If you have burping along with your chest pain, this definitely can mean something’s going on with your heart.
A visit to a cardiologist would be smart.
Angina Chest Pain with Burping
Angina is impaired blood flow to the heart caused by blockages in the coronary arteries.
When someone has an anginal episode, it can also come with dizziness, nausea and…burping.
“This has nothing to do with what’s going on inside the heart,” explains Dr. Kavitha Chinnaiyan, MD, a cardiologist at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI.
Dr. Chinnaiyan is founder of Heal Your Heart, Free Your Soul, an online, yoga-based prevention program.
“It has more to do with associated symptoms arising from irritation of surrounding structures such as the esophagus and diaphragm.”
In short, the heart doesn’t burp. Instead, the problem that’s occurring with the heart is affecting other structures that lead to burping.
When the Belching Occurs
Chest pain from stable angina occurs during physical exertion (which can be as innocuous as going up a staircase) and/or during anger.
If burping is tied to the anginal condition, it, too, will occur during these triggers.
This is not the burping that occurs after finishing a meal or gulping in air while drinking soda.
If burping, then, occurs only during physical exertion or angry emotions, and especially if it’s accompanied by chest pain, the first doctor you should see is a cardiologist.
The duo of belching with chest pain isn’t always caused by a heart problem, though.
But a strong suggestion that burping with chest pain is heart related is that these symptoms occur only during physical effort and/or intense anger – and they disappear when the trigger is removed.
How does a heart problem cause burping?
Impeded blood flow in the heart stimulates the vagal nerve, causing stomach distress, leading to gas formation.
Causes of Chest Pain with Burping that Are NOT Heart Related
1 Irritable bowel syndrome
2 Peptic ulcer
3 Acid reflux (GERD)
4 Hiatal hernia
5 Pancreatitis
You’ll notice with these other conditions that certainly, additional symptoms would be present that are not indicative of a heart problem.
For example, IBS comes with recurring diarrhea, constipation or both.
A hiatal hernia can come with bloody stools.
Pancreatitis comes with oily smelly stools that float, and weight loss.
If you’ve been experiencing undiagnosed chest pain that’s accompanied by burping…don’t ignore this.
