Can Heartburn Cause
Nausea?
There are
many reports of people experiencing nausea along with
heartburn. Although it says
so otherwise on many sites around the internet, heartburn is
not a condition. It is a symptom of a condition called
GERD (acid reflux), and nausea is also
one of the other symptoms (although not as common). This
type of illness is usually ongoing and even though it might
temporarily come and go, it never completely disappears as
something that you eat might trigger it at any point in time.
It is widely recognized that, yes,
acid reflux can
cause nausea.
When
the acidity in your stomach gets past
a certain level, and you have a weakened
LES
a lot of that acid splashes around in your chest and
throat area. Since these parts of
the body are not created to have that type of substance
within them it allows for the to easily get burnt.
Imagine placing very hot candle wax (in liquid form) on your
hand. We used to do this as kids, but sometimes you would
get it while it was still very hot. This would burn
really bad but there was no way to really get it off as
it would burn any area that it touched.
Unlike with the hand,
when the acid starts to burn the throat area, the body
begins extra saliva production as that will make its way
down the back of your throat and neutralize the acid and
coat the burn. The burning is painful and harmful and
can cause a lot of nerve points to trigger which can cause
many different symptoms, one of them being
nausea. This might make you feel as
if though you are car sick or just want to vomit. In my
opinion it is the body's defense mechanism as it tries to
stop the pain and get rid of the acidic substance from an
area where it doesn't belong. Since it won't stay down,
might as well get it to exit through the
top.
If you do go this route,
prepare for even more burning and a very acidic after taste.
Too much throwing up and burning of
the esophagus and you might also come down with a
case of acid
laryngitis where you start to change or even
completely lose your
voice. The only way to combat the nausea which
is coming from reflux is by controlling the acid
reflux
itself.
There are
many dietary and lifestyle changes which can be made. For
shorter term bouts, numerous types of over the counter
medication / antacids is
available. It is recommended to see a doctor and get the
disease properly diagnosed if it continues for a longer
period of time as it can really damage many of the body
parts and even cause ulcers or
cancer.
What
Can You Do Now To Prevent
Nausea?
- These
are a few of the methods
recommended:
- Avoid
large meals, and try to have smaller ones throughout the
day
- Slow
down as you eat
- Take
hard to digest foods out of your
diet
- Eat
colder meals, as the smell of hot dishes may elevate the
nausea
- Do not
attempt eating when nauseated
- Drink
water between meals instead of during
them
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