Do Not Take Severe Heartburn Lightly

By Author: Andrew Behling
Total Articles: 25
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Just like severe indigestion, severe heartburn can also mask or be a symptom of a heart attack. Chest pain is one of the main reasons people go to ER's. The pain of a heart attack and the pain of bout of severe heartburn bloating can be very similar. Often, professionals need diagnostic equipment to tell the difference. To make matters worse, the victims of both tend to be the same. Older people and those with obesity issues are more likely to have a heart attack or severe heartburn than others. If the pain lasts more than a few minutes or in accompanied by numbness or pain in other areas, seek medical help immediately.

Severe morning heartburn attack has a range of symptoms. These include a burning sensation in the check right behind the breastbone. It can last for a few minutes to many hours. Chest pains can occur with severe heartburn especially when lying down or eating. The esophagus will get irritated and the person will experience a hot or acidic fluid at the back of the throat. The person with severe heartburn may also experience difficulty swallowing, a chronic cough, or sore throat. Often right after a meal, ...
... the person will get a gurgling sensation in the stomach. This is quickly followed by the urge to vomit and/or the acid burning taste in the esophagus.

Severe heartburn can be a symptom of acid reflux or GERD. Acid reflux is caused by gastric acids being pushed up from the stomach into the esophagus. GERD, also known as Gastro-esophageal Reflux Disease, is similar to severe heartburn except it is food being pushed up instead of acids. Both can lead to severe irritation of the esophagus. This can cause the burning sensation so common to severe heartburn. The pressure from the acids and food being pushed up contribute to the pains experienced. Recurrent bouts of either of these can cause permanent damage to the esophagus.

Severe morning heartburn attack should be treated with both lifestyle changes and medications. For immediate pain, antacids generally provide quick relief. For recurrent bouts, a doctor can prescribe medications to help solve the problem long term. But in order for the symptoms of severe heartburn to be eliminated, the underlying causes need to be dealt with. If it is acid reflux, then avoid whatever triggers it. This can mean eating smaller meals or avoiding trigger foods. For GERD, the options are more limited. Work with your doctor to reduce or eliminate the GERD symptoms. This will ease the severe heartburn issues in parallel.

As a top contributor to BestProbioticProducts; Andrew Behling is a leading authority on nutrition, digestive health and probiotics. Discover more about digestive health issues and how probiotics can help by visiting Andrew's Top 10 Probiotic Product Reviews Page at BestProbioticProducts.org