Symptoms of Heartburn - What does Heartburn Feel Like?

Knowing what heartburn feel like is key to curing it!Recognizing the symptoms of heartburn and knowing what does heartburn feel like is important as it will enable you to seek for treatment and remedies early to avoid further complications. Symptoms may be similar in almost everyone suffering from frequent heartburn due to acid reflux disease or indigestion however, foods and other lifestyles that trigger heartburn may be different.

Symptoms of heartburn - Does everyone feel the same

It is true that everyone may not feel all the symptoms at the same time, but there are common symptoms. Even though you may not feel all the symptoms, it's important that you know all of them and evaluate yours to know whether complications will soon surface. Majority of people who sought for home remedies for heartburn often want to know "what is heartburn" and "what does heartburn feel like". This is because its symptoms can be confusing with that of other ailments such as heart diseases, agina or heart attack.

 

Symptoms of heartburn - List of signs of heartburn to look out for.

From my personal experience and others I have interviewed, the most common symptoms of heartburn are:

• A burning sensation in the chest that is painful and radiating behind the breastbone;

• A burning pain and sensation in the chest that got worse when you lie down, bend over, eat too full or at night;

• Feeling of pressure around your epigastric region (upper stomach) and behind your breastbone;

• Feeling like food has stuck in chest or esophagus (throat) after you finish eating; 

• Regurgitation or feeling of wanting to vomit. This is due to acid backing up into your esophagus or indigestion;

• Bloating (feeling your stomach is filled with gas) and burping;

• A sour or bitter taste in your mouth. This is because acidic content from your stomach make its way to the back of your throat leaving the unusual taste in your mouth; 

• others are burning in the throat, hoarseness, sore throat and cough.

One thing you should know is that the symptoms are often worse at night when lying down, after a heavy meal, when one has delayed gastric emptying or indigestion. They may wake you up at night and also makes it difficult to sleep at night.

Symptoms of heartburn - Uncommon signs.

 

In my case and from others, there are situations where in addition to the above symptoms you will experience some unusual symptoms. This includes:

• Chest pain that radiates to your neck and shoulders. In fact, I felt so much pain and weakness in my neck and arms that I felt i was having heart attack, even the doctors were confused until electro-cardiograhic test and others were carried out to ascertain that it's heartburn;

• Pains when swallowing. This signal the onset of injury to the esophagus;

• In severe cases you may feel light-headedness, dizziness, or feeling faint or shortness of breath;

• Vomiting or frequent nausea;

• Persistent hiccups;

• Poor appetite due to difficulty eating and it's resulting to weight loss;

• Spitting blood.

 

Symptoms of heartburn - When to see the doctor.

 

Because of the serious and painful nature of severe heartburn I encourage you to book an appointment with your doctor:

1.  As soon as you start experiencing any of the "common symptoms" two or more times within a week. This is the best time because it will help you talk to your doctor and know what to do on time to stop it. 

      2.  If you are using over-the-counter medications and heartburn symptoms still don't go away.

      3.  If you are using over-the-counter medicine longer than as it's specified on the label. This brought to mind that before you take any over-the-counter medication, please go through the label first.

      4. The heartburn is debilitating that it's becoming difficult for you to carry out your daily
           activities.

      5.  Please go and see your doctor right away if you are experiencing any of the uncommon       symptoms mentioned above. The reason is because other serious disease conditions may be responsible.

      6.  In case you are passing out black or bright red stool go see physician.

Knowing the signs of heartburn is a key to knowing how to get rid of heartburn.   Before you go ahead seeking for heartburn treatment and/or home remedies for heartburn, I strongly feel you should know the symptoms of heartburn.