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Dr. Chrysoula I. Liakou MD, PhD
- Treated online: Yes, usually. Indigestion is assessed by video, with lifestyle steps, a short acid-suppressing course or an H. pylori test-and-treat plan arranged as the pattern warrants; alarm features such as swallowing difficulty, weight loss or bleeding signs are sent for in-person investigation instead.
- What it is: a cluster of upper-abdominal symptoms after eating rather than a single disease; about 4 in 10 adults have indigestion each year, most with no underlying disease (functional dyspepsia), and the rest from reflux, gastritis, H. pylori, an ulcer or, rarely, gallstones or cancer.
- How long: an episode of indigestion usually passes within a few hours; indigestion recurring for more than a few weeks earns an H. pylori test, and indigestion starting for the first time after 55, or with any alarm feature, earns an endoscopy.
- Commonest reversible cause: regular ibuprofen, naproxen or aspirin, which irritate the stomach lining; paracetamol does not, and switching painkillers settles many cases of indigestion within days.
- Heart first: chest pressure or tightness spreading to the arm, neck, jaw or back, with sweating, breathlessness or faintness, needs a 112 call, not antacids, even if it eases; indigestion is diagnosed afterwards, never in the moment.
- Emergency: call 112 for chest pressure with sweating or breathlessness, vomiting blood or coffee-ground material, or black tar-like stools, and get urgent in-person care for difficulty swallowing, unintended weight loss or persistent vomiting.
Indigestion-like pain is sometimes the heart, not the stomach. Central chest pressure or tightness spreading to your arm, neck, jaw or back, with sweating, breathlessness or faintness, is a 112 call, not a video appointment, even if it eases. Separately, difficulty swallowing, unintended weight loss, vomiting blood or coffee-ground material, or black tar-like stools need urgent in-person investigation, not an online antacid.
Can an online doctor treat indigestion?
Yes, for most people. Indigestion (the medical term is dyspepsia) is diagnosed from your history, and guideline care, lifestyle changes, a defined acid-suppressing course, and H. pylori test-and-treat for persistent symptoms, can all be run by video.[1] The firm exceptions: chest pain that could be cardiac goes to emergency care, and alarm features such as swallowing difficulty, weight loss or bleeding signs go to endoscopy.
On Mobi Doctor, the doctor treats the question behind the symptom seriously: not "which antacid", but "what is this, and does it need testing, treatment or neither".
Listen: Indigestion Treatment Online
The audio version of this topic from the Mobi Doctor podcast. Open the episode.
How an online consultation helps with indigestion
- The dangerous mimics excluded first: the consultation opens with the cardiac screen and the alarm-feature checklist, because the worst outcome in dyspepsia care is treating a heart or a tumour with peppermint and omeprazole.[3]
- A cause, not just a label: meals, medicines (especially anti-inflammatory painkillers), alcohol, weight and stress are worked through systematically, since the fix follows the driver.
- Test-and-treat, organised: for persistent symptoms, the doctor arranges H. pylori testing and prescribes eradication treatment if it is positive, the strategy guidelines recommend before long-term acid suppression.[1][2]
- An honest exit plan: acid-suppressing courses come with a duration and a review, and if symptoms persist despite proper treatment, the next step is investigation, not repetition.
What the doctor checks in an online indigestion consultation
Dyspepsia assessment is nine parts history, which is why it translates well to video. The doctor will typically establish:
- What "indigestion" means for you: upper-stomach pain or burning, uncomfortable fullness after normal meals, early satiety, bloating, nausea, belching, or several at once; each pattern points somewhere slightly different.
- The cardiac question, asked outright: whether the discomfort ever comes with exertion, spreads to arm, neck or jaw, or arrives with sweating, breathlessness or faintness. Any yes reroutes you to emergency assessment before anything else.
- Alarm features, one by one: difficulty or pain swallowing, food sticking, unintended weight loss, repeated vomiting, blood in vomit, black stools, or symptoms of anaemia such as unusual tiredness and pallor.[3]
- Medicines that cause dyspepsia: ibuprofen, naproxen, aspirin and other NSAIDs above all, plus steroids, some antibiotics, iron tablets and certain osteoporosis medicines.
- Pattern and provokers: relation to meals, alcohol, specific foods, lying down, and stress; how long this has run and whether it is changing.
- Previous treatment and testing: antacid response, earlier acid-suppression courses, any past H. pylori test or endoscopy and their results.
What causes indigestion?
