New, need help. - Acid Reflux / GERD Message Board

Em55 · 12-27-2008, 09:30 PM

So i am 15 and i am lost. I started getting short of breath during my basketball season last year. I was really in shape yet felt so run down and couldnt breathe and could tell it was getting worse. Finished the season, not that great but alive. They couldnt find an inhaylor to work for me. I found out im allergic to albuterol.

This summer i was really sick, we had non stop fires for 2 months and i was really sick the whole time, throwing up, couldnt breathe, weak, no sleep, BAD COUGH. Ever since i have had a chronic cough, bad chest pains non stop, stamach tightness, short of breath, and recently i have started getting really bad heartburn and realized what i have been tasting is acid. Does this sound like GERD? My baby nephew was diagonised with it and reflex and stamach problems runs in my family heavily. All newborns in our family get tested but i never was.

I just got tested for asthma finally after a year, and the test showed i didnt have asthma. The tech said he wasnt a doctor but thinks i might have a hiatal hernia or something in my chest? idk where, that is making my breathing bad.

I go see the specialist next wed but i want to know what you guys have to say about it before i go. I am scared and desperate. I got asked not to play basketball which was a huge deal because i was playing jv this year and is a huge part of my life. I am also dismissed out of PE due to me almost throwing up everyday from coughing so bad.

please any comments are welcomed!

gcsjr · 12-28-2008, 05:22 AM

Your symptoms could be from GERD. GERD often mimics asthma symptoms but doesn't usually respond to asthma medications. The acid from your stomach may be irritating the lining of your esophagus and the top branches of your airways causing them to get swollen and irritated. Your body produces extra mucus to try to protect the irritated areas and that combination of mucus and inflammation is very hard to distinguish from the symptoms of asthma.

The good news for you is that getting the GERD under control should help your symptoms improve dramatically, and there are lots of medications available to help do that. Hang in there until you see the doctor but if it's GERD you should be back playing basketball in no time.

jonstar · 12-28-2008, 06:14 PM

Before you see the specialist, buy your self some Prilosec OTC, take one every morning.

Also, buy soem Tums, and suck a couple like candies whenever you feel discomfort.

If the above helps, it is very likely o be GORD, and would help the doc work out which treatments work for you.

Always have a few Tums (or the store brand, dirt cheap and just as good) in your bag/backpack/pocket, sucki a couple whenever you feel the acid rising up.

Em55 · 12-28-2008, 09:26 PM

Thanks for your comments,, I am currently am taking a store brand of Zantac 200mg. I am taking it once a day. I have tried sucking on tums before i eat lunch. 3rd period when my stomach is ready for lunch (lunch is after 3rd) i suck on tums and it doesnt help. I have noticed, as others also have, that i seem much better on the zantac. I still get really bad heartburn and chest pain, but my cough is better and my asthma is almost gone. I haven't tried to excerise yet just because i feel so sick all the time. anyone else just plain doesnt feel good or could that be because of something else???

jonstar · 12-28-2008, 11:14 PM

If you are finding that Zantac helps, then Prilosec (Omeprazole) will help even more, it reduces acid production to a greater degree than Zantac.