What is heartburn or acid indigestion?

Heartburn—or acid indigestion—is a burning sensation or discomfort that is generally felt in the chest. This pain or discomfort is caused when acids from your stomach are forced back up through your esophagus. This can happen due to acid reflux, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and pregnancy (due to pressure from the fetus). 

What does heartburn feel like?

If you’ve never had heartburn, you’re lucky. Typically, heartburn feels like a sort of burning sensation or pain in the center of your chest. This feeling can last from a few minutes to a few hours or more for some people. Because the lower end of the esophagus lies behind the heart, it is easy to confuse the symptoms of heartburn with a heart attack.

How can you tell if it’s heartburn? In addition to pain or burning in your chest, you may also have a burning feeling or bitter or sour taste in the back of your throat that makes it difficult to swallow. You may feel the pain in your chest more when you bend over or lie down, especially if you lie down right after eating. 

As opposed to a heart attack, which can occur at anytime, heartburn is more likely to be felt after eating certain foods or drinking certain beverages that trigger acid reflux. 

Is heartburn normal?

The acids in your stomach are quite normal. These acids help to digest your food. While your stomach has a protective lining that helps shield against these acids, the esophagus does not and is very sensitive to stomach acid. 

Occasional heartburn is pretty common and happens about once a week for up to 20% of Americans. It can also be a sign of another medical issue or cause problems if you have acid reflux regularly or for a long time. If you have heartburn frequently, talk to your family doctor about it and whether Tagamet® tablets, other medications or lifestyle changes can help.

Get heartburn relief

Fortunately, most heartburn symptoms can be treated with over-the-counter medications like Tagamet HB 200®. It relieves and prevents heartburn associated with acid indigestion and sour stomach. 

Tagamet HB 200®  is FDA approved as a safe alternative to Zantac. It can be used up to twice daily (up to 2 tablets in 24 hours) for relief or prevention of heartburn symptoms.

Tagamet® has been trusted for over 40 years* and is the first prescription product for heartburn relief. If you have been hesitant to try or return to heartburn medications, talk to your doctor today about Tagamet.

*Based on Tagamet consumer purchase since 1977