Lately I have been having the feeling of pounding in my chest at night when I lie down to sleep. Usually an hour into lying down. I never have heartburn and I have never had symptoms other than possibly this one but I think this might be GERD. I'm 34, female, a healthy weight, eat healthy -lots of fruit, veggies, and work out 3-4 times a weight with cardio and weights and yoga. I believe this is GERD at night because I tested taking zantac a few times and the pounding did not happen. I haven't been eating too close to bed - eat about 2-3 hours before bed, and usually have salad. I think possibly its my birth control. I take birth control right before I go to sleep at night on an empty stomach. i am wondering if maybe switching that to daytime use and having it with lunch with get rid of symptoms. Could the birth control be the cause? I recently had a checkup and I was fully heathy, my blood test had all my vitamins and minerals in the normal range and my heart checked out.