Night-time Heartburn or Hunger?

I will be 1 month post op on Wednesday and aside from having messed-up sleep patterns and a gout flareup I have been doing allright. Lately, when I try to sleep, I am kept awake by heartburn. I take the meds perscribed and when they don't work, I try a Tums. Some nights I try to drink a bit, but that doen't help and last night it was awful & in desperation, I had an ounce of protein and that seemed to help. 

I don't want a "midnight snack" to become a habit. Any suggestions what I can do to alleviate this pain?

You may need a different medication or an additional dose.....call your surgeon and ask about your options.

I have found that my heartburn is worse when I'm either sleeping on my stomach or only using one pillow. If I prop up on 2 pillows, I feel much better. 

If you are having break through acide then you likely need a stronger PPI. Call your doctor and tell them what is happening. I imagine they will either up your dosage or switch meds. 

Just so you know, I cycled thru four PPIs (one OTC, three Rx) before landing on one that seems to work for me long-term.  Each time, they would work for 3-4 months, then the acid would start up again.  Supposedly they're all the same, but that doesn't seem to be the case in practice.  Also as a PP said, check your dosage.  You don't have to live with this!  :-)

Thanks all! Last night was a better night. Took meds earlier in the evening & that seemed to help. I still had trouble getting to sleep, but finally did get some before woken up by screaming teenager.

You probably need a more powerful PPI -- I had to go on prescription Protonix 40mg because I was waking up choking on acid in the middle of the night.  And putting food into your stomach just signals the tummy to create more acid so it's a short-term fix that can lead to a bad habit.  

Get to your doctor to talk about this ASAP.  Excess acid and reflux can do very serious damage to your tiny little tummy and your esophagus.  It can lead to cellular changes that can turn to cancer.  DO NOT IGNORE THIS!  

I actually saw my surgeon, last Thursday, for scheduled check-up. He made some suggestions regarding when I'm taking my nightime meds & when I'm having my nightime snack. If it continues, I'm sure he'll adjust PPI med.

That happans to me also. I was wondering what over the counter works best for most people? when I get up and eat something I go back to sleep which I don't want to do. I take Prilosec in mornig sometimes I think I need something else during the day too..

I take a PPI morning and night still after a year and 1/2.  You might try raising the head of your bed, (I used bed lifts from a local bed and bath store for the first months post op which helped a lot).