Sometimes a specific culprit is found: reflux of acid into the gullet, gastritis, a stomach or duodenal ulcer, H. pylori infection, or a medicine irritating the stomach. Just as often, tests find nothing structural at all; this is functional dyspepsia, a real and common condition where the stomach's movement and sensitivity are the problem rather than visible damage.[1] That result is not "nothing wrong with you": it changes treatment away from ever-stronger acid suppression towards meal patterns, triggers and, in some cases, medicines that act on stomach emptying or nerve sensitivity.
Everyday contributors stack the odds regardless of category: large or late meals, rushing food, alcohol, smoking, excess weight pressing on the stomach, and stress, which genuinely amplifies gut sensation rather than being a polite way of saying "imagined".[4]
Is it indigestion, heartburn or your heart?
The three get confused because they share an address behind the breastbone. Indigestion is discomfort centred in the upper stomach: pain, fullness, early satiety, bloating, nausea. Heartburn, the signature of GORD (acid reflux), is a burning that rises behind the breastbone, often with an acid taste, worse after meals and on lying down. Cardiac pain is typically pressure or tightness rather than burning, may be brought on by exertion, and can spread to the arm, neck, jaw or back with sweating or breathlessness.
The overlap is dangerous in one direction only, which is why the rule is asymmetric: mistaking heartburn for a heart attack costs you an anxious evening; mistaking a heart attack for heartburn can cost a life. New, severe or unfamiliar chest pain, especially with the features above, is a chest pain emergency until proven otherwise: call 112 first and debate the diagnosis later. Established meal-related symptoms that respond to antacids can be worked up calmly online.
Do I need an H. pylori test?
If your indigestion keeps returning or does not settle with initial treatment, yes, probably. European and UK guidance recommends test-and-treat: check for Helicobacter pylori with a stool antigen or breath test, eradicate it with a one-week combination course if positive, and only then settle into longer acid suppression if symptoms persist.[1][2][5] The practical details matter: stop acid-suppressing tablets about two weeks before testing (they cause false negatives), and finish the eradication course completely if prescribed. The doctor directs you to the local testing route and handles the follow-up either way.
Is my indigestion suitable for online care?
Usually yes, once the mimics are excluded. This is the decision framework the doctors use, aligned with the cited guidance.
Swipe sideways to compare →
| Presentation | Likely first step | Suitable for online care? | When referral or in-person care is needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meal-related discomfort, occasional, no alarm features | Lifestyle changes plus antacids or alginates | Usually yes | If symptoms become frequent or persistent |
| Frequent or persistent dyspepsia | 4-week acid-suppressing course, or H. pylori test-and-treat[1] | Usually yes | No response after proper treatment and eradication: endoscopy |
| Dyspepsia in an NSAID, aspirin or steroid user | Medication review with the prescriber; protection or switch | Often yes | Any bleeding sign, or complex decisions needing your specialist |
| Alarm features: swallowing difficulty, weight loss, vomiting blood, black stools, anaemia | Urgent endoscopy referral[3] | Assessment and referral only | Always, and immediately if bleeding is active |
| Chest pressure with exertion or radiation to arm, neck or jaw, sweating, breathlessness | Emergency assessment as cardiac pain | No | Call 112 immediately |
Not sure which row is you? A doctor can tell you in one consultation.
See available times →Treatment options for indigestion
What you can do yourself
Eat smaller meals, slower, and earlier in the evening; the stomach complains loudest about volume, speed and lateness. Cut back alcohol and coffee for a few weeks and watch what changes rather than banning everything at once. If you smoke, this is one more organ asking you to stop. Check your painkillers: regular ibuprofen or aspirin is one of the commonest reversible causes of dyspepsia, and paracetamol usually substitutes for everyday aches (talk to a doctor before stopping anything prescribed). Pharmacy antacids and alginates settle short-lived episodes; if you are reaching for them most days, that is the signal to get assessed rather than to buy a bigger bottle.
Prescription treatment
A prescription is never issued without a consultation. Where assessment supports it, the doctor prescribes a defined course, typically a proton pump inhibitor for around four weeks, or H. pylori eradication treatment when a test is positive.[1] The same honesty that applies to reflux applies here: acid suppression should carry a duration and a review date, long-term use should be a reviewed decision at the lowest effective dose, and stopping after months works better as a taper, because abrupt stops can cause rebound acid symptoms that masquerade as relapse.[2] If a proper course plus eradication has not fixed things, the answer is investigation, not a permanent prescription.
