GERD symptoms are reflux symptoms that won't stop
GERD doesn't have its own unique symptoms — it has the symptoms of acid reflux, repeated until they become a pattern. The rule doctors use: symptoms two or more times a week, or any sign the esophagus is being damaged. If your "acidity" has a schedule, it's probably GERD.
Typical GERD symptoms
Burning behind the breastbone after most meals, at night, or when bending. Twice a week or more is the threshold. More →
Sour or bitter liquid, sometimes food, rising into the throat or mouth — especially when lying down or bending.
A gnawing ache or pressure under the ribs that stops being tied to any one meal. What GERD pain feels like →
Food feeling slow or stuck, or pain on swallowing — a sign the lining is inflamed or narrowing. Always worth a check.
Also common: bloating and belching, nausea after eating, a sour taste on waking, and broken sleep from night-time reflux.
Silent GERD — the symptoms that don't look like reflux
When acid reaches the throat and voice box (laryngopharyngeal reflux, LPR) it often produces no heartburn at all. People spend years treating "allergies" instead.
- Chronic cough, worse after meals or at night
- Hoarseness, especially in the morning
- Constant throat clearing and post-nasal-drip feeling
- Lump-in-throat sensation (globus)
- Recurrent sore throat without infection
- Bad breath and eroded tooth enamel
- Asthma that worsens after eating or at night
My experience: the burning became a fixture — I stopped noticing it as a symptom and just lived around it. Then came the daily pain under the ribs. When the endoscopy finally happened it found a severe mucosal break at the esophagus–stomach junction. Every one of those symptoms had been GERD talking for years. Read the full story →
GERD vs occasional acid reflux
- Frequency: reflux is occasional and tied to a specific meal; GERD recurs twice a week or more.
- Persistence: reflux clears by morning; GERD symptoms linger or return daily.
- Impact: GERD disrupts sleep, eating and daily life; reflux is an inconvenience.
- Damage: only GERD causes swallowing problems, esophagitis and mucosal breaks.
Warning signs — don't wait
See a doctor promptly (usually for an endoscopy) if you have: difficulty or pain swallowing, food sticking, unexplained weight loss, persistent vomiting, black or bloody stools, anaemia or fatigue, symptoms that started after 50 or don't respond to two weeks of medicine, or chest pain with sweating, breathlessness or pain spreading to the arm or jaw — treat that as a heart emergency.
What to do next
Recognise the pattern? Start with the GERD treatment guide, adjust what and how you eat with the GERD diet, and book the appointment. If eating slowly is the habit you can't hold — it was mine — that's what the FixMyStomach app was built to train.
This page shares personal experience and general information. It is not medical advice — please consult your doctor about your own condition.