anyone had these symptoms with GERD?

I've had some intense heartburn symptoms at night for the past few months. Because antacids seemed to stop the pain, I concluded it was heartburn. Considering I'm having the problem consistently, and I've felt tightness in my esophagus, I've concluded it's GERD. I'm basically trying to deal with the situation with some diet changes, less caffeine, and less beer drinking - but I'm not disciplined enough yet.

Anyways though, I had some symptoms the other night that scared me a bit. It started with waking up and feeling that familiar heartburn pain. But then my jaws became real numb. I started sweating really bad and went outside to get some cool air and not alert my girlfriend who was in bed with me. Once outside, I nearly fainted. I ended up on the ground, but was still conscious and coherent. I eventually found my way to the bathroom, took some antacids, and after about 10 minutes the sweating subsided, as did the pain. 20 minutes later I was back in bed and had no problems the rest of the night.

Of course, I started to wonder if I had some other heart problems going on after this.

I'm wondering if heartburn or GERD has caused any symptoms similar to what I experienced for anyone out there?

Thanks,
Steve