Bloating feeling in upper abdomen, choking feeling and shortness of breath.

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This started happening after I had bad allergies and with the temperature dropping. I've been noticing a random pattern where my upper abdomen feels bloated and I become short of breath with an occasional choking sensation. These 'flareups' last anywhere from several hours to only a few minutes, they go away for a few minutes to a few hours before coming back. I've been diagnosed with GAD and have been stressed at work, but I don't know if this is the cause or if it's a digestive or heart issue. Has anyone here experienced this? I'm 26 about 175 and my diet isn't the best.

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15 Replies

  • Posted

    Anxiety can cause acid reflux and heartburn symptoms, so this could be anxiety related. I'd say try watching what u eat for a few weeks, avoid spicy/fatty foods and alcohol. See if that helps.

    I was experiencing something similar, I had a dull pain/fullness feeling right below my sternum. I also felt shortness of breath. And I also suffer from anxiety haha... But I started to develop stomach cramps after eating, so I stuck to a bland diet for about a month and tried Nexium. The stomach issues went away until I started eating bad again, and now they seem to be returning -_- I'm gonna go back to my bland diet again for a bit.

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    • Posted

      I think it might be that, since chewing gum calms my gut down. What bland diet do you follow? I've been trying to eat healthier but nothing healthy sounds good to me.

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    • Posted

      My diet was just basically anything that's not overly fatty, fried, spicy or acidic. So I'd have baked french fries instead of reg fried ones... I had grilled chicken instead of chicken cutlet. No tomato sauce, if I had pasta I'd just have it with butter... stuff like that. Very boring =/ but it did seem to help a lot after like 2 weeks of that.

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    • Posted

      Yeah but it's hard for me to accept it's anxiety. Whenever I sit down at my desk at home it gets worse, my left arms been aching and I have a slightly tight chest. I know my eating habits haven't been good for 13 years but....ugh I just don't want this to be heart disease.

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    • Posted

      I really don't think you have anything to worry about, it sounds like it is just anxiety or maybe something like acid reflux, but not anything serious.

      I once had a period of about 2 months where I was having bad chest pains, they were so painful it hurt to even laugh a little. Then my arm started feeling numb one day, I freaked out and went to urgent care and got an EKG. Turned out I was completely fine, I realized it was just anxiety and eventually as I calmed down it disappeared completely. It's amazing what your mind can do to your body.

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  • Posted

    Try changing your diet to home cooked foods and try a food diary to see if any foods are causing this.   Avoid processed food.  If you have been diagnosed with anxiety abd you have been stressed, this can affect your gut.  Maybe you are having a panic attack if you are short of breath.  Maybe you need to reduce your hours or have time off.  If no better after trying these solutions, see your doctor.
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    • Posted

      Idk if it's a panic attack. I don't feel panicked when this happens. I keep thinking it's a heart-related problem and of course, my health anxiety skyrockets. As for what food it might be, I know I've had problems with pizza in the past. I go see my doctor early November so hopefully this will go away by then. As for taking time off, I still feel anxious or stressed out even away from work.

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