Of all the symptoms of GERD, nothing could be more painful and alarming as heartburn. What does heartburn feel like? Painful, burning, suffocating, scary, do I need to add more adjectives? People think a cardiac attack is imminent when there is heartburn, when actually there is none. What makes GERD bad is that even infants are not spared of the indications.
Lower esophageal sphincter – LES. This is the main part of the digestive tract that functions as a gate between the esophagus and the intestines. It opens to allow food to go down the intestines, it opens to allow gas to escape as in a belch or it can open as when one needs to throw up. If this part gets weakened, it can be the precursor to the symptoms of GERD.
The burning felt in heartburn makes GERD easy enough to identify, that and the diet that the patient normally practices. The nasty taste in the mouth and difficulty in swallowing are also symptoms of GERD that accompanies the heartburn. These symptoms generally take a few minutes to a few hours to disappear and it can only be relieved and prevented if the foods that trigger these symptoms are avoided.
There are a lot of antacids that can treat the symptoms of GERD. Medications like Tums and others are easily enough available as well as being highly effective. In the days before these were made commercially available, some baking soda was effective to make the burn die down. There are times, though, when the antacids are not good enough.
Severe symptoms do not really call for dangerous drugs. Only prescription ones that make sure that the stomach juices do no over produce. They are effective in lowering the incidents of symptoms of GERD and taken as maintenance for a period of time for the LES heal and the esophagus lining heal too.
GERD treatments and diets do not scare the people who suffer from symptoms. They can withstand the thoughts of compliance, but they cannot tolerate the pain when it attacks. Some sort of priority check involved when it comes to symptoms and treatments. Apparently, the pain is not enough to make a lifestyle check or even a change in diet. With the symptoms of GERD readily felt, it is strange that people will still ignore what is in front of them just to experience the short lived pleasure of eating and drinking foods which are not only triggers to symptoms of GERD but are actually toxic to the body.
Cyndi Funaldi writes about heartburn treatment at her website. Read more about heartburn treatment and what does heartburn feel like.