Also wanted to add that I have a strange "pressure" sensation in my chest most of every day. Also after I eat I have a lot of gas and often regurgitation. I am on Omeprezole 40 mg for GERD. The pressure feeling is terrible and annoying and I try to cough to dispel it but that only works for a few moments and then it's back.
As someone who had untreated and severe obstructive sleep apnea for a number of years, you are describing many of the symptoms of OSA. Snoring can often be associated, but the pounding heart is a telltale sign. I would also wake up with a loud gasp after not breathing for a period of time. For me, my sleep was being disturbed 60 times an hour, so you can imagine the quality of sleep that I was getting. Also, after a particularly bad night, I would have several days of frequent PVCs, or skips in my heart rhythm. CPAP was prescribed, and that really restarted my life. A sleep study is very easy, and is often donr in your own home now. Sleep Apnea is one of those things which causes damage that catches up to you in later years. Enlarged heart, swollen legs from poor circulation, and stroke are associated with sleep apnea.