Common symptoms

The three most common symptoms of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) are:

• heartburn
• regurgitation of acid into your throat and mouth
• difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)

These symptoms are discussed in more detail below.

Heartburn

Heartburn is a burning pain or a feeling of discomfort that develops just below your breastbone. The pain is usually worse after eating or when bending over or lying down.

Regurgitation

Regurgitation of acid usually causes an unpleasant, sour taste at the top of your throat or the back of your mouth.

Dysphagia

Around 1 in 3 people with GORD has problems swallowing (dysphagia). It can occur if the stomach acid causes scarring of the oesophagus, which leads to the oesophagus narrowing and making it difficult to swallow food.

People with GORD-associated dysphagia say it feels like a piece of food has become stuck somewhere near their breastbone.

See the Health A-Z topic about Dysphagia for more information.

Less common symptoms of GORD

GORD can sometimes have a number of less common symptoms that are associated with the irritation and damage that are caused by stomach acid.

Less common symptoms of GORD include:

• pain when swallowing
• nausea
• persistent cough
• tooth decay
• laryngitis (inflammation of the larynx), which causes throat pain and your voice to become hoarse

If you have asthma and GORD, your asthma symptoms may get worse as a result of the stomach acid irritating your airways.