When it might be something else
Beyond reflux and the heart, three neighbours are worth naming. Pain that gnaws on an empty stomach, eases briefly with food and recurs at night points to a stomach or duodenal ulcer, particularly with NSAIDs or H. pylori in the story. Soreness with nausea after painkillers, alcohol or a recent illness fits gastritis. Attacks of severe right-sided or central pain a few hours after fatty meals, coming in waves that last hours, sound like gallstones and need an ultrasound rather than an antacid. Persistent symptoms with none of these signatures may be functional dyspepsia, managed as described above. Part of the consultation's value is putting you on the right page, sometimes literally.
When indigestion is treated online, and when you need in-person care
Treated online: episodic and persistent dyspepsia without alarm features; lifestyle and trigger plans; defined acid-suppression courses with review; H. pylori test-and-treat, including retesting after eradication; and medication reviews where a painkiller or other drug is the likely cause.
In-person care: possible cardiac pain goes to emergency care immediately; alarm features (difficulty swallowing, unintended weight loss, vomiting blood, black stools, unexplained anaemia) go on an urgent endoscopy pathway at the first consultation;[3] dyspepsia persisting despite a proper course and eradication goes to gastroenterology; and suspected gallstone or pancreatic pain goes for in-person examination and imaging. If your doctor decides you need to be seen in person, you get a full refund and clear directions to the right care.
When to get in-person care
Call 112 immediately for chest pressure or pain spreading to your arm, neck, jaw or back, with sweating, breathlessness or faintness, and for vomiting blood or passing black tar-like stools. Arrange urgent in-person investigation, within days, for difficulty swallowing, food sticking, unintended weight loss, repeated vomiting, or severe abdominal pain that is worsening rather than settling.
Treating indigestion and heartburn at home: what helps and what does not
Smaller meals, eating earlier in the evening, cutting down alcohol and caffeine, losing a little weight and raising the head of the bed genuinely reduce indigestion and heartburn. Pharmacy antacids settle occasional episodes well.
What home care cannot do: it cannot safely explain symptoms that keep coming back. Indigestion several times a week, symptoms persisting beyond about three weeks, or reflux that needs antacids daily deserves a proper diagnosis, because ongoing self-treatment can mask reflux disease, ulcers or, rarely, something more serious. Difficulty swallowing, repeated vomiting or unexplained weight loss means seeing a doctor promptly, not another antacid.
You do not have to leave home for that step either: a video consultation is at-home care with a licensed doctor in it, and if treatment is right for you, the prescription can be used at a pharmacy near you. You can see a doctor over video, usually within 15 minutes. Book a video consultation: no subscription, exact price before payment.
How Mobi Doctor works
- Book a time that suits you: open daily 7am–11pm CET. You can see a doctor over video, usually within 15 minutes. No subscription, exact price up front.
- Speak to a licensed doctor about indigestion: a private video call: you describe what you feel, the doctor asks what matters, and you agree the right plan together.
- Leave with your plan: everything agreed before you hang up: your plan, and a prescription to use at a pharmacy near you where medication is clinically right for you. If your doctor decides you need to be seen in person, you get a full refund.
No sign-up needed
Not sure it’s indigestion? Tick every symptom you have to see each condition page that mentions it. It finds the right page, not a diagnosis: a doctor gives you that on a video call.
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Similar symptoms, different condition? GORD can start the same way. Compare them, or look up any other symptom in the full symptom checker.
Frequently asked questions about indigestion
What is indigestion, and what causes it?
Indigestion, or dyspepsia, is discomfort in the upper abdomen linked to eating: pain, burning, fullness, bloating, belching and nausea. It is caused by eating too much or too fast, fatty, spicy or acidic food, alcohol, coffee, fizzy drinks, smoking, stress, pregnancy, anti-inflammatory painkillers and some other medicines, acid reflux, gastritis, H. pylori infection or an ulcer; in many people no cause is found and the stomach is simply oversensitive, which is called functional dyspepsia.
What are the symptoms of indigestion?
Indigestion shows as pain or burning in the upper middle abdomen during or soon after eating, feeling full early or uncomfortably full afterwards, bloating, burping, wind, nausea and sometimes bringing up small amounts of food or bitter fluid. Heartburn, a burning rising behind the breastbone, often comes with it. Vomiting blood, black stools, difficulty swallowing or weight loss are not indigestion and need urgent assessment.
Can an online doctor prescribe indigestion treatment in Europe?
Yes, when the picture fits. For indigestion the doctor can prescribe a defined course of an acid-suppressing tablet, change a painkiller or other medicine that is irritating the stomach, and arrange H. pylori testing with eradication treatment if it is positive, with the prescription usable at a pharmacy near you. A prescription is never issued without a consultation, and indigestion with weight loss, difficulty swallowing or black stools is referred for endoscopy first.
