Momentary passing out feeling. Gas? Gerd? Or what?

[scaredtoinsanity]

I am a 32 year old male and I am currently having the medical year from hell. These last few months have been stressful on me and I have never felt this stressed in my life. I have recently been getting massage and chiro to combat the stress. I had bloodwork done about 1 month ago and everything came back fine. However this past week I was driving home and all of a sudden felt as if the lights were going to go out. This lasted for a few minutes and then went away. I was driving the next day and walking at my son's school, during this time I felt like crap and like i was going to pass out. I went home and immediately felt better. I have been fine for the past few days and then it happened again today. brief 2-3 mins of feeling like I am going to pass out and then I am fine. I have also had horrible gas during this time, and burp almost non-stop it seems at times and then at other times I have no gas. I am scared and it just seems like another roadblock has popped up as I have been trying to get better. I also had my annual cardio work-up earlier this year, good results again. Any input into what might be going on is appreciated.

[ed34]

A buildup up acid in the esophagus can cause those symptoms, they did for me. I have a lot of experience with angina, but this felt different in that exercise didn't make it worse. Like you, it would just come and go, at random, even if I was just sitting in a chair. If acid leaks up into your esophagus, it causes inflammation, which can be painful, and cause you to feel light headed because your vagus nerve can be squashed. Being stressful does affect acid levels so it could be related. You don't say if you feel pain, but like heart attacks, I suppose everyone can be different. It doesn't have to be related to gas either, but if left, it will usually get worse. The sphincter which prevents backflow of acid will get inflamed and damaged. Why not get some strong over the counter anti-acid and try that. I found Gaviscon worked fine, but it took a couple of days to get rid of it. As a precaution, I have been put on proton pump meds for life (omeprazole).

[Sandman2]

    I used to have a similar feelings.  Turned out I was hyperventilating (stress related).  I learned to simply take a big breath and hold it.  That usually did the trick.  Breathing into a paper bag should also work.
   I also found out that chewing maalox would really immediately help with burping and gas (well, you will burp even more for a few minutes till the gas build up is gone).
   Try and get out and exercise.  It really helps with the stress.