TL;DR - Hear the story of how I ended my war with GERD, for good.

Hi,

Sleep isn’t a luxury.

If reflux keeps stealing your nights, your body is trying to tell you something, it’s not that acid is evil, it’s that the valve is leaking. Acid belongs in the stomach, where it powers digestion, frees minerals, and keeps invaders out. The burn happens when the barrier fails and acid rises into tissue that was never built for it.

For decades, we’ve treated a plumbing problem like a chemical spill , and the quick fix turned into a quiet trap.

A pill can mute symptoms, but silence isn’t the same as healing.

I learned that the hard way. In medical school, I felt a bolt of chest pain that convinced me I was having a heart attack. One over-the-counter PPI and the pain vanished. Two weeks later, when I stopped, the fire came roaring back, worse than before. Another box, another round, another quiet surrender. Years passed, and the little purple pill felt like a vitamin that owned me. Eventually, I asked a better question: what if my physiology wasn’t broken, just out of rhythm?

That question changed everything. I stopped thinking of GERD as chemistry and started seeing it as physics. A valve at the base of the esophagus. A diaphragm that should reinforce it like a second ring. Pressure in the abdomen that can either nudge food downward or shove acid up. Time in the esophagus that determines whether acid clears quickly or lingers long enough to sting. Fix the barrier, lower the pressure, shorten the time, that’s the formula.

I started with my evenings.

Dinner moved earlier and got lighter.

I slipped wooden blocks under the bedframe so gravity could become my ally again.

I began sleeping on my left side and woke without the midnight burn. I loosened belts, eased waistbands, and let my abdomen breathe after meals.

I walked after dinner instead of collapsing into a chair and chewed gum to let saliva rinse away leftover acid. Then I began testing triggers one by one and discovered that my villains weren’t coffee or spice, they were tea and garlic, which felt almost personal.

When it came time to taper off medication, I planned it like a mission. I took the PPI only before breakfast so the timing matched my biology. Then I shifted to a gentler H2 blocker, twice daily, then once, then half, then just a whisper of a dose, until there was nothing left to take. When the rebound hit, I didn’t panic. A small glass of water with a little baking soda neutralized the surge. A pinch of fennel seeds after meals soothed the stomach like a charm. Week by week, my body remembered what to do. Proteins digested easily again.

My energy rose.

Sleep returned like an old friend with a spare key.

This isn’t anti-medicine, it’s pro-physiology. Use drugs when they’re truly needed. Use design when your body wants its rhythm back. If reflux owns your nights, begin the reset today. Eat earlier and lighter. Let gravity work for you. Walk after meals. Find your triggers one at a time. When you’re ready, taper with intention and patience. Your stomach will meet you halfway if you give it a chance. And if you want the exact protocol, timing, troubleshooting, and the small tricks that make it stick, listen to the full episode now. Your sleep, your meals, and your freedom are waiting on the other side of understanding how your body actually works.

If this story hit close to home, if you’ve ever reached for a pill instead of understanding the problem, this episode is your reset button.

Listen to the full conversation to learn the real science of GERD, the step-by-step plan to heal your stomach, and the small daily shifts that can change your nights forever.

Share this with a friend who’s been fighting that same late-night burn. You might just help them sleep through the night again.