How do I know it is indigestion and not my heart?
You cannot always tell, so the rule is deliberately cautious: pressure or tightness spreading to the arm, neck or jaw, with sweating, breathlessness or faintness, especially on exertion, means call 112 now, even if it eases. Familiar meal-related discomfort that settles with antacids, worsens on bending or lying down and has no exertional link fits indigestion, and a first episode in anyone over 40 is still checked.
What is the difference between indigestion and heartburn?
Heartburn is one specific symptom: burning rising behind the breastbone as acid refluxes into the gullet. Indigestion is the broader package of upper-stomach discomfort: pain, fullness, early satiety, bloating and nausea. They overlap and can coexist, but frequent heartburn points to reflux disease and is treated with acid suppression, while indigestion without heartburn is more often a stomach problem that may need an H. pylori test.
What is the H. pylori test-and-treat approach for indigestion?
For indigestion persisting more than a few weeks, guidelines recommend testing for the stomach bacterium H. pylori with a stool or breath test and, if positive, clearing it with a one to two week combination course, then confirming it has gone. It treats a common underlying cause of indigestion once, instead of suppressing symptoms indefinitely, and lowers the long-term risk of ulcers and stomach cancer.
When is indigestion serious?
Indigestion is serious when it comes with alarm features: difficulty or pain swallowing, unintended weight loss, vomiting blood or coffee-ground material, black tar-like stools, unexplained tiredness with pallor, persistent vomiting, a lump in the abdomen, or a first onset after 55. Any of these needs urgent investigation, usually endoscopy, rather than another course of antacids, and the online doctor refers you directly.
Why do I keep getting indigestion at night?
Late, large meals and alcohol shortly before bed are the usual engines of night-time indigestion, with a flat mattress removing gravity's help so acid and food press on the valve. Finish eating three hours before lying down, lighten evening meals, cut late alcohol and coffee, raise the head of the bed, and if burning behind the breastbone is the dominant symptom, treat it as reflux.
How long does indigestion last?
An episode of indigestion after a heavy meal usually passes within a few hours, and a bout triggered by a course of painkillers or a stressful week settles within days of removing the cause. Indigestion that recurs on most days for more than a few weeks is not normal and is tested for H. pylori; indigestion that persists after eight weeks of correct treatment is investigated by endoscopy.
What should I eat and drink with indigestion?
With indigestion, eat smaller meals more often, slowly and without rushing, choose plain food such as oats, rice, bananas, lean protein and cooked vegetables, and cut back on fatty, fried, spicy and acidic food, chocolate, coffee, alcohol and fizzy drinks until it settles. Peppermint and ginger tea ease bloating and nausea for many people; no food cures indigestion, but the triggers are easy to find with a short diary.
What can I do at home for indigestion?
At home, use a pharmacy antacid or alginate after meals and at bedtime for a few days, stop ibuprofen, naproxen and aspirin unless prescribed and use paracetamol instead, avoid eating within three to four hours of bed, raise the head of the bed, loosen tight waistbands, stop smoking, limit alcohol and coffee, and keep a note of what sets the indigestion off. See a doctor if it persists beyond two weeks.
How can I prevent indigestion coming back?
Prevent indigestion by eating regular moderate meals without rushing, keeping weight in a healthy range, limiting alcohol, coffee and the foods a diary shows trigger you, not smoking, managing stress, using paracetamol rather than anti-inflammatory painkillers, and completing H. pylori eradication if the test was positive, with a re-test to confirm it worked.
Is indigestion different in pregnancy or in older people?
In pregnancy, indigestion and heartburn affect most women by the third trimester as hormones relax the stomach valve and the womb presses upward; small meals, antacids and alginates come first, and some acid-suppressing tablets can be used after a consultation. In older people, new indigestion is investigated rather than assumed, because ulcers, painkiller damage and stomach cancer are commoner and a heart cause is more likely.
- Dyspepsia, unidentified cause: Clinical Knowledge Summary, NICE, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2023.
- Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and dyspepsia in adults: investigation and management (CG184), NICE, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2014 (updated 2019).
- Suspected cancer: recognition and referral (NG12), NICE, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2015 (updated 2023).
- Indigestion (dyspepsia), HSE, Health Service Executive (Ireland), accessed August 2026.
- Eradication therapy for peptic ulcer disease in Helicobacter pylori-positive people, Cochrane Review, Cochrane, 2016.
- Indigestion, NHS, National Health Service (UK), reviewed May 2023.
This page is for information only and is not a substitute for a medical consultation. Guideline links are provided for transparency; treatment decisions are made with your doctor.
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