GERD and Champagne

Apologies in advance if this is not the right forum for this post, but wasn’t really sure where else to post it. About 6 months ago I was diagnosed with GERD (acid reflux). I take Prilosec OTC everyday and for the most part I generally have zero symptoms, even with things that normally give people issues (including acidic wine). About a month ago I had some champagne and got awful heartburn from it. Since then I waited a few weeks and just tried champagne again tonight, and once again, big time heartburn. I was curious if anyone else with GERD has this issue with champagne, and if so, whether there are any specific types of champagne that are generally better than others. Thanks in advance for your help - would be a real shame to have to cut out champagne all together.

Both alcohol and carbonated beverages are known triggers for Gerd.

How much did you have?
How big was the meal?
How much time between the champagne and sleep?

If a small meal, and only two glasses, we’ll before bed, then it may be a trigger for you. If much more, then you might just need to be moderate rather than abstain.

(Im just getting over a bout but not wine related).

I suffer but nexium before and after does the trick.

Mike I’ll pop a Tagamet or other otc med in addition to regular script when drinking a bunch of Champagne, seems to work well for me. FWIW.

Thanks for this reply! Do you have issues with other wines as well or just with Champagne? What boggles my mind a bit is that nothing else seems to trigger it.

Do you only have issues with Champagne, or other wines as well?

I’ve never had an issue with Seltzer or diet coke, and never had an issue with any other type of alcohol (post diagnosis and medication), so carbonated beverages and alcohol don’t seem to cause issues for me. I had just under two glasses, and the heartburn started about half way through the 2nd, so I didn’t finish it.

Really just with champagne. Something about the bubbles/acid combo.

I have more issues with beer [cry.gif]

You could try some Pepcid and/or tums.

Champagne tends to me more acidic than most other wines as well.

I take two regular strength carbonate tablets (Maalox) before I drink Champagne and one tablet before drinking other wine. I’ll chew another one during the meal if I feel any GERD. I do this in addition to taking omeprazole (Prilosec) in the morning and esomeprazole (Nexium) at night. I quit taking ranitidine (Zantac) after learning that it is carcinogenic.

I am NOT a physician, but this works for me.

stefan, a twenty year survivor of esophageal cancer

My guess is if it’s hurting on the way down, the esophagus is already sore from a prior reflux event. It’s stomach acid that does the damage.


I’ve had a drink burn in the way down after having a reflux event the night before.

I find champagne triggers a reaction somewhat more often, especially if I just drink an entire bottle by myself and I’m not drinking other things.

My wife has GERD and we drink sparkling wine fairly often and it doesn’t seem to especially trigger it.

Ranitidine is Zantac and it’s “carcinogenic”. It’s definitely less carcinogenic than the alcohol we’re all discussing, fwiw.

Sorry to hear your troubles with champagne. I’ve become a big fan of consuming alkaline water when drinking acidic wine/spirits or eating acidic food. It seems to balance out any burn that might eventually occur. Not saying it’s a solution for GERD but it definitely helps.

Costco sells a Kirkland version 18 1L bottles for $10. Smart Water makes an alkaline version and Essentia is another major producer of alkaline water, though those run $2-5/bottle.

Anyone else at home have heartburn?
If so, might want to ask your doctor about getting tested for H Pylori.

Glad to hear you’re able to enjoy wine with no issues. FYI Prilosec is Omeprazole and Zantac is Ranitidine.

Yeah beer is a non-starter for me as well. I can drink light beer, but anything heavier than bud light gives me issues. Not quite as bad as champagne, but not pleasant regardless.