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Mysterious shortness of breath: What has helped you?
Lung Health | Last Active: Oct 23 10:20am | Replies (3405)Comment receiving replies
Hi All,
I have been reading through these comments and with many of them it as though I have typed them myself. I am a 28 year old male in good physical shape and I have been suffering from SOB for 3 years. When it first began it was subtle and took 6-8 months to get under control. During this time I followed the standard GERD diet strictly and elevated my bed as well as taking PPIs. After some time I was mostly healed and was back to a mostly normal life style where I could exercise and eat most foods. I had only mild reflux and occasional SOB until about 5 months ago where it came back with a vengeance. When it first started again I could barely breathe and went to the ER where they said I had anxiety (their way of pushing me out). Since the symptoms came back I went back to a strict diet following the low fat, acid, and sugar regime. I noticed a difference after a month or so and though I have improved considerably I am still unable to do any exercise other than walks.
Due to the severity and return of the SOB I have again tried to seek help. I have seen cardiologists, pulmonologists, allergist, gastroenterologists, and am currently working with a nutritionist. All of my tests have come back normal except for 2. The first was an endoscopy which showed I had mild reflux. The second was a stool sample which showed I had a load of parasites and unwanted bacteria. The nutritionist and Gastro say that I have Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) which they say causes gas/bloating then reflux and as a result SOB. Since the SIBO diagnosis I have been on 2 rounds of antibiotics which I felt a positive response to while taking them. Shortly after the antibiotics, however, symptoms worsened. My question to you all is, has anyone else looked into SIBO as a root cause of their reflux? And if so, have you tried any treatments for it. If so, I'd very much like to hear your story.
I also think it may be worth mentioning that everything I have been going through began shortly after taking antibiotics for a sinus infection 3 years ago. I believe that some bacteria were able to colonize my gut due to the antibiotics removing the good bacteria from there.
Replies to "Hi All, I have been reading through these comments and with many of them it as..."
How are you doing @rdemi? I hadn't considered SIBO, but I've read that SIBO is related to gastro issues. I think my GERD is due to a hiatal hernia but SIBO could also be a consideration. Are you feeling any better? The same?
They can not diagnose sibo based on stool sample. The sample must by taken directly from small intestine via endoscopy or by breathing test. Sibo is not same as parasites , it’s overgrowth of the bacteria normally living in your colon that makes it’s way to small intestine, therefore if they test stool it will always turn positive for sibo.
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Wow. I have had acid reflux on & off for about 1.5 years now. It's not as bad since I quit drinking coffee and wine, but the SOB has persisted. I didn't know that acid reflux could cause SOB--never occurred to me. I know it now. I wonder if that's the cause of my problems rather than smoke inhalation or bronchitis now.
One of my brothers was treated with massive antibiotics after an infection took hold in his brain stem after brain surgery. He still has stomach problems. He is gluten and lactose intolerant and has to watch what he eats very carefully or he gets very bad stomach pains with bathroom problems, etc. It's impacted his life a great deal. I'm convinced it's because of the antibiotics.