I’ve always assumed that a certain pain I get is indigestion, but just lately I’ve started to wonder if I’m allergic to some things.
Especially after drinking red wine I get reflux - the acidy feeling coming back up and burning in my chest. Then about 2 or 3 hours later or sometimes the next day, I also get a different kind of pain - this one is not burny but more sharp; it feels like something in my upper chest is being squeezed. I have also noticed it after eating mushrooms.
I don’t have any other symptoms and Zantac or other reflux drugs alleviate the reflux and sometimes stop the other pain too.
Is this indigestion?
That sounds like indigestion to me. I always thought reflux/heartburn were a specific type of indigestion as well as any type of intestinal pain that you get when you try to digest food. I am not a doctor (but have suffered from reflux and indigestion types of things all my life thanks to surgery as a kid) and perhaps doctors have a more precise definition for indigestion but we commoners often refur to it as any type of pain or abnormality associated with the digestion of your food.
Indigestion is really not really a medical term. At least not a precise one.
When I hear someone use it, I try to find out what they mean by it[sup]*[/sup]. Is it a burning? nausea? pain? cramps? sour taste in mouth? etc.
So, I suppose you do have indigestion, but your description of it in your post, makes the use of that term less relevant.
*sorta like “dizzy” - some people mean true vertigo (the room is spinning), some mean light-headed, some mean trouble walking, some mean “I just feel weird”, etc.
Thank you for your responses. I guess I also would like to know if indigestion can be a symptom of something more major, not just the result of the body trying to digest food.
(in the back of my head I have remembered people talking about having indigestion when really it was a heart attack etc0
I would always go around saying to people “ohh I’ve got indigestion”. Then one day I gave myself a shock when I thought 'what if “indigestion” means flatulence!" (the shock being realizing that I have been telling people I am farting)
I’d say - “Really? that’s interesting. Now leave me alone while I get fat and watch porn”
whoops. I replied to the wrong thread. (how on earth did that happen)