Angina caused by alcohol?

[potatolover]

I've been told my heart is healthy. That said, I have an alarmingly high family history of CAD and heart attacks. My dad had one at 25.

I am 27 years old, non smoker.

Last night I had a couple beers before bed. About 4am I woke up to use the bathroom and when I did I had this squeezing burning sensation just left of center in my chest. Now, I'm prone to a panic disorder, but I'm currently on prozac to control that. And it did. Instead of freaking out about it I merely acknowledged it and went back to bed. It came on somewhat suddenly and disappeared shortly after I laid back down. My heart was pounding hard and fast during this episode. I was half awake, so I can't recall if I had trouble breathing, but I believe the squeezing and burning sensation may have been the only symptom.

Is it possible that this was a mild angina episode? Can alcohol actually cause that in a healthy heart? Should I be worried with such a family history or should I chalk it up to a freak occurrence?

[achillea]

Well, you're young.  That argues against a heart issue.  On the other hand, you're male, which means that even though you're young, you have a bit more risk than a woman of the same age. And there's the family history, so I'd give you plus-two on the risk scale.

However--and this is important--any food or the alcohol in a couple of beers right before bed can trigger GERD, which you can and should google.  It's not usually dangerous in the young, but an acid-burnt esophagus can become dangerous (pre-cancerous) with time.  Mostly, people should avoid food and booze before hitting the sack for this reason.  

Also, alcohol disturbs the natural sleep cycle, so it's actually a cr*ppy sedative.  Do you have trouble sleeping or relaxing?  If so, there are safer methods to deal with this problem.