lilydilly

Hi, I've had shortness of breath for about one month now. I don't have the lump in the throat feeling, but I do have reflux. But this is the first time I've had shortness of breath like this. And yes, mine seems to be with me 24/7. I've been taking Pepcidine tablets the whole time and it's made NO difference, whereas other times it has worked within days to settle things down.
I actually ended up in the ER on the weekend, because while I was grocery shopping, the breathing thing got so bad, I felt like I was suffocating. My whole chest got tighter and tighter, until I thought I would pass out. WHile I don't have the lump in throat feeing, I do get so tight around my whole throat area, that I feel like I'm being strangled. Put that with the suffocating chest thing, and it gets downright horrible.
The hospital put me on heart monitors etc for the day, and nothing showed with regard to my heart. The doctor thinks it is just the reflux but I'm to have a stress echo in 2 days, just to rule out angina.
My whole upper body is in a weird state. I feel like all the muscles have been put through the wringer.. almost like someone is giving me "chinese burns" from my lower ribs to my neck, front and back. Running crampy pains through my shoulder blades etc. I have heard that chronic costochondritis can feel like that.. (inflammation of the rib cage, in a nutshell), and it seems to go hand in hand with reflux.
ANother thing that it could be, is a hiatus hernia. I was diagnosed with a small one years ago, and from what I've researched, it can cause that shortness of breath syndrome. And it seems from what I've read, that if you have reflux you most likely have a hiatus hernia.
I could go on forever with all the symptoms I'm having at the moment. But if anything strikes a chord with you, I'm more than happy to "compare" notes and work this thing out. Believe me, I know how distressing it can be, especially when nothing works to ease it.
I've been living on brown rice, water, avocado, and millet porridge, and when it's been at its worst, I even just had baby food for tea.
I've been taking aloe vera juice, and slippery elm, which have been wonderful in the past, but aren't doing anything to touch it this time round. The doctor said to just keep taking the pepcidin, but they actually give me more acid fumes coming up I think
It's a case of the chicken and the egg. WHich comes first, the breathing problem or the tense muscles in the upper body. I imagine either one triggers the other. Coffee upsets my stomach worse than anything. I get careless when I feel well, and think I'm getting away with it. But for me it is a big reflux trigger when I'm not doing well with my health.
Have you tried drinking a lot of water and then doing some very mild sit-ups immediately. Often this releases a lot of air for me, and eases the whole thing, even the breathing for a bit. That used to work like magic for me, but this time, just "eases" it a bit.
Wish I could offer some helpful fix-it for you. Just knowing someone else has something similar helps a bit for me.
One other thing, I've been sitting at the computer for long periods, and am aware that I'm stressing my whole upper body area doing this. Just wondered if this can trigger this whole cycle too.

Sorry for the long post. Let me know how you go, or if you find a solution
Regards LIndy