Chest Discomfort, Belching, No Shortness Of Breath. Have GERD. Is This A Heart Problem?

Posted on Thu, 5 Apr 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 5 Apr 2012 Answered on

Fri, 6 Jul 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : I have a weird allmost enflamed feeling in my chest heart side top of the heart area and under neath by the rib cage lower abdominal area. This feeling comes and goes sometimes I have the feeling there for 7 -10 days roughly then it goes away, I seen a doctor in the past 11 months and he stated I had GURD and should change up my diet and add more fiber, water , less sugars , more exercise I was a light smoker and have not smoked in about 1 1/2 Now . when I crack my back or twist and stretch it seems to go away a little, also Belching seems to releive pressure of some sort. and I feel some releif . I think I could have some heart problem or something worse , I exercise 45 mins per day 5 days a week I don't have any pain when working out and I actually feel relieved when exercising or stretching, I breathe well and don't have shortness of breath

Answered by Dr. Pavan Kumar Gupta (2 hours later)

Hello and thanks for the query
I understand your concern as it gives a little scary feeling when you feel pain or discomfort in your left side of chest
Since you are doing regular exercises for 45 minutes a day for five days without ever feeling discomfort or pain almost rules out any cardiac involvement.
It seems to be due to GERD only as you always feel relived on belching.
Off and on pain on your chest area can also be due to muscular in nature as you are doing regular exercises and sometimes heavy exercises can result in muscle pulls of chest muscles.
Keep off from cigarettes and carry on with your exercises and advise regarding your diet as advised by your doctor.
If still you have some concern regarding heart problem you may consult a cardiologist who can get your ECG and TMT done.
I hope to have answered your query however you can revert to me for any further query.
Thanks and best of luck.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar