Heartburn And Indigestion – What Are The Symptoms?

People who think heartburn and indigestion are one of the same are wrong. They are definitely not. The symptoms of heartburn and angina and indigestion can be similar, however, and the conditions often occur simultaneously, which can make the identification somewhat difficult.

Symptoms of Indigestion

Indigestion is often described as a feeling of fullness or discomfort while eating or after a meal. If you have the burning sensation in the upper stomach area, it is likely to be indigestion, whereas, heartburn gives a burning pain that starts behind the breastbone. Indigestion can also involve an acidic taste in the mouth, another symptom it shares with heartburn. Other symptoms of indigestion include bloating, gas and abdominal pain.

Heartburn and indigestion often accompany each other, even though the leaking of stomach acids into the esophagus is associated with heartburn. Indigestion and heartburn do share some underlying causes, however, such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and a number of lifestyle conditions, including smoking, stress, alcohol consumption and eating certain foods, eating too much, or eating too fast.
Indigestion and heartburn is also caused by pregnancy. Contributing factors to heartburn and indigestion especially during pregnancy, is the added pressure on the stomach that the uterus caused by expanding. This is of course, due to the fact that our hormones change.

Symptoms of Heartburn

While the causes of heartburn vary from person to person, the symptoms of heartburn are fairly consistent for most individuals. So, what does heartburn feel like?An identifiable symptom that is common to heartburn is the burning sensation in the chest and throat. Burning sensations shouldn’t be confused with pain. You should seek medical help immediately if the pain moves through your arms and shoulders, as this can be related a heart attack~{You could be suffering a heart attack if the pain in the chest radiates to the arms and shoulders; if this is the case seek medical help immediately}~{Seek medical help immediately if the pain in the chest radiates to the arms and shoulders as you could be experiencing a heart attack}~If the pain in the chest moves to the arms and shoulders then you could be experiencing a heart attack. {If this is the situation, then you should seek medical help immediately}~{Seek medical help immediately, if this is the situation}~{If this is the situation, seek medical help immediately}~Medical help should be sought if this is the situation}~You may be experiencing a heart attack if the pain moves through your chest to your arms and shoulders. If this is the case, seek medical help immediately~{You could be suffering a heart attack if the pain in the chest radiates to the arms and shoulders; if this is the case seek medical help immediately}~{Seek medical help immediately if the pain in the chest radiates to the arms and shoulders as you could be experiencing a heart attack}~If the pain in the chest moves to the arms and shoulders then you could be experiencing a heart attack. {If this is the situation, then you should seek medical help immediately}~{Seek medical help immediately, if this is the situation}~{If this is the situation, seek medical help immediately}~Medical help should be sought if this is the situation}.

Factors such as, food getting stuck in the throat or chest, regurgitaion of food, acidic or salty taste in the mouth, a hoarse sounding voice and a sore throat are other symptoms of heartburn. Normally after meals, heartburn symptoms may present themselves. The episodes can last anything from a few moments upto a few hours. If you lie down, you may find that very often the symptoms will worsen. In most cases, antacids will lessen or erradicate your heartburn. Pain that does not lessen with antacid treatment should be evaluated by a medical professional.

If you become dizzy, lightheaded, experience a cold sweat, or have pain that appears very suddenly and worsens, seek the advice of a medical professional to be evaluated for possible heart conditions. Learning to identify the symptoms of heartburn and indigestion is important, particularly if you are at risk for developing heart conditions and of course, knowing the difference between angina heartburn symptoms. Learning to distinguish between the different symptoms of indigestion and heartburn is really important as you need to know when the conditions are more serious. Medical advice should be sought immeditely, if you experience unusual symptoms; sometimes these can be mistaken for indigestions and heartburn.