chest tightness

[gremlin1]

I am new so hello. I have been living with asthma since last January. Late in life diagnosis. I have hardly had any reoccurring symptoms like wheezing, coughing or shortness of breath but I seem to have chest tightness almost every night. My rescue inhaler ventolin does not help with the tightness and my peak flow meter reading stays in the green. I'm starting to think maybe the chest tightness is not from asthma and wondering if I should be exploring some kind of Reflux or even a hiatal hernia. I realize it could also be from anxiety.

Has anyone ever experienced anything similar to this?

Thank you.

Brad

[patmc1]

I'm sorry I don't have any info for you but I at least want to say "Hi". I have moderate asthma and mild COPD and frankly my rescue inhaler has never helped. I hope someone comes along to give you useful feedback.

[Maryhart Partner Asthma Educator]

Hi Brad,

Welcome to HealthUnlocked- Asthma - I would definitely check with your doctor/specialist and let them help you figure this out. Chest tightness can be due to several things and it’s not something to ignore.

Let us know what you find out. It may help someone else.

Mary

[gremlin1 in reply to Maryhart]

Thanks Mary. I appreciate the reply. Yes, I do know about other things chest tightness could mean mainly heart conditions. Good news is I have had all the heart tests to make sure. Xray, blood work, EKG, stress test and echocardiogram. My heart is in great condition. My Respirologist currently has me on ICS Symbicort one puff twice a day and one pill of Singulair. As I said, I seldom have any of the other asthma symptoms except for extreme chest tightness(at night while going to sleep). I am pursuing some form of Reflux and or hiatal hernia. I also think the chest tightness could be brought on by anxiety since this is all new to me....having any kind of health issue and being hospitalized last January for asthma was quite traumatic.

Thank you for writing.

Brad

[Chopper05]

Have they checked you for Eosinophilic Asthma? I was also diagnosed with asthma late never have had any breathing problems. Ended up with E Asthma & a lot of the asthma meds do not help with it. Just a thought

Good luck

[gremlin1 in reply to Chopper05]

Thanks for the reply Chopper 05. I will certainly look into your suggestion. Since the only symptom I get is chest tightness at night, I wonder if basically my daily use of symbicort and singulair is controlling it ok. For some reason, it's only chest tightness and I am looking into the possibility of acid reflux or hiatal hernia causing it. It's not my heart as I have had that checked out. Thanks again.

Brad

[krylan in reply to gremlin1]

Hi Brad! I too have late onset asthma! Started when I was around 45-50. I’m now 60 and I’m on Arnuity. One puff per day. BUT what I did discover is my asthma is GERD/ACID REFLUX related! So maybe you should watch what you eat and give yourself 4 hours before going to bed. I eliminated grains, dairy, sugar and limit my alcohol. I also do intermittent fasting all in attempt to control my asthma and heal my gut! Bone broth is great for healing a leaky gut! Research it and best wishes to feeling better!

[gremlin1 in reply to krylan]

Hi Krylan,

Thanks for sharing that with me. Yes, I do have acid reflux as proven by an endoscopy so I am on a PPI for three months to help heal my esophagus. I guess I'm hoping when it heals, it will help with my asthma. I do not like having to take a daily controller because they often have side effects that asthma or a cold can cause. How crazy is that. I have been using symbicort for awhile but now I just switched to Breo which is like yours where it is only one puff once a day. My respiratory doctor says that because I have a high IgE count in my blood, I have E Asthma and he keeps talking about doing biologics like Xolair which I'm not sold on that yet. I'm wondering if you know anything about that? Thanks. Brad

[d2read]

Hi, Brad, I’m actually wondering if it may be something else entirely.

How old is your mattress/box springs, and do you have carpeting in your bedroom? How old are your pillows and what are they made of? How often do you launder them and what kind of detergent? Do you sleep with any pets, a feather duvet? Do you sleep with a partner who wears night creams/lotions to bed?

All of these things could be triggering problems - but without you realizing they are the culprit(s).

Try eliminating things in the bedroom, showering before going to bed, and invest in top quality asthma and allergy certified products, like mattress pads and pillows.

I have a feeling that might be the answer for you - something such a normal part of your routine you really don’t even see or recognize.

Good luck!

Debbie

[gremlin1 in reply to d2read]

Thanks Debbie. Yeah, I have delved into the possibility of just what you suggest. We have dust mite protected pillow cases, sheets. Actually brand new latex foam mattresses too. We vacuum regularly and dust. Neither my wife or I wear perfume or cologne. Yes my wife wears creams but they aren't scented.

I'm seeing a specialist next week who is going to do an Endoscopy to see what's going on inside my stomach area in the event all of this has to do with reflux or hiatal hernia.

Meanwhile, I continue on with my daily Symbicort controller and one pill of Singulair.

Thanks again.

Brad

[d2read in reply to gremlin1]

I’m glad y’all have ruled all those triggers out. It took us almost 20 years, an entire team of specialists (and ultimately NIH) to have the science catch up to what was happening to me — which is atypical HyperEosinophilic Syndrome. In my case, HES hasn’t only caused e-asthma, which was minimally responsive to all treatments (including large doses of steroids), it caused or complicated dozens of other medical problems. Until Fasenra (which has caused complete remission). So I can definitely relate to the frustration (and fear) that comes with each episode that hits without warning, doesn’t respond to treatment - worsening rapidly, and forces you and your doctors to treat it in the hospital or emergency room.

My last suggestion is going to sound really strange: have you tried sleeping in a good recliner? It’s not a long-term solution, but it worked for me last fall, when I couldn’t sleep even propped up in bed. We never figured out what was causing my problem, but after about three months sleeping in my chair, I tried sleeping in my bed — something I did every couple of weeks — and that time it worked. I have only had one episode since and that was the night after minor surgery.

I’ll keep thinking, Brad. Good luck!

[krylan in reply to gremlin1]

Also I couldn’t take singular! Gave me bad leg pain after one dose!

[d2read]

Oh, I have to do a daily combo of symbicort and flovent — and they are still only minimally effective. See if a combo trial would be indicated.

[Cheri5]

Hello....I also had chest tightness with asthma...I take 300mg of theophylline 2x day and use a nebulizer before going to sleep. I also take singular and a rescue inhaler...it seems to work..

[Putnam Asthma Captain in reply to Cheri5]

Wow, theopholyne, didn’t know anyone used that anymore. When I was kid, I was on Tedral, very similar, and it worked.

[gremlin1]

Has anyone else experienced side effects from Symbicort like muscle and joint pain? I now take two puffs twice a day. However I just caught a cold and my flow meter reading is down in the yellow so I have now increased it to 8 puffs total per day. I'm guessing until my cold goes away, I won't see a difference in my flow meter reading?

[Beasley63]

I have to sleep with my head propped up every night to keep me from feeling like I have chest tightness or shortness of breath.