stimi,
Sorry I can't help. I just wanted to mention that my breathing greatly improved with Nexium, too. I can now make it up the stairs (all 12 of them) without gasping for air and go longer distances before running out of breath. There were times I couldn't walk up 5 steps into the clinic for my appointment without being drastically out of breath and gasping for air by the time I arrived. My chest doesn't hurt constantly anymore from sucking in the air, either.
I don't understand the connection -if my SOB is caused by the hiatal hernia, why does the PPI for my GERD help when the asthma meds didn't? Lungs are where the breathing happens.
I have the choking sensations even indoors. They do not happen often but come out of the blue for seemingly no reason at all and I feel like I am drowning on nothing. I thought the SOB was causing that. Heat and humidity make EVERYTHING worse, especially the breathing. On very hot days, I couldn't even walk downhill - only a few steps at a time. Plus, the heat made me swell like a baloon. A double whammy. I blame my severe hypertension and numerous meds for that. It's hard to distinguish symptoms from side effects. My shortness of breath was/is absolutely the worst. My number one complaint for months. As you know, when you can't breathe, nothing matters. Does this mean we have to take the PPIs for life? I am spending a fortune on my meds already!
I will read about pulmonary fibrosis, as phoenix suggested. BTW, I only had pulmonary function tests done so far, no lung scans. They indicated asthma but did not discount other causes.
flowergirl
