If the discomfort is severe enough to prevent normal functioning at work, home, or school, or is not completely and consistently relieved by the medications and other measures discussed in this Advisory, you should seek prompt evaluation by a physician. The chart below gives you examples of other warning signs and their causes. Cause Black stools or stools with a tar-like consistency. Blood from an ulcer mixes with stomach acid, turning the stools black. Frequent nighttime cough, or awakening at night with a choking sensation or foul taste in the back of the throat.
Stomach acid leaking into the esophagus is a common cause of chronic cough and even asthma.
It can awaken people at night, and chronic daytime fatigue may result. Copyright 1997 Protocare Corporation. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the visual or textual material herein is forbidden without the express written consent of Protocare Corporation.