Okay let me give a brief background on my symptoms. I developed problems including the inability to catch my breath and chest pain 1 year ago (June 2005). Went to my PCP who gave me Nexium and then Prilosec. Well the nexium helped for a while then I went to a Gastro who scoped me, diagnosed me with GERD and put me on Nexium with instructions to take it for 4 months. When i tried to ween myself off of it the shortness of breath and chest pain returned and have been there ever since.

Now the wierdness, I have constant minor chest pain with constant irritating inability to catch my breath, always have to make myself yawn. The minute I wake up, this is how I feel, however I sleep great, if I wake up in the middle of the night I breath fine. During the day, I feel the same all day, regardless of what I eat or dont eat. I have tried curtailing my diet (no soda, chocolate, tomatoes, onions) but I have the same symptoms all day long. Just this morning, I did not eat a thing and felt worse than I did after I ate. I do get the occasional "food burp" when I eat, but all in all, I dont know what to do, I just feel like there is something else behind this along with GERD, help me.

Do you have difficulty catching your breath the whole day? or just right after eating?

All day long, the only time I feel good is when I am sleeping (as in when I wake up at night, I can breathe) or when I am exercising. Thats what is so wierd, food or beverages do not really effect how I feel. Sometimes the breathing gets worse, but overall it is there all day long. I do have a lot of belching, even when I drink water (which causes minor belching).

I always have the feeling that I need to take deep breaths

you and i have the same symptoms!! i feel that i have breathing difficulty all day long. but i feel okay when sleeping( breathing , no chest pain etc.) and you got my exact words... i belch even with water!!. I did all the blood tests (thyroid,liver,H. pylori etc) and it turned out negative. The doctor however, mentioned i have GERD and have put me on protonix as treatment. I also tried ACV( apple cider vineger) but it relieves a little of my breathing after a meal but my breathing all day is still a problem. well that's why im here i also want to know if somebody could shed some insite on this. i hope somebody helps us!

hi,
in my experience with, the shortness of breath and the feeling of having to make yourself yawn, this is all anxiety. the belching is because you take in too much air with the shallow breathing. I have this same problem. I sleep fine, and can exercise for hours if i wanted to. but when i am just driving along I can 't catch my breath. sometimes I am convinced I can't swallow. It is really horrible. Stress can and will cause too much acid in our bodies. I think alot of the GERD diagnosis is linked to stress and anxiety. When I get really bad with the breathing I have to take a xanax and low and behold I can breath and don't feel the need to yawn. oh well this is my theory

I think the anxiety thing could be true. I just wish there was some way to get this breathing thing resolved.

The worst part is, I tried two weeks ago to ween myself off the Nexium, I went one day and I could barely breathe

I just cant take this anymore, I am going back to the Gastro next wednesday, I will let you know what he says

Hi guys. I may know what your problem is. When you repeatedly take deep breaths it can cause stomach bloating. This bloating can inpinge the diaphram and make it difficult to breathn deeply. Then, the viscious cycle continues. Bloated and cant breath->deep breaths->bloated

Good luck.