Ways to help

✢ Lifestyle changes. Lose weight, eat smaller frequent meals, stop smoking, avoid lying down for three hours after meals, and don’t eat/drink late at night.

✢ Keep a food diary. It can show you if certain foods make your symptoms worse. Common culprits include alcohol, caffeine, fatty, spicy or acidic foods, such as tomatoes and citrus fruit.

✢ Raise your bed head by around 20cm with small, wooded blocks, but don’t use extra pillows, which may increase pressure on your abdomen.

✢ Ask the pharmacist if medication including antacids, alginates or over-the-counter cimetidine or omeprazole may help. If none of these work, see your doctor.