I was hospitalized for chest pains last summer. They did a full work up -- EKG, CAT scan, etc. It was determined that GERD caused the pain. I was put on Prilosec, started exercising & started feeling better. I went off the Prilosec & was doing well.

I got sick in June, a nasty virus that stayed with me for more than a month. I had to stop exercising. The pains started coming back sporadically. I went to a party in mid-July & ate all the wrong foods. I knew I would, so I went back on the Prilosec for the week before. The day after the party, I felt three quick and painful spasms in my chest. My PCP determined that it was caused by an esophageal spasm because of the GERD. I went on Nexium. Those first few days were bad. I felt a fluttering in my chest, usually when I'd bend down after a meal. Those were sometimes accompanied by sour burps. I had a few of those flutterings wake me from my sleep. I'd have pains in my chest when I walked. I did not have an EKG, but had x-rays in June when I was sick. And my PCP insists it is not my heart.

Since then, I keep having chest pains. Some are extremely painful ... they feel like bright hot spots in my chest, behind my left breast. When I get those, it hurts to move. It hurts to bend down. I just want to burst into tears from the pain. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate those as an 8 or 9. Most of the time, I get less painful jolts. Some on my left, some on my right. Some behind my breast, some above my breast. I'm not quite sure how to describe them. They are sort of like dull aches ranging in severity from about a 1 to a 5 on the pain scale. After some meals I get the vague sensation of fluttering in my chest. Not as bad as in those early days, but enough to scare me. Sometimes the pain feels like it's nerve related. It's similar to the sensations I felt after having been in a car accident nearly 20 years ago.

I sometimes wake up with the pain in the morning, but most often it seems to build as the day goes on. I have an appointment with my gastro doctor on Sept. 4, but the pains really scare me & I keep debating returning to my PCP. But I've been there so many times this summer that it's starting to hurt the wallet to basically be told, "It's GERD, just wait it out."

I've changed my diet & am eating GERD-friendly foods. I am overweight, but had to stop exercising because of the pain. I take my Nexium religiously. I also take two Maloxx tablets after lunch and after dinner, and two tablespoons of liquid Maloxx (all maximum strength) before bed. What else can I do? Why won't the pain go away? Is this typical of GERD? Should I insist I see a cardiologist? I don't drink. Don't smoke. No family history of heart disease.

I just want to feel healthy again!! Please help!!!!