my symptoms are freaking me out!

New to the boards, and to what may possibly be GERD, so "Hi!".
For the past 2 weeks I have been getting a burning pain just left of the breastbone about midway up my chest. Sometimes it feels like it is creeping up leftwards towards my neck. I also have a kind of click in my throat when I swallow at certain angles...hard to put into words, but when I face forward with my chin level or lower=no click, looking up or turning on some angles=click. I say click because it doesn't seem to impenge on my swallowing, just more annoying and I have had that going on for quite awhile.
I have been a gassy (burps) person for a long time, but over the past few years, but lately it seems like anytime I eat anything i get these gigantic burps. I have recently changed my diet drastically as to lose some weight. M blood sugar came back a tad bit high, and diabetes runs in my family, so I made a conscious effort to lose 10% of my body weight. I have been eating a ton of veggies lately, and have cut my carbohydrates to about 40% of what the average male should get. (about 150/day for myself).
I used to get the definite classic regurgitation burps (VURPS), but it was when I ate giant meals, which I don't anymore. And a few months back I also got the skipped/double heartbeat. It was reassuring to see that others share the same symptoms.
TUMS seems to take away the heartburn, but I have gotten myself so worked up, that I am not sure if the pain is gone because of the TUMS or just coming in waves.
A recent ER visit found no heart problems, and the doctor just gave me painkillers (strong NSAID) forget the name, and prevacid prescription. I didn't get the NSAID because the pain really isn't that terrible, but the prevacid may have made me dizzy...although dizziness can be brought on by anxiety. My main concern is that I have esophogeal cancer. Can't stop wigging out. Please advise.
Thanks :)

Hi burning inside have you been to a GI doc?  test for gerd will help rule out cancer, and if it is gerd they can treat it.  I'm not a doctor but it sounds like gerd to me.  Good luck!

gastro appt is next monday....but here's the problem....I have quit smoking about 2 weeks ago, and there is some coughing up of minor mucous stuff...but that is to be expected when quitting....clearing throat etc. I have also recently changed my diet quite a bit, and I have been losing weight. This can make it hard for me to differentiate the symptoms.
question though: with GERD shouldn't I feel that acidic nasty burping, and should I feel that burning/gnawing in my chest even when I havent eaten for several hours?
Thanks for the quick replies. I do appreciate them.
Thanks.

Not everybody gets the nasty burps and burns.
I felt like food was stopping halfway down and I would start to blackout.
I rarely had any burning. No burping either.
I just would feel like I had to cough all of the time.

Joy

The clicking sound is often typical of gerd.  My mother-in-law had that.

I did not have typical symptoms of gerd.  No heartburn etc.  Just lots of mucus and coughing.

Glad you made that appointment.  Just ask the doctor to look at your throat because you fear cancer.  He will understand.

Jayne

He looks at the entire esophagus starting at the back of your throat all the way down to the duedenum.

Joy