What should you know about bad indigestion at night?

Indigestion can include upper-abdominal discomfort, early fullness, bloating, belching, nausea or burning. A late or heavy meal leaves the stomach working while you lie down, and reflux can allow stomach contents back into the food pipe. Gastritis, gallstones, Helicobacter pylori infection, a hiatus hernia or a peptic ulcer can also produce upper digestive symptoms. The location, timing, food relationship and associated signs help a clinician work out the likely cause.

Keep evening meals smaller and finish eating well before bed. Eat slowly, limit alcohol and fizzy drinks, and identify foods that reliably trigger symptoms rather than removing many foods at once. Stay upright after eating and raise the upper part of your sleeping position if reflux is part of the pattern. A pharmacist or clinician can advise whether acid reflux medication is suitable, how to take it and whether it could interact with another medicine.

Book a medical review if nighttime indigestion keeps waking you, recurs despite changes, affects appetite or comes with unintentional weight loss, ongoing vomiting or difficulty swallowing. Seek urgent care for severe or worsening abdominal pain, chest pressure, breathlessness, fainting, blood in vomit, black stools, yellowing of the skin or fever with marked pain. Do not assume severe chest discomfort is indigestion.

Record the time of your last meal, the exact discomfort location, foods or medicines involved, and whether sitting up changes it. Ask whether testing for stomach irritation or infection is needed, and which symptom-relief option is appropriate for you.