Over the last few years, I've been suffering from loud heartbeats, chest pains and gurgly stomach. I've assumed I've had heart disease, bowel cancer, some digestive issues, lung problems etc. Obviously, having anxiety is a bigger culprit than all of them.

I came across a blog at http://drkurtbarrett.com/serendipity/ - and the second one down titled SNERD described me almost perfectly, even down to the gluten free diet.

The gist of the article is that people could be suffering from silent GERD, called other names including LTR, which is basically acid reflux without the acid coming up feeling. Doctors don't diagnose it without that so it could be missed. The acid irritates the esophagus, causing feelings of choking or tightening, and can irritate the vagus nerve which controls the heart beats. Nothing dangerous but it can cause extra beats or missed beats. At the least, it can cause irritation to chest areas causing pain, aches or weird sensations. It causes gasiness, burping, gurgly stomach, etc. It sounded reasonably logical.

It pretty much explains my symptoms. Now, anxiety in itself explains my symptoms too and it's probably fueling my anxiety to look for other explanations. But I read it, found it interesting and thought I'd share.

It is worth pointing out that the article is on someone's webpage so is probably slightly biased into diagnosing GERD so it's not a replacement for your own GP advice, but I think the science is reasonable.