Heartburn and acid reflux
Overview
Heartburn is a burning feeling in the chest caused by stomach acid travelling up towards the throat (acid reflux). If it keeps happening, it may be called gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD).
Symptoms
The main symptoms of acid reflux are: heartburn – a burning sensation in the middle of your chestan unpleasant sour taste in your mouth, caused by stomach acid You may also have: a cough or hiccups that keep coming backa hoarse voicebad breathbloating and feeling sick Symptoms are often worse after eating, when lying down and when bending over.
Causes
Lots of people get heartburn from time to time. There's often no obvious reason why. Sometimes it's caused or made worse by: certain food and drink – such as coffee, tomatoes, alcohol, chocolate and fatty or spicy foodsbeing overweightsmokingpregnancy - find out more aboutindigestion and heartburn in pregnancystress and anxietyan increase in some types of hormones, such as progesterone and oestrogensome medicines, such as anti-inflammatory painkillers (likeibuprofen)ahiatus hernia– when part of your stomach moves up into your chestastomach ulcera bacterial infection in your stomach
Treatment
If you have acid reflux, a GP may prescribe a medicine called a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) that reduces how much acid your stomach makes. PPIs include: omeprazolelansoprazole You'll usually need to take this type of medicine for 4 or 8 weeks, depending on how serious your acid reflux is. Go back to the GP if your symptoms return after stopping your medicine. You may need a long-term prescription. If a PPI does not help, your doctor may suggest trying a different type of medicine called an H2 receptor antagonist, such as famotidine. If medicines do not help or your symptoms are severe, a GP may refer you to a specialist for: tests to find out what's causing your symptoms, such as agastroscopy(where a thin tube with a camera inside it is passed down your throat and into your stomach)tests to check for bacteria that can cause heartburn – this can be treated with a combination of antibiotics and PPIssurgery on your stomach or food pipe (oesophagus) to stop acid reflux