When someone has acid reflux there is sometimes the question of the link between things like stress /depression/anxiety and the acid reflux. Can these things really make acid reflux worse or even cause acid reflux in the first place?

Whenever you have felt really stressed or something similar you can sometimes feel it in the stomach. It can make you feel woozy or even nauseous. This is somewhat evidence that these feelings can and will affect the stomach. But can it make acid reflux worse?

Well the short and simple answer is yes. In fact, there was a study done where people with GERD (a serious form of acid reflux) where asked to describe their number 1 cause for symptoms becoming worse. The number 1 cause was stress. And other reasons can be found on Refluxgate.

While this is not necessarily scientifically proven it’s clear to see that stress is a prominent reason for acid reflux becoming worse.

This shows that for people with acid reflux stress will make things worse quite often. But what about people who don’t? Well for people with LPR (another form of acid reflux) a lot of people have suggested that they started to get symptoms around a particularly stressful or anxious period in their lives.

This seems to be quite a common thing. Where people develop acid reflux from a period where they were highly stressed in life.

I even had the same experience myself. I was stressed from my final exams and the whole pressure of the situation built up on me and that’s when my symptoms started. For people with LPR there are links between how it can and is caused by things like anxiety and even depression, you can read more about that link here – LPR symptoms anxiety.

Of course, it seems that not everyone who has acid reflux is affected by these symptoms of stress making it worse, but it does seem to be quite a common reason for symptoms getting worse for more people than not.

So how do you deal with this if you think you are being affected? Well there are a few things I would recommend –

Meditation – often because when someone is stressed, they are focusing too much on their problem. When you meditate you focus on your breathing and this can help take your mind of the reason you are stressed, and it also helps keep you calm.

Hobby – get a hobby that can also help get your mind of the problem. This could be something like reading, playing chess or any sport etc. This gets your mind of the reason you are stressed and will help allow your mind to relax and focus on something else.

Sleep – my final suggestion is to make sure you get enough sleep. Sleep allows you to relax and is one of the best natural healing methods. Try to get 7-9 hours a day depending on your own needs.

Conclusion

In conclusion we can see things like stress and depression can and often will worsen and even cause acid reflux in some cases. These things like stress can be harmful for a host of things not only acid reflux so you should always try and make an effort to allow yourself to relax through whatever technique work best for you.