Heaviness after eating

[lucy0206]

I am a 61 yr old female. I have once in a while a heaviness in chest area after eating.  It goes away rather quickly.  I am a very anxious person and think this pressure may be something more.  I have lost 100 pounds these last two years and walk 30 minutes each day without any discomfort whatsoever. I had a 70% blockage in left carotid and had subsequent endarterectomy.  Right side is 35%.  I have had follow-ups and these are ok with left one clean and the other stays the same.  I eat nothing much but oatmeal, veggies, fruit and fish and whole grains.  I am on 80 mg pravachol per day. I do have some stomach burning and take 300 mg. of rantidine twice a day.  Never any shortness of breath or anything like that.  My lipid numbers are all pretty good...total cholesterol was 151, HDL was 56 and triglycerides were 71  My glucose was 80.  These numbers are all from a blood test in December.  Have dr's appt for check up on 6/17.  CRP is always .4 or .5.  I do have stomach burning from time to time.  Could this be GERD or something like that?  I am planning to discuss this with the doctor but am prone to panic attacks. My doctor nor surgeon never saw fit to send me to a cardiologist for any reason.  Could this be a stomach issue?

[lucy0206]

Thank you so much for your response. .I had an endarterectomy to remove the blockage in my carotid,  It is now clean and has been for over 2 years.  I do not have angina either.  No heart pain. Just feel the "heaviness" sometimes after eating.

[Flycaster305]

I'm a person who had both GERD and heart surgery, so know exactly why you are concerned.

Congratulations for challenging your issues head on, and using conventional and intelligent methods to get your conditions under control. I have had to have a Nissen Fundoplication for my GERD, as well as heart surgery, so know the confusion.

I learned that I should take my GERD medication exactly as prescribed.  Also, I know that eating dinner creates a problem for me with angina.  If you can, I'd ask your doctor to prescribe an Endoscopy to make sure your Esophagus is OK, and also request the same to make sure the 70% blockage hasn't increased.  Also, you might request a stress test to make sure your heart arteries aren't occluded.  
Keep us informed.