You sometimes wake up with a sour taste in your mouth, and it can make you sulk. You wonder what you ate the day before and go ahead and brush your teeth, but the unpleasant taste and smell linger anyway. If this happens regularly, it may be worth looking at what is happening when you sleep.
Acid reflux happens when stomach contents flow backwards into the oesophagus, the tube that transports food from the mouth to the stomach. Once we lie flat, that advantage is reduced. During sleep, swallowing also becomes less frequent, slowing the process through which the oesophagus clears refluxed material. Apart from a sour or bitter taste, other early signs of reflux you may notice include food or liquid coming back into the mouth, a persistent cough, or throat irritation. An occasional episode after a heavy meal may not be a cause for concern, but Dr Bansal raised alarm that if you regularly wake up with a sour taste, experience frequent heartburn or find that symptoms are affecting your sleep, consult a doctor rather than continuing to self-medicate.
Because of this nighttime habit: eating dinner close to bedtime and lying down soon afterwards, the gastroenterologist believed it happens.
Dr Bansal said, “When we are upright, gravity helps keep stomach contents down.
