Heartburn is a common annoyance. The busy lifestyle, quick meals, fatty or spicy foods all contribute to the occasional need of a chewable pain reliever. The acceptance of heartburn as an inconvenient, but natural, part of the daily grind can blind you to the warning that a severe heartburn symptom can bring.

Heartburn as a Disorder

Heartburn can be a symptom as well as a disorder. Simple heartburn can be controlled and dealt with. However, heartburn can signal the presence of a much more serious problem. If it’s heartburn, you will have a burning sensation in the chest usually after eating. There may be a spread of the burning to the throat, sometimes accompanied by a bad taste, difficulty in swallowing, belching, coughing, hoarseness and/or wheezing.

It can become worse by lying down or bending over or by eating. Relief can come from an antacid. While the more severe heartburn symptoms may be mistaken for a heart attack, simple heartburn is usually not made worse by exercise. If there is any concern that the pain may signal a heart attack, get help quickly.

Heartburn as a Symptom

When the severe heartburn symptom is persistent and is accompanied by chest pain, morning hoarseness, trouble swallowing, a feeling of something stuck in the throat, a choking sensation, bad breath and/or a persistent dry cough, you may have gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD.

If the severe heartburn symptom is accompanied by a backflow of stomach contents into the back of the throat or esophagus, vomiting, a bad taste, frequent belching or hiccups, chest pain or pressure, a bloated feeling, abdominal discomfort or pressure after eating, gas, discomfort in the stomach or esophagus, coughing and/or difficulty swallowing, then you may be getting warnings of a hiatal hernia.

When the severe heartburn symptom is accompanied by difficulty swallowing, the inability to swallow solid foods worsening to the inability swallowing liquids, pain with swallowing, food sticking in the esophagus, loss of weight, regurgitation of undigested food, and/ or vomiting blood, get to a doctor to test for esophageal cancer.

As you can see many of these disorders have symptoms in common. The severe heartburn symptom can also be a sign of peptic ulcers, gastritis, gastroparesis (especially for diabetics) or the rare Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome. If your severe heartburn symptom has other, more worrisome symptoms with it, see your doctor. Worrying about it can make your heartburn worse.

There are various causes of heartburn and various degrees of severity but basically, it all comes down to stomach acid getting into the esophagus and finding a way to stop it. How strong a treatment is needed is determined by the severity of the heartburn.

The stomach uses hydrochloric acid to break down food as part of the body’s digestive system. The stomach lining serves as a protective shield against this strong acid; however the esophagus is not designed to deal with it and if even little seeps past the stomach valve, heartburn can occur.

While most people suffer from some form of heartburn occasionally, severe and persistent bouts may be signs of other problems, such as a hiatal hernia or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). While neither one is usually fatal, they will require attention of a physician.

There is a one-way door connecting the esophagus to the top of the stomach. This allows anything that is swallowed to enter the stomach and to keep anything in the stomach from coming back into the esophagus. This sphincter muscle sometimes loses its ability to stop the stomach acid from refluxing upwards, causing heartburn.

A hiatal hernia is when the muscles working the sphincter have herniated, or in a sense broken, and allows the hydrochloric acid and pepsin to rise back into the esophagus. A dietary and lifestyle change is usually prescribed by your physician until the muscles have a chance to heal and function properly.

Prompt Medical Attention

Persons suffering severe heartburn, who may have GERD, need to have this confirmed by a physician to initiate proper medical treatment. While proton pump inhibitors may help to a certain degree, their use should rarely exceed two weeks unless guided by your doctor. Proton pump inhibitors, the primary course of Prilosec OTC works against frequent heartburn by significantly slowing the production of stomach acid.

Taking any proton pump inhibitor for heartburn in a way not recommended by either your doctor or manufacturer could lead to serious problems and your stomach needs a certain amount of acids to properly digest foods and break down certain bacteria.

If you suffer from what you believe is a sudden onset of heartburn accompanied by shortness of breath, pain in the neck, in the jaw or even in the legs, you should immediately contact a physician. Many symptoms of a heart attack have been confused as heartburn with severe consequences.

The mildest case of heartburn feels downright life threatening. The common, non-dangerous condition can feel like agony. Accompanying symptoms can seem like the least of your worries. Sometimes that’s true and sometimes it isn’t. When you talk to your doctor about heartburn, be sure to mention other symptoms that go along with it occasionally. A pairing like heartburn and nausea can mean something far more sinister.

Sometimes Yes, Sometimes No

Heartburn is not a permanent condition – it comes and goes. It can be caused by temporary conditions, too. Every mom knows that pregnancy means heartburn and it can bring along very unpleasant friends. Once baby is large enough to block the stomach, the stomach can fill up very quickly. An overfull stomach triggers the emptying of excess air to make more room. The air that comes up from the stomach is accompanied by acid which causes heartburn for the mom-to-be.

As for the nausea, it’s hard to say whether that’s because of the heartburn or just because of the pregnancy. The good news is that a pregnant woman sees a doctor regularly and can mention the heartburn and nausea. Often, the problem disappears when the baby appears making two reasons to celebrate.

The flu can cause stomach problems, too. Sometimes the heartburn is caused by too much lying down. Gravity is a huge help in getting food down and keeping it down. While suffering from the flu, heartburn and nausea can seem like only a minor problem.

If there is no acute cause for the heartburn and nausea, then a visit to the doctor is definitely in order. When heartburn is accompanied by nausea, the reason may be gastritis. While heartburn is caused by damage to the esophagus, the burning from gastritis is caused by damage to the stomach lining or part of the small intestine.

This can lead to ulcers where the tissue is damaged by gastric acid. Over the counter medication will not help this condition. You will need a diagnosis from a doctor which can mean x-rays, endoscopy, biopsy or other methods. The treatment will depend on your doctor’s evaluation.

The occurrence of heartburn and nausea for the diabetic can mean gastroparesis, a condition in which the stomach takes too long to empty. The slow to digest food can lead to serious problems including fluctuating glucose levels. The condition can be caused by nerve damage preventing normal movement of the food. Heartburn is a medical condition, but it is also a symptom. The burning sensation may be what it seems to be, but when heartburn and nausea come together, they could be symptoms of something more serious.

There are many problems a woman has to go through when pregnant. She might get high blood pressure, edema, nausea and vomiting, weakness, and excessive heartburn. For each of these problems there are remedies; however the doctor usually advises to keep medicines to the minimum lest it will affect the baby in one way or other. The mothers-to-be also prefer to endure the ordeals as much as possible, rather then risk harming the baby.

Can Heartburn During Pregnancy Be Controlled?

During pregnancy, a great deal of changes takes place in the body due to release of extra hormones triggered. These hormones cause the LES (lower esophagus sphincter) to get loose and as a result of that, it can swing the other way, allowing acid and undigested food rush back into the alimentary canal.

The question remains whether it is possible to check and/or control the heartburn during pregnancy without creating any type of risk to the baby. It seems that the answer is ‘yes’. Some of the remedies are simple precautions that you can apply without much effort:

1. Identify the foods that aggravate heartburn during pregnancy and totally eliminate those foods from your diet during the pregnancy period. Usually citrus fruits, chocolate and aerated drinks are among the foods which create the most harm.
2. Avoid all beverages/ drinks that may contain caffeine. These include coffee, tea (with and without milk) as these have been observed to cause heartburn during pregnancy.
3. Do away with alcohol for the same reasons as above. Alcohol too allows the LES to swing inwards thus resulting in acute heartburn.
4. Eat small meals, at small intervals of time. Do not try to eat large meals as these will result in heartburn and even vomiting.
5. Let at least two hours pass between your meal and retiring for bed. Sleeping on stomach full slows down the digestion system, and hence increases the acidity of the stomach which in turn results in heartburn during pregnancy.

The above are only five simple remedies that will allow you freedom from heartburn. Other remedies would be yoga, prescription medicines form your doctor and an exclusively fat free diet (if possible). It remains to see how much of these remedies are feasible for you and how many work to your satisfaction. The only way to find out is to try them out one by one and see for yourself.

Ordinary heartburn is a normal part of modern life. Quick meals, spicy food and lots of caffeine translate into occasional bouts of a burning sensation in the chest. Usually, an antacid tablet or just a little time takes care of the problem and life goes on. You know deep down that this is a medical problem, but it’s so common and usually not more than an annoyance.

Nevertheless, the symptoms of heartburn can mimic the symptoms of more serious disorders and severe heartburn can lead to chronic problems. How do you know when it reaches the level of severe heartburn and you need to see a doctor?

Common Sense

Some of the ways to know when to go to the doctor are just common sense. The symptoms of even mild heartburn are difficult to overlook as you know your own body. When the symptoms change, become more frequent or more painful you know it. Often, people feel a little silly to bother a doctor with a condition that could be a common, minor problem. No one likes to look like a complainer. However, it is always safer to err on the side of caution with a matter like severe heartburn?

When your heartburn persists even after you have taken the medication that normally works, you may be experiencing severe heartburn. If the problem lasts longer than usual and the pain is worse, you should call your doctor. Difficulty in swallowing, pain when swallowing or the feeling of having something stuck in your throat is a sign that you should contact your doctor. Don’t ignore pain that keeps you awake or wakes you during the night, nor should you ignore pain in the neck, chest or back.

Ordinary heartburn will not cause vomiting and signs of blood should never be ignored. Other signs of severe heartburn include persistent hoarseness, throat pain and coughing or wheezing. Excessive saliva or serious weight loss are indications that you should call the doctor. Above all, ordinary heartburn should not interfere with your regular routines.

Accepting severe heartburn as part of your life is not necessary. If over the counter medicine or home remedies don’t take care of the problem, you may be experiencing something other than heartburn. Acid indigestion, for instance, is not the same as heartburn in spite of similar symptoms. It is much more serious and can lead to much more chronic conditions. If you feel that you are experiencing severe heartburn, assume that you are right and contact your physician.