold up either: adding more acid to an already acidic situation is more likely to irritate your esophagus than soothe it.
When Heartburn Might Be Something Else
Heartburn and heart attacks can feel remarkably similar. Even experienced doctors sometimes can’t distinguish them based on symptoms alone. Typical heartburn causes a burning sensation in the chest, usually after eating or while lying down, and it responds to antacids. It may come with a sour taste in your mouth or a small amount of stomach contents rising into your throat.
Heart attacks don’t always present as sudden, crushing chest pain. They can feel like pressure, tightness, or burning that mimics heartburn. Both conditions can produce pain that comes and goes. If your chest pain doesn’t respond to antacids within a few minutes, came on during physical exertion, radiates to your arm, jaw, or back, or is accompanied by shortness of breath, sweating, or lightheadedness, call emergency services. The fact that the pain eventually goes away on its own does not mean it wasn’t cardiac. If you’ve had unexplained chest pain that resolved without treatment, it’s still worth getting evaluated.