When you suddenly feel chest pain, you are at a party and drinking beer. You look around, hey, wonder if you should go to the emergency room or hide in the bathroom.

Is it a heart attack or too much spicy sauce?

Chest pain experienced due to acid reflux problems may be exactly the same as a heart attack. The pain is usually in the middle of the chest but can be on the left side. It can hurt the back or radiate to the abdomen, chin or arm. It doesn't make any difference to walk around. Sweating and/or bel gas and nausea may occur.

If two conditions It feels the same, how can you tell the difference?

This is how doctors deal with this problem. from

  First, if your risk of heart disease is high, your doctor will seriously consider it. Yes Angina or heart attack, unless otherwise confirmed. If you have heart disease and/or diabetes, have high cholesterol, if you smoke, overweight, over 45 years old, and have no history of stomach acid problems, Call 911 . If you are wrong, you don't want to fall to death.

While you are waiting, ask someone to take an antacid, preferably a liquid, but can chew. Take a double dose and see if your symptoms fade. The antacid neutralizes the acid upon contact and usually relieves symptoms within a few minutes. Other drugs that reduce acid yield [Pepcid, Zantac, Tagamet, Axid, Prilosec, Prevacid, Nexium, Aciphex, Protonix, and Dexilant] take longer to work – easily 30 to 60 minutes, and will not treat you until the caregiver arrives Symptoms. If you are good when they get there, they will still do an electrocardiogram and assess the situation.

Sometimes heart problems can appear on the ECG and sometimes they don't. If you have any questions, you should be taken to the hospital for a blood test to help determine if a heart attack has occurred. If the problem is still not resolved at this time, a stress test is usually performed. If the results are normal, the doctor will usually think that the problem is not from the heart, but to turn attention to other reasons.

Now, if you are young and healthy, the risk of heart disease is minimal, what should you do? In this case, chest pain may be an acid indigestion problem. Again, ask your friend about the antacid and see if your symptoms are resolved. If the antacid helps, remember that the pain may recover as the stomach acid is produced. The antacids can be reused when needed, and taking OTC acid-lowering drugs [from the list above] may help prevent them from returning. Seeing a doctor is not a bad idea to determine how to reduce the risk of duplication.

If the situation is not a crisis, the doctor will have a longer history. from

  The purpose of the first set of questions is to rule out the most serious situation, namely – a heart attack. Are you at risk? Will it run in your home? Are you overweight, diabetic or smoker? Have you encountered this problem before? Is your cholesterol high? Do you have difficulty breathing? Does the pain increase when you move around?

The next set of questions is looking for less worrying situations. Does touch hurt? [This is rarely related to the heart.] Does the pain of alcohol or certain foods worsen? [Tomatoes, onions, spicy foods, chocolates and coffee are common criminals.] Is the pain predictable every time you go to a party? Does your family have a stomach problem? Have you taken anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin or ibuprofen? Have you encountered this problem before? Do you have what you need? If so, is it effective?

Doctors look for patterns to solve the disease. from

  Heart-related chest pain is usually accompanied by shortness of breath and is more likely to occur during or after exercise. Eating irritating foods, after taking drugs or drinking alcohol, often have chest pain associated with acid reflux.

Don't feel sad if you can't tell the pattern – it usually takes time to judge and a single event can't determine the mode. It may be safer to see your doctor, he may want to do an electrocardiogram or let you take an X-ray. Knowing your body is the first step in healing or healing.

On average, you may want to give up behavior that causes heart-related chest pain or acid-related chest pain: quit smoking, avoid drinking, limit potential irritating foods, and use anti-inflammatory drugs carefully. If you pay close attention to yourself, you may find a pattern that you can report to your doctor and then the doctor can use this information to help determine the correct course of action.

Copyright 2010 Cynthia J. Koelker, MD

Heart attack or indigestion? was originally published on Spring