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Diagnosed With GERD And Given Proton Pumper Inhibitor. Constantly Burping And Get Pain In Chest And Arms
Question: Hi I am 23 and have been diagnosed with gerd 3 days ago and given proton pumper inhibitor medication. I am constantly burping and get pain in my chest and arms. It is worse when I am lying down. I am constantly thinking that the pain is my heart.
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
Chest pain can be related to any structure in the chest from the skin inwards.It is understandable to be worried about it being heart related.
In terms of the heart- this type of pain is normally central, tight or heavy and would normally occur when your are active. This is because the heart works harder when a person is being active.The pain starts on activity and is relieved by rest.
It would be unusual for heart related pain to be worse when lying down because at this point the heart is not exerting itself. In addition this type of pain would be associated with shortness of breath and palpitations.
On the other hand , GERD is typically worse on lying down because at this point secretions would more easily go from the stomach to the chest. It would also be associated with the burping that you are describing.
It would not normally be associated with arm pain however but neither would heart pain (rarely in persons with heart attacks the pain may radiate to the left arm).
In addition to the medication it is also important to modify the diet.This would involve reducing the use of fried/ fatty/spicy/citrus foods, reduce portion sizes and wait at least 2 hours after eating before lying down.
If there is any excess weight , weight loss would also be helpful because it would reduce the pressure on the diaphragm.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
Chest pain can be related to any structure in the chest from the skin inwards.It is understandable to be worried about it being heart related.
In terms of the heart- this type of pain is normally central, tight or heavy and would normally occur when your are active. This is because the heart works harder when a person is being active.The pain starts on activity and is relieved by rest.
It would be unusual for heart related pain to be worse when lying down because at this point the heart is not exerting itself. In addition this type of pain would be associated with shortness of breath and palpitations.
On the other hand , GERD is typically worse on lying down because at this point secretions would more easily go from the stomach to the chest. It would also be associated with the burping that you are describing.
It would not normally be associated with arm pain however but neither would heart pain (rarely in persons with heart attacks the pain may radiate to the left arm).
In addition to the medication it is also important to modify the diet.This would involve reducing the use of fried/ fatty/spicy/citrus foods, reduce portion sizes and wait at least 2 hours after eating before lying down.
If there is any excess weight , weight loss would also be helpful because it would reduce the pressure on the diaphragm.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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