Emergency: go now or call 108
- Vomiting blood or "coffee-ground" material
- Black, tarry stools with dizziness or fainting
- Heavy bleeding from the back passage
- Severe, constant belly pain, or a hard, rigid belly
- Chest pain with sweating or breathlessness
- Yellow eyes with confusion or drowsiness, or with fever and shivering
- Unable to keep any fluids down, passing very little urine
- Swallowed a battery, magnet or sharp object
- Food completely stuck, unable to swallow even saliva
See a doctor within days
- Difficulty or pain swallowing
- Unexplained weight loss
- Persistent vomiting
- New jaundice (yellow eyes) without fever
- Blood in stools, at any age
- Iron-deficiency anaemia
- A change in bowel habit lasting 3–4 weeks
- Diarrhoea for more than 4 weeks, or waking you at night
- New digestive symptoms after 45–50
- Family history of digestive cancer, with symptoms
- Fever with belly pain
Try self-care for 2–4 weeks, then review
Heartburn or indigestion without warning signs, bloating, occasional constipation, mild piles, short-lived loose motions, gas and burping. Try the everyday habits; see a doctor if things don't improve, or sooner if any warning sign appears.
Self-care is enough
Occasional acidity after a heavy meal, a fuller belly by evening, passing gas, or a one-off upset stomach that settles in a day or two. Habits, ORS for loose motions, and patience.