When should you see your doctor due to heartburn?
Occasional heartburn is usually easy to control by over-the-counter medications and doesn’t require contacting a specialist. But, it isn’t always simple in this way.
As we said, heartburn may be a sign of heart attack. Thus, contact your doctor if you feel heartburn with other heart attack symptoms, such as dyspnea and pain in the arms or jaw, or at risk of heart attacks, such as older people, smokers, diabetics, or those with hypertension or heart disease.
Also, recurrent and persistent heartburn may lead to dangerous complications in the esophagus, including cancer.
Call your doctor if:
- Your heartburn doesn’t go away.
- You take OTC medications for more than two weeks without improvement.
- Your heartburn becomes more severe and frequent (more than twice per week).
- You feel difficult or painful to swallow.
- You have persistent hoarseness or wheezing.
- You have nausea and vomiting.
- You have unexpected weight loss or poor appetite (it may indicate cancer).
- Your heartburn interferes with your daily activities.
