Shortness of breath, chest tight, excess gas and not sure what is wrong.
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Hello everyone. I'm brand new to this forum and any advise would be greatly appreciated. I feel like I'm spinning my wheels and not gaining traction on what is going on. If I don't get a handle on the proper avenue I need to take I'm going to keep throwing a considerable amount of money at this for no results. I apologize for this very long post but I'm keeping a document to retain as much detail as possible. I wasn't sure whether to put this into respiratory or abdominal as either one would work.
I’m a 33 year old male ~300lb 6’2. I’ve had acid reflux for about 5 years now and had an endoscopy around that time to verify I didn’t have any damage. I’ve been on prilosec once a day since then which has taken care of my heartburn for the most part. I also have COPD and take Advair once a day which leaves me breathing well throughout the day. I have a prescription for Albuterol to take as needed but normally it’s not.
I have ate very little and drank only water since March 25th which leaves me feeling somewhat better but still belching off a lot of excess gas and getting short of breath every so often. I’m struggling enough to breathe that it leaves my sides and chest very sore sometimes. I’ve had no caffeine, alcohol, or nicotine for over 3 weeks now.
Ongoing Symptoms:
Tightness in chest – shortness of breath
Excessive belching, feeling of need to releive pressure
Watery stool burns and seems to have mucus in it, not sure how long this
has been but probably a few weeks of the mucus and around a week of the burning feeling.
Coughing up more mucus than usual however, coughing sometimes becomes ineffective. I’m trying to cough but body is not responding to the demand. First time was March 20th and happens every so often now, but not to the extreme of the fit I had on the 20th. (More detail below)
As of ~March 22nd I typically feel very tired and a little disoriented. I imagine it’s from not eating well.
Albuterol helps for a very short period when breathing gets real bad but within an hour I’m pretty well back to normal.
Timeline:
Mid February began belching constantly, but not a lot of discomfort. I just had a constant need to releive the pressure.
February 23rd (Monday) felt very nauseous vomited rust color and stringy (had not ate).
Went to ER for fear of bigger concern of stomach issues. Did stomach scan and chest x-ray. Also did breath test for bacterial infection. (Never heard results)
March 14th (Tuesday) had bad cough and 103° temperature. Temperature and fatigue relieved by March 18th (Saturday) but cough remained, and was typically worse in the morning.
March 20th (Monday) Coughing very hard and suddenly just couldn’t cough. It was like my muscles were not responding at my attempt to cough. I then could not catch breath and got very lightheaded, felt like was going to pass out. Went to ER, they told me I hyperventilated. It’s being called a panic attack now, which I’m sure could’ve played into it, but what onset it was not panic. I'm not prone to have attacks to that extreme.
After March 20th each time I eat it feels like a lot of gas pressure and leaves me struggling to breathe. Even when eating very small amounts I constantly burp and usually have to make myself throw up to relieve the pressure. I feel very nauseous after eating.
March 29th had an endoscopy done, no blockages, ulcers, or signs of cancer. They did take a biopsy from my stomach to check for any bacterial issues.
March 30th ~1am I got up to go to the bathroom and had to cough when the issue where I have trouble coughing happened. Suddenly my entire body went extremely cold and I broke out in an instant dripping sweat.
0 likes, 7 replies
lilian05079 tim23631
Posted
You should ask your doc to follow up and check the results of your chest x-rays and stomach scans....there may be something that has been missed....best wishes...
tim23631 lilian05079
Posted
tim23631
Posted
I got with a new doctor as my regular hasn't been able to get me in for weeks. They have went over all of my labwork and xrays very thoroughly yesterday. They were worried I may have a blood clot in my lungs so sent me to have a CT Scan right away but nothing showed up out of the ordinary. By the time I got home it was 26 hours since I last ate. I was very hungry and my symptoms were pretty minimal. I had a small meal of mashed potatos and some noodles (very small portions) and I felt full very quickly. Soon after I had a very heavy gas feeling in my stomach, trouble breathing, and threw up twice within 30 minutes of eating. I have an appetitie but I can't eat because of what occurs afterwards. One thing I know for sure now is that if I keep my stomach completely empty and just water my breathing issues are minimal. However, as soon as I eat I'm back in the same discomfort until I fast for a day.
I'm not sure if scans of my stomach will show anything the scope did not but I"m going to call my GI today and see what they think.
lilian05079 tim23631
Posted
As you are not eating as you should be you are depriving your body of essesntial nutrients..one in particular vitamin B12 and associated B vitamins..if your B12 and B vits are low it will affect your digestive system... Ask your doc to arrange a Vitamin B12 blood test...if you are deficient in B12 I would think your doc will give your B12 tabs to take or may arrange for B12 injections. Another reason why your B12 may be low is because you were a smoker and nicotine blocks the absorption of B12 through the gut into the ileum and into the blood stream. You say you have given up alcohol, were you a heavy drinker? if so this too can block B12. B12 and associated B vitamins are essential for your wellbeing... check with your doc...best wishes..
lilian05079 tim23631
Posted
joanne75186 tim23631
Posted
Hello have you had any improvement of this, I hope you feel better.
This happened to me 5years ago, and it is awful. I had lots of tests but they couldn't find anything wrong.
Everytime I ate something I couldn't breath until I managed to burp enough. Often it would last all day.
After 2 years it gradually improved but now 5 years of its come back.
Sorry if this isn't cheering you up.
When I went to see anyone about this they all looked blank at me as if they had no idea why I was burping. It really is hard to breath.
It's definitely not anxiety or panic attack.
X
upendra30120 tim23631
Posted
In my case gluten(mostly wheat product) and dairy product are problem. And when I stop eating theses all, feels much better. And yes you should avoid completely. And get response in 1 or 2 days... for complete wellness go for 3 month at least. After that coming back to same products, I’m not sure will it appear again.... this is up to you.