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.
When someone asks me what causes heartburn, I gladly tell them the story of my daughter Vi. We had an emergency one night when she woke up in extreme pain. She had trouble breathing and felt spasms in her chest. While we were calling 911, she ran to the bathroom to vomit, which of course made me extremely worried. She was crying from the pain and believe me, my 15-year old is one tough teen. That was definitely not normal for her. If anyone questions what does heartburn feel like, I describe that night.