Sometimes i have breathing difficulties and my chest feel tight what is it?

[stimi3ak]

I broke down and called my doctor last night because my chest tightness and SOB was getting to be too much. He was wonderful and talked me through the entire ordeal.

He explained to me that reflux will cause the esophagus to spasm which then tightens the chest. This also causes shortness of breath. He said the sensation is like someone is standing on your chest and you can't get a full breath of air in which is equivalent to what heart attack survivors claim their heart attack felt like.

He is going to up my medication a little more to get rid of the reflux. His next option is Reglan which I have never been on. I am also going to get that pine nut oil. As I said....I'm willing to try anything at this point.

I just wanted to give everyone the news since I know most of us on this board suffer from what I've written about.

Good luck!!

[FarmGirl31]

Did he say it can kill u? It cant, right? ?

thanks for sharing this!!

[stimi3ak]

Originally Posted by FarmGirl31

Did he say it can kill u? It cant, right? ?

thanks for sharing this!!

He said that it would NOT kill me. This is a normal side effect to someone with severe reflux. I do not drink alcohol but you did reference beer in one of your posts and he said that was the absolute WORST thing you could do if you have reflux. Something in beer triples the amount of acid your stomach will produce thus causing your reflux to triple in severity.

I can often feel my esophagus spasm so I know that the chest tightness is about to begin. Reglan is supposed to strengthen the lower sphincters which allow the reflux to occur and move food through your digestive tract faster so as to not allow the acid to build up.

It is so nice to know I am not alone in this. And my doctor truly is wonderful. He made sure I did not have a full fledged panic attack and kept repeating to me this would not kill me.

[wilkd]

I am 30 years old,I have suffered from Acid reflux for about 2 years, i had a camera test and it showed Grade 2 Acid Reflux. I take 1 losec every day and i rarely get any burning sensation. However for over 6 months now i get very short of breath and it felt like i was going to stop breathing, i have been to hospital and am now seeing a specialist. I also have a post nasal drip that causes me to need to clear my throat alot. They have checked me for ashma, they have done a camera test in my lungs and its clear, my heart is fine and my blood preasure is fine but they cannot tell me what is making me get so short of breath. It is taking over my life as i have to cancel meetings, cannot do presentations any more and dont like traveling in case it gets worse. Would it be possible that my acid reflux could affect my breathing this much without causing any burning sensation? If so how is it treated. I feel a bit better to hear that i am not the only one with this condition

[stimi3ak]

It is VERY possible for reflux to affect your breathing and not feel any burning sensation. I do not feel any burn but I do feel the acid in my esophagus. It no longer makes me choke or cough like it does my husband because I've had it for so long. My GI told me over time your body becomes numb to the pain of it.

I also have a post nasal drip. All of these things wreak havoc on breathing.

What happens is the acid refluxes back into your esophagus and hits the nerves going to your lungs. This causes your esophagus to spasm which feels like heart palps but it's not. From there your esophagus begins to tighten up which is where the "tight chest" feeling comes from. As I posted earlier it is like someone is standing on your chest and you can barely breathe.

Like you I have had to miss work, social events and cancel presentations for work. I can not even breathe well enough to take my son around the block most days.

My doctor is getting ready to put me on Reglan to strenthen the lower sphincter. It is this sphincter which is allowing the acid to come up and do this kind of damage to my breathing. All my lung tests are normal and my CT scans show no lung damage. It is truly just an angry esophagus.

Good luck!