# Discribe indigestion **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 14, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discribe-indigestion/148591 "2003-01-14T21:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discribe-indigestion/148591/1 "2003-01-14T21:36:53Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorkusmalorkusmafia/32/7266_2.png) [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discribe-indigestion/148591/2 "2003-01-14T22:23:24Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discribe-indigestion/148591/3 "2003-01-14T22:24:32Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discribe-indigestion/148591/4 "2003-01-14T22:58:10Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discribe-indigestion/148591/5 "2003-01-15T01:06:49Z")
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) ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discribe-indigestion/148591/6 "2003-01-15T01:26:24Z")
I’d say - “Really? that’s interesting. Now leave me alone while I get fat and watch porn” ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2003, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discribe-indigestion/148591/7 "2003-01-15T01:27:57Z")
whoops. I replied to the wrong thread. (how on earth did that happen)