Question: How do doctors diagnose the cause of indigestion?
Answer: Your doctor may use your symptoms, a medical and family history, a physical exam, and tests to diagnose the cause of indigestion.

Review of your symptoms

Your doctor will ask about your symptoms to diagnose the cause of indigestion.  Your doctor may diagnose functional dyspepsia if you have pain, a burning feeling, or discomfort in your upper abdomen, or feeling full too soon while eating a meal, and another cause for your indigestion can’t be found. Your doctor may also ask how long you’ve had symptoms. Your doctor may diagnose functional dyspepsia if3

you’ve had symptoms at least once a week in the last 3 months, and
your symptoms first started at least 6 months ago

Your doctor may diagnose functional dyspepsia even if you’ve had symptoms for a shorter length of time. You should talk with your doctor if your symptoms are like the symptoms of functional dyspepsia.

Medical and family history

To help diagnose the cause of indigestion, your doctor will take a medical and family history. Your doctor may ask about

your medical history, including any past indigestion orHelicobacter pylori (H. pylori)infections
your symptoms, such as whether symptoms occur with meals
your history of any mental health conditions, such asdepressionoranxiety
medicines you take, especiallynonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs),proton pump inhibitors, andcalcium
your family history of indigestion,H. pyloriinfection, orcancerin thedigestive tract

Physical exam

During a physical exam, your doctor may

check forbloating
listen to sounds in your abdomen using a stethoscope
tap on your abdomen to check for tenderness, pain, and lumps
look for yellowing of your eyes or skin
Question: What tests do doctors use to diagnose the cause of indigestion?
Answer: Doctors may use medical tests to help find the cause of indigestion. If specific causes are not found, your doctor may diagnose functional dyspepsia and recommend treatments.

Upper GI endoscopy

Your doctor may perform an upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy to diagnose diseases and conditions that may be causing your indigestion, such as

gastritis
peptic ulcer
stomach canceror cancer in another part of the digestive tract

A doctor may recommend an upper GI endoscopy for people with indigestion who have

a family history of cancer
current or past heavy alcohol use
difficulty swallowing
evidence ofbleeding in the digestive tract
frequentvomiting
weight loss

During an upper GI endoscopy, a doctor uses an endoscope—a flexible tube with a camera—to see the lining of your upper GI tract. Your doctor may pass small tweezers through the endoscope to take pieces of tissue from the lining of your stomach and duodenum. This procedure is called an upper GI biopsy. A trained specialist known as a pathologist will review the tissue samples to look for digestive tract diseases and conditions, including H. pylori infection.

Imaging tests

Your doctor may use imaging tests such as x-rays, computed tomography scans (CT), or ultrasound to look for diseases and conditions in your digestive tract that may be causing your indigestion.

H. pylori testing

Your doctor may find an H. pylori infection by performing an upper GI biopsy. Your doctor may also use a

stool test. Your doctor may use a stool test to look for signs of anH. pyloriinfection or to see ifH. pyloritreatment has worked.
urea breath test. Your doctor may use a urea breath test to check forH. pyloriinfection. For the test, you will swallow a capsule, liquid, or pudding that containsurea“labeled” with a special carbon atom. After a few minutes, you will breathe into a container, and a health care professional will confirm whether you have anH. pyloriinfection in your digestive tract.
blood test. A health care professional may take a blood sample from you and send the sample to a lab to test for signs ofH. pyloriinfection.