Hi, your symptoms can be associated with several possible causes. A better background of your past medical and surgical history would be helpful. In the meantime, one common cause of night time upset stomach is
gastric reflux, especially when you lay down flat after a large, heavy meal. It might be helpful to eat a smaller meal earlier in the evening, as well as to consider the content of the meal itself. Greasy foods take longer to digest. Spicy foods and tomato based sauces contribute to the burning pain of
gastric acid reflux. If your symptoms persist, there are several studies a gastroenterologist can do to properly diagnose you. In addition, you can try some over the counter medications like
Omeprazole and
Ranitidine, both of which address stomach acid. If this do not work, you can consider doing some more invasive tests like a barium swallow esophragram to evaluate for lower esophageal sphincter motor strictures and spasms,
upper endoscopy to evalutae for erosive esophageal changes, bacterial infections of the stomach,
gastric ulcers and other pathologies. A nightime esophagel manometry and gastric acidity test, although invasive and less common, is also an option.
As you can see, much of your symptoms appear to be related to stomach acidity, therefore, I would recommend you start with some eating and lifestyle modifications suggested as well as the over the counter anti-acid medications, and if that doesn't improve your condition, follow up with your physician.
Marco M. Zahedi M.D., M.P.H.
Family Medicine