Is my difficulty breathing from acid reflux?

 john46281 and others I'm going through it too. Shortness of breath for over 6 weeks now. Tried natural, DGL, Apple Cider, none helped. Had CT scans of neck, chest, stomach. Saw ENT doc who diagnosed LPR. GI doc put me on 40 mg

Omeprazole for a week, then up it to 80mg (40 2 x day). Globus sensation, hoarse voice, and chest tightness improved but I cant shake these asthma symptoms. Still get short of breath after meals, if I talk too much.... Hopefully we an share what helps to help others because doctors seem to be grasping straws.

I'm going through the same thing as I write this..I have had gird for some time now. Last Friday while going up 2 flights of stairs I notice I was a lot winded once I reached the top. I also notice this on Saturday as well. On Monday I felt like I was coming down with a cold, stuffy nose, sore throat and sneezing. The next day I notice that walking from my car to my office I could barley catch my breath. The next day I went to the doctor and he really didn't know what was going on. He prescribe cipro,medrol pack and some cough syrup, took blood work check oxygen level and sent me for chest Xrays. On Friday I went to urgent care because I still could not breath after taken about 10 steps. While waiting to see the doctor my regular Dr calls and said that all of my test came back normal but the chest Xrays shows a slightly enlarge heart and to call him on Tuesday for more testing. In the mean time I still can't breath. So I see the Dr and he does another chest xrays and say that he sees nothing. He tell me to keep taking the meds my Dr gave and he gave me a pump to help with the breathing because he said I have a bad case of bronchitis. As of today reading this article I am still a Lil short if breath but only on excertion. I took one of my wanted 300 mg because yesterday I felt my acid reflux build up.bi should be taking it every day. Moving forward I will be taking it every day.... the pump did help open the airways and clear the some chest congestion. I'm still coughing a Lil so I'm also taking mucinex for chest congestion as well.

Hi,

I am also a GERD patient for 4-5 years I think and I always go back to my Gastro doctor many times in a year. I have experienced all the symptoms related to this disease and have taken different kinds of medicine such as Omeprazole, Pariet, Dexilant from once a day to 2x a day. That's on and off depending on the occurrence of my GERD. Sometimes I also experience panic attacks and tingling in my left arm or right arm. My gastro said that it's because of anxiety. It makes sense because whenever my GERD flares up, I panic and think of a lot of things like having a serious disease or if this doesn't have any cure at all, stuffs like that. I got tired actually and recently I realized that this disease is mainly triggered by STRESS!! I'll stress that out, it's all about Stress friends.  I realized that back last December 2017, when my GERD flared up for a couple of months and I was about to do a PH test  procedure (research it online )which will cost me a large amount of money. It was suggested by my Gastro since the medicines are not working for me. Since there was no available equipment yet that time, I had to wait and I had the opportunity to go out of town with some friends. We stayed there for 3 days and it was literally relaxing and enjoying. I got nothing to think about. My GERD did not flare up that time. Then when we went back home and got to work, my GERD flared up again. I have food restrictions and I follow it mind you. I do not eat spicy food, anything with tomato, dairy or with wheat. I noticed that the difference was that I was stressed at work. 

Whenever I feel stressed, symptoms of acid reflux and belching occurs. As I mentioned, GERD can also cause panic attacks due to anxiety. My gastro suggested to get a small brown bag, put the opening in front of your mouth while holding it and start breathing in and out. The air should not come out as you need to breathe in the carbon dioxide. After noticing a few days, I also decided to check for yoga exercises online to calm my body and do some breathing exercises together with it. And it was EFFECTIVE!  I noticed that when I calm myself and do some simple yoga and breathing exercises (deep breathe in and breath out a couple of times), the GERD symptoms go away.  It was amazing. Since then, I did not have GERD symptoms anymore and I'm not taking any medicine for it. Thank God!

Try it and notice the difference. Do some breathing exercise (you may use the brown bag exercise) until you are finally calm and your symptoms will go away.  

PS. Continue to avoid food restrictions like spicy food and milk and tomato. 

I hope that this helps you somehow. Let me know if it works for you too. 

I started having problems with shortness of breath a month ago. It was mild to begin with but then became so bad that I couldn't do anything except sit or lie down. I went on a strict acid reflux diet and am taking Gaviscon at night before bed. For the past two days I feel that my breathing is normal again and I'm able to be physically active once more. However, I wouldn't say that my acid reflux is cured. I still have the sinus issues and notice in the morning that I wake some days with a slightly burning sensation at the back of my throat. I'm still waiting for my ENT appointment and will know more then about how bad things are. 

Hi rachelk123 - I've literally just posted a similar question about this myself.

