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Mysterious shortness of breath: What has helped you?
Lung Health | Last Active: 5 days ago | Replies (3422)Comment receiving replies
I have had this same issue for over ten years. It comes and goes. I started keeping a log in Jan 2020 so when I have a bad episode I can look back and remember that I have dealt with this before and it will pass.
Yesterday I had a particularly bad day and had a panic attack and had to leave work. Like many others I have silent reflux and have recently increased my omeprazole to 40mg daily. I have a doctor appt next week to see if i need to get on something stronger.
My symptoms are feeling like I have to take a deep breath but having to yawn or contort my body in order to get that full breath satisfaction. Then the process repeats again. I have to take meds to get to sleep at night because it’s impossible to fall asleep when you feel like you can’t breathe. I have a finger pulse ox by my bed so I can show myself that I am getting enough air.
Although I think the air hunger is likely caused by my silent reflux, I think my anxiety makes it worse. It helps so much ti reas that others are living with the same issue. I hate it for everyone but it also shows me that this is a symptom that we can deal with and it’s not life-threatening.
Replies to "I have had this same issue for over ten years. It comes and goes. I started..."
We are on the same page. I feel the same way, I have to contort my body sometimes too. You know what's interesting? You always fall asleep right? and you wake up the next day. This condition can't kill you, so what if we are doing it to ourselves?
Wow @brandelyncon, I'm sorry you've been dealing with this for so long. It's been about the same time amount of time for me.
Does the dosage increase of the omeperazole help? I get breakout reflux every now and then but so far have resisted going the higher dosage especially because at some point I would like to try to ween off of it and would be more difficult with a higher dosage.
I've thought for a while now that there may be a connection between the reflux and air hunger. Possibly inflammation of some sort, nerve damage, or something else. It's just a hunch but I do see many people in this thread with our similar breathing issue also having GI issues like reflux and reflux disease.
Have you explored breathing exercises or anything to help with the breathing?
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Have ou looked into food sensitivties as the cause of reflux? Removing gluten and dairy stopped my reflux of 50 years. A good diet resource to lower inflammation and reflux is the Facebook AIP group. Also checking out possible autoimmune causes of the food senstivities may help. An ANA test can help identify or eliminate autoimmune or infectious causation of the reflux. I also read not long ago, dont remember the source, only that it was reliable, that long term use of drugs that shut down stomach acids can shorten life. Look for causation of our digestive problem, if you have not already done so, and you may find solutions that are better than trying to subdue worsening symptos. So many docs today do not understand autoimmune diseases. All the best for your insght and healng.