Chest pain when lying on left side - heartburn?

[Lindtnotlint]

I have fairly bad central chest pain that is worse when lying down and MUCH worse when lying on my left side. It has lasted a couple of days. It’s associated with a bitter taste and appears to be heartburn (it did start on Xmas day!). But I can’t find anybody saying heartburn gets worse when you lie on your left and that is such a very striking symptom…. Can anyone confirm this is a “thing”?

Yes, lying on your left would make it worse. Lying in your right would help your stomach empty into your bowel.

What are you going to do about it ? Having stomach acid in your oesophagus is not good long term.

Due to the shape of the stomach, lying on your left side should help.

Could be your gall bladder? Any family history of gall stones?

pretty sure it’s not gall stones - pain is very much in the chest not the abdomen.

It could even be pain in the muscles or cartilage in your chest. Or a hernia. Or heartburn/acid reflux. Or lots of things. Have you tried taking antacids? Are you worried it's your heart?

I’ve had gall stones and when I had my first hall stone blockage I thought I was having a heart attack the pain was so bad I couldn’t take deep breaths. It was pain in my chest, through to my back and much higher up than you might think.

I also had the acid reflux you describe. It was worse after eating fatty foods. I hope you get to see a GP and get it sorted, whatever it is!

You need to speak to your GP OP.

As others have said having stomach acid in your oesophagus is not good.

In the meantime, as a short-term measure sleeping elevated on a couple of pillows and taking antacids should help.

Central chest pain is a red flag symptom. I would be getting myself to a&e now. HCP btw.