I haven't actually been diagnosed with anything yet, regarding the reflux, etc. but my sister seemingly has silent reflux, my mum has always had issues and my dad did too. So I'm assuming there's a chance.

For me, though, the issue started a week ago when I woke up with real breathing difficulties on Sunday morning. Worsened into Monday, saw doctor who prescribed steroids and an inhaler. They helped somewhat, and the breathing problems lessened. But I noticed a real difference on taking a ranitidine a few nights ago. I woke up the next day and my breathing was lots better. Likewise, I felt a slight tightness in my throat yesterday afternoon and tried a glass of water with a spoon of bicarbonate of soda. This seemed to alleviate the issue slightly too.

I'd noticed changes in my bowels/stomach since about January, so I'd started making changes towards gluten/wheat/milk free, which seemed to help a lot. However, the breathing issues came after a particularly heavy night of eating and drinking. I also had a takeaway on the Sunday, which will not have helped at all.

I hope you got some sort of diagnosis that helped to alleviate your problem.

I've read about their being a connection between asthma and GERD. My doctor's think I have GERD, and I have definitely struggled now and then with breathing difficulties and shortness of breath. I also get a feeling where my throat is closing, which causes me to kind of panic.

What I've found helps is actually taking both omerprazole and zyrtec. Zyrtec is an allergy medication the ears your throat and sinuses of mucous. It greatly diminishes the throat closing feeling I get, and makes me feel like my throat is clear even if its burn ou ng from GERD.

YES, I ended up in the ER today because of this and while I felt like I was smothering and was going to die any minute from an asthma attack, all of my vitals were perfect. They basically shrugged and said to take Prilosec for a month and that there's probably just acid in my lungs causing some inflammation. I had read that this can indeed happen and often even causes pneumonia sometimes. I'm a voice actor and haven't been able to work in weeks because I can't speak without running out of air too quickly to finish even a quarter of a sentence and it's driving me nuts and stressing me out because I need income and I don't even know what to tell my clients since I have no idea if I'll be better tomorrow or in a year. The ER doctor gave me an inhaler but so far it hasn't eased the symptoms. I read that there's something called false dyspnea where the esophagus is inflamed and burned so it sends false signals to the brain that it's not getting enough oxygen and that's why we feel like we can't breathe or get out of breath doing simple tasks even though technically there's nothing wrong. It's SO frustrating because even though I now know it's not serious, I can't speak normally so I can't work AT ALL. And I'm typically physically active but can't even walk down the driveway without getting winded.

Hi, I'm just finding this conversation. My issues started in Dec 2019. Choked on an apple at the beginning of the month. Wouldn't go down. Then it happened again awhile later. Dec 31 I ended up in ER for several hours. Diagnosed with Gerd. Pain in middle of breastbone and towards right side was unbearable. And pain in my back opposite the front pain. I have three polyps in my gallbladder they are watching. So this pain went away after a few months, now I've had a burning tongue, throat and esophagus for the rest of the time. Had all the tests done...two endoscopies, CT scan, PH tests, motility test..can't remember them all. Going for another endoscopy in three weeks to see if he can see anything that was missed. Supposedly have a hiatal hernia. Burning comes and goes. I've been watching all that I eat. Just ready to be done with it. I found Chimes ginger chews that helps take the burning away. I have asthma and seasonal allergies. Wonder if it's all connected in some way. Dr mentioned the symbicort may be part of the problem. So give me something else. How is everyone else doing now since it's been 10 months since this conversation ended. Take care.

did anyone make any progress? going to a new GI Monday and am terrified he will rush me and not listen to me. I feel so on my own with this. doctors haven't helped at all. I feel like someone needs to put something in my throat and chest and squeeze them open. I cannot take a deep satisfying breath nonstop, and constantly have this tightness in my throat that I try to open up, and just look like an idiot doing it. someone please say something has helped.

Reading this thread at 2am because im feeling desperate for answers. It is somewhat helpful to know im not alone, although discouraging that people are having the same issues. What started as swollen tonsils has now morphed into a LPR diagnosis with serious swelling of the larynx, shortness of breath and difficulty swallowing. i am 30 and have 3 small children and over the course of 7 weeks am mow so "sick" that i can hardly care for them or manage simple tasks throughout the day. In the last 7 weeks i have seen 7 doctors (3 Urgent care visits, 2 ER visits, 2 ENT visits) with an ultimate diagnosis of LPR, and was told to "just relax" and i should feel better in a month or so. I have been put on a couple medications with no luck so far. If this goes away i will never take my health for granted again 😦 I have tried to remain hopeful and positive but im feeling pretty sorry for myself right now.