| Stomach/Breathing Pain
Hi everyone,
I'm posting this in the hopes that maybe someone who is having the same issue as me might see this and be able to offer some insights.
Ever since I was young, once or twice a year I would have a sharp pain in the left side of my diaphragm. It would happen completely randomly and usually was activated by taking a deep breath in. As I got older it began happening more and more. And I noticed it coincided with physical exercise. I always thought it was a pulled muscle so I would just take ibuprofen and spend days in pain waiting for it to subside. While studying abroad, it happened three times in the course of 4 months. 2 times were after reaching the top of a long climb uphill. And one was after drinking a bunch of tea (not usually a caffeine user). During the (possible tea induced) event of sharp pain, which at this point I knew could last for days, I told my friend I had to return to to the hostel because I had a pain in my side. She said she thought it was heartburn and told me to try Pepto. I used it at the hostel and after about 15 minutes my pain subsided.
From then on, I figured it was a stomach acid issue. I didn't have many more major incidences in college, but if I did, acid reducers usually helped. After college, the issue intensified. And now 3 years after college I am in pain every day, on 40mg of proton pump inhibitors every day, and unable to exercise. It felt like proton pump inhibitors were helping but now they aren't. My GI doctor did a endoscopy and concluded I have a small hiatal hernia. These are usually asymptomatic. We have also done a CT scan and everything looked normal. The pain is a stabbing pain in my side and usually it is activated by a deep breath in.
One other thing to note is it seems to get worse in times of stress / anxiety.
My GI doctor is no longer convinced its a stomach issue. He thinks it might be something in the lungs.
Has anyone else ever had this issue? Any help would be great.
Thanks!
-Alex
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