The primary symptom of acid reflux disease is heartburn, a burning sensation that rises from the stomach through the esophagus to the sternum or the throat. Usually, heartburn worsens when the sufferer changes his posture or just after the sufferer has eaten a large meal. Heartburn that only occurs every so often is not necessarily a sign of worse things, unless other acid reflux symptoms are present.

Often, with acid reflux, the most severe and persistent complaint is heartburn. Any severe chest pain should be evaluated by a physician to determine the cause of the pain is, in fact, heartburn and not cardiac related pain, such as infarction or angina. With acid reflux disease, chest pain most often presents at night because of the postural changes as noted above.

The second most common symptom is dyspepsia, a chronic or recurrent pain centered in the upper abdomen. As with other acid reflux symptoms, the extent or expression of dyspepsia is varied and does not indicate the extent of damage to the esophagus. This pain may be accompanied by nausea and vomiting, or may express itself as only a sensation of fullness in the stomach. Again, dyspepsia may be present without reflux.

Acid reflux symptoms include regurgitation. This is a sudden feeling that the stomach contents are backing up into the throat or esophagus and a very common symptom. The regurgitation can be associated with nausea, although not necessarily so. In the most severe cases, stomach contents are actually burped up or even vomited. Regurgitation does also normally happen on occasion, especially in small children. By itself it is not an indicator of acid reflux.

There are many other less common symptoms of acid reflux disease. Typically, these involve a rough unproductive cough, wheezing, hoarseness or laryngitis. Less common symptoms are a constant feeling of having a lump in the throat or chronic sore throat, sinusitis, and persistent hiccups. Even more uncommon is chronic nausea that is not associated with any other of the reflux symptoms. This nausea may be intermittent persist for months.

A diagnosis of acid reflux disease can usually be made by your primary care physician or nurse practitioner. A safe trial of acid reflux medication will make the tentative diagnosis definite. There are many symptoms of acid reflux disease which are also symptoms of other conditions, and these other conditions should be investigated if there is any doubt in the practitioner’s mind.

Visit http://www.acidrefluxillness.com for the latest on news and treatments for symptoms of acid reflux.

- Lee Dobbins

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