Symptoms & Causes of Indigestion

What are the symptoms of indigestion?

When you have indigestion, you may have one or more of the following symptoms

• pain, a burning feeling, or discomfort in your upper abdomen
• feeling full too soon while eating a meal
• feeling uncomfortably full after a small amount of food
• bloating, nausea, or belching

Sometimes when you have indigestion, you may also have heartburn. However, heartburn and indigestion are two separate conditions.

When you have indigestion, you may have pain, a burning feeling, or discomfort in your upper abdomen.

When should I seek help from a doctor?

If you have indigestion and any of the following symptoms, you may have a more serious condition. See a doctor right away if you have

• pain in your chest, jaw, neck, or arm
• difficulty swallowing or painful swallowing
• frequent vomiting
• bloody vomit
• severe and constant pain in your abdomen
• long-lasting bloating or swelling in your abdomen
• shortness of breath
• weight loss without trying or loss of appetite
• yellowing of your eyes or skin
• black, tarlike stools 

You should also see a doctor if your indigestion doesn’t get better.

What causes indigestion?

Doctors don’t know what causes people to have indigestion from time to time. Most cases of chronic indigestion are diagnosed as functional dyspepsia, which is a disorder of how the gut and brain interact. In some cases, chronic indigestion has other causes.

Functional dyspepsia

Functional dyspepsia is a disorder of gut-brain interaction. These disorders are related to problems with how the brain and gut work together. Disorders of gut-brain interaction are not diseases. They are groups of symptoms that occur together.

In most cases, experts do not know what causes this disorder. Some research suggests that the following factors may play a role

• certain foods and drinks
• problems in the first part of your small intestine, including inflammation and being overly sensitive to stomach acids
• problems with the stomach’s ability to relax and expand with food
• mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression
• genes—traits passed from parent to child
• pain from the normal functions of the stomach

Other causes

Some medicines may cause indigestion, such as

• certain antibiotics—medicines that kill bacteria
• nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
• iron supplements
• medicines used to treat osteoporosis and other bone conditions
• glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists—medicines used to treat diabetes or obesity
• corticosteroids, also called steroids

Health problems and digestive tract diseases and conditions may also cause indigestion. The most common of these include

• peptic ulcers
• Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) or other infections such as Salmonella, Escherichia coli (E. coli), Campylobacter, Giardia, or norovirus

Specific foods or drinks are not thought to cause indigestion. However, certain foods or drinks may lead to symptoms for some people with functional dyspepsia.