Indigestion - How To Manage It?

Indigestion refers to the discomfort in your upper belly or abdomen after you have eaten your food. Indigestion in many cases has an underlying problem like gastro esophageal reflux disease, ulcers or disorders of your gall bladder. Indigestion is also known as dyspepsia in medical terms.

The causes of indigestion due to the presence of any diseases or underlying medical conditions consist of the following:

1. Problems like ulcers
2. In rare cases, it could be initial symptoms of stomach cancer
3. Chronic pancreatitis
4. Thyroid disease
5. Infections in your stomach and irritable bowel syndrome
6. Pregnancy could also result in indigestion

Some of the lifestyle habits that can cause indigestion are mentioned below:
1. Excessive consumption of alcohol
2. Smoking cigarettes
3. Stress and fatigue in daily life
4. Consumption of foods with high-fat content
5. Regular and excessive intake of fried and oily foods

Medications can also cause indigestion and some of those could be:
1. Steroid medications
2. Thyroid medicines
3. Certain of antibiotics in heavy doses
4. Oral contraceptives and estrogen replacement medications
5. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen and naproxen
6. Painkillers

Sometimes indigestion may not be related to the factors mentioned above and yet persist within your body. This type of indigestion is known as functional or non-ulcer dyspepsia. You should contact a medical professional immediately if the symptoms of indigestion include some of the following:

1. Back pain
2. Jaw pain
3. Heavy sweating and anxiety
4. Indigestion that lasts longer than one day
5. Severe and sudden pain in the abdomen
6. Problems when you try to swallow food
7. Vomiting or presence of blood in your stool
8. Sudden loss in your weight
9. Skin and eyes turning yellow in color which is a tell-tale sign of jaundice

In case your indigestion persists for too long and doesn’t respond to conventional treatment, your doctor might prescribe some of the following tests.

1. Ultrasound tests of your abdomen
2. Blood tests
3. Upper endoscopy
4. Physical examination of your digestive tract and the stomach area
5. Questions by the doctor about what symptoms you may be facing and how they are manifesting within your body