chest pain/tight throat - heart or gas?

I'm a 25 year old male, overweight but losing weight (250lbs and 5'11"), drink a few beers mainly on weekend, don't smoke, don't do drugs, and I'm at the end of my rope here... :(

here are the details:
this started in October of '07 at a time when I was drinking alcohol nearly every night. I was sitting at home one afternoon watching tv when all of a sudden I had a sensation in my chest where it felt like my heart had stopped beating for a second. I shot up from my chair, scared, and was light-headed for a couple of hours before it went away. The next day in class, the same thing happened and I left immediately and called an ambulance. They did an ekg on the spot (which came back normal), blood work which came back normal, chest xray which was normal, and urine test which was normal and I was sent home

I then went to my doctor and he chalked it up to anxiety and prescribed lexapro (which I never ended up taking, scared of the side effects)

the same thing happened in January of 08 (a few months later) and I called an ambulance, but I felt better immediately after they came

then, I went to the ER again in February 08 with the exact same results as the first trip (all normal)

I was put on blood pressure medicine

since then, my blood pressure remains high, I've had tons of EKG's, blood tests, chest xrays, ct scan of the head, all normal

my symptoms have been waking up in the middle of the night feeling a sensation in my chest (not a pain) that feels as though I haven't been breathing fully in my sleep, I often have lots of reflux, and a lump in my throat to where it feels tight and constricted and restricting air flow, and worst of all - occasional sharp chest pains that are brief in the center of the chest but they scare me. this is all usually accompanied with lots and lots of gas and constant burping (which offers temporary relief)

I have a dr's appt scheduled soon and I'm going to request a complete heart work up.

in the meantime though, can someone please help me, I've been scared of this everyday of my life since that first time in October 07

[itdood]

Let's start by attacking your problems one at a time.

For the night time GERD, which is probably causing a lot of the other symptoms:

Stop eating around 7pm.  If you are eating right up until bedtime then expect the reflux.
If you get up with GERD, have some Maalox ready (I use Advanced).   I take the max dose, 2 tablespoons and sit up for a little bit.

For me, I stopped eating after 7 pm and it's worked great.  My doc tried to get me on Nexium but the rebound GERD was horrible.  Generally I hate meds for dealing with bad habits.

[itdood]

p.s., being scared of the other issue, in the absence of anythign physically wrong with you means you may have developed a phobia to the sensations.  Get tem checked out, but if it turns out nothing is wrong you are going to have to get used to the sensations and move on with your life.  Don't let a phobia control you.

[SassyLassie]

I am glad you are going to have a complete cardiac work up.
I would also like to add that you might have a hiatal hernia, I have one and experience a lot of the symptoms you mentioned, they are no fun.
I guess I have the phobia too, I have had all the tests, yet, every time I feel even a small "blip" I get so scared I cry and everything, it is running my life. I am working on getting over this, but, I am in high anxiety all the time, therefore, my nerves are very raw and sensitized.