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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Severe Central Chest Pain That Lasts For 15 Minutes?

Hi, I am 47 year old female. I have had a few episodes experiencing chest pain.It is dead center between breast bone, slowly goes away after about 10-15 minutes. It feels pretty painful when it occurs but I feel fine when it goes away. Had blood work done recently, everything good there. Could it be indigestion?
posted on Mon, 23 Jan 2017
Twitter Sun, 5 Feb 2017 Answered on
Twitter Mon, 6 Feb 2017 Last reviewed on
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hi,
The most common cause of chest pain is GERD. Acid reflux from your stomach to your esophagus causes pain associated with the burn that the gastric acid causes on your esophageal epitelium.
After excluding heart conditions such as ischemic heart disease and high blood pressure, I would suggest you to start with the following dietary changes:
Change the amount of food per meal and the number of meals. Do not eat until you feel full, but eat slowly and lower the amount of food per meal, and also add new extra meals like brunch or a 4pm meal. Your last meal should be at least 2-3 hours before you go to sleep.
Change the food you eat. Go bio, veggetables, fruits, cereals and avoid food rich in protein that takes a lot of time to be diggested.
Stop smoking. Also avoid coffee, chocolate and alcohol.
Sleep with an extra pillow. This will make it harder for the gastric acid to regurgitate in your esophagus.
Do not lift weights and dont do exercises that put a lot of pressure on your abdominal wall. Also don't wear tight clothes.
If after 2 weeks you dont see any change, I eould recommend you to start a cure of Omeprazole 20 mg daily for 4 weeks. You have to take the pill one hour before your meal.
If after a week from starting omeprazole you don't see any change, than go and see a gastroenterologist. You may need to have a gastroscopy done.
Hope I have answered your question.
Wish you good health!
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What Causes Severe Central Chest Pain That Lasts For 15 Minutes?

Hi, The most common cause of chest pain is GERD. Acid reflux from your stomach to your esophagus causes pain associated with the burn that the gastric acid causes on your esophageal epitelium. After excluding heart conditions such as ischemic heart disease and high blood pressure, I would suggest you to start with the following dietary changes: Change the amount of food per meal and the number of meals. Do not eat until you feel full, but eat slowly and lower the amount of food per meal, and also add new extra meals like brunch or a 4pm meal. Your last meal should be at least 2-3 hours before you go to sleep. Change the food you eat. Go bio, veggetables, fruits, cereals and avoid food rich in protein that takes a lot of time to be diggested. Stop smoking. Also avoid coffee, chocolate and alcohol. Sleep with an extra pillow. This will make it harder for the gastric acid to regurgitate in your esophagus. Do not lift weights and dont do exercises that put a lot of pressure on your abdominal wall. Also don t wear tight clothes. If after 2 weeks you dont see any change, I eould recommend you to start a cure of Omeprazole 20 mg daily for 4 weeks. You have to take the pill one hour before your meal. If after a week from starting omeprazole you don t see any change, than go and see a gastroenterologist. You may need to have a gastroscopy done. Hope I have answered your question. Wish you good health!