Anybody ever suffer from extreme breathing difficulties due to gastro issues?

[DaveT81]

Hi guys, had serious issues for 3 or more months now that have increasingly gotten worse.

Had all kinds of scans, tests, etc. that have seemingly ruled out heart or lung conditions. My 2 options now are either autoimmune disorder or some form of gastro/reflux problem.

The GP I'm seeing believes it could be that the reflux issues are at the root of the problem but, to be honest, I feel it's only getting worse.

I am 37, and have gone from being able to walk 2 miles home from work comfortably to struggling to walk to the shop 5 minutes away with feeling tired and breathless.

I had a rather heated phone call with my NHS doctor today (who has been absolutely no help) and I had to cut my angry tirade short because I couldn't form whole sentences without gasping for air.

This just isn't normal.

Any thoughts or similar experiences, all?

[Liz1234ty]

Hi dave, have you been tested for anemia? I know this is more common in women for obvious reasons but men can have low iron too. A good friend of mine - who had no digestive issues but did suffer really bad fatigue and breathing issues - was diagnosed with this after fortunately heart and lung conditions ruled out. Its a simple test so worth ruling this out while investigating gastro issues further.

[DaveT81 in reply to Liz1234ty]

Hi Liz1234ty,

I've not necessarily been tested for anemia but I was led to believe that some of my results recently ruled out iron or vitamin deficiency anemia:

IRON 28.06 umol/L (5.80 -34.50)

T.I.B.C 64.56 umol/L (45.00 -72.00)

TRANSFERRIN SATURATION 43.46 % (20.00 -50.00)

FERRITIN 84.5 ug/L (30.00 -400.00)

ACTIVE B12 116.000 pmol/L ( 37.50 -188.00)

FOLATE (SERUM) 19.98 ug/L (3.89 -26.8025)

OH VITAMIN D 88.8 nmol/L (50.00 -200.00)

I'm quite clearly no expert though, so can't say for sure..

[Liz1234ty in reply to DaveT81]

Hi Dave,

Sorry, but I'm not familiar with what those results mean - but a phone call with your GP should hopefully clarify. I agree with 'one-n-den' about the scope. That was how my mother-in-law's hernia and ulcer were picked up. You definitely need to see a gastro for an expert opinion. GPs simply don't have the specialist knowledge required when simple measures/tests have not successfully identified the problem. Good luck!

[b1b1b1]

Try to see a rheumatologist AND a pulmonologist. What you are going through seems to me to be way beyond the capability of a GP. Keep pursuing it. xx

[Hidden]

Physical diagnosis apart, is there anything in your life at the moment that is making you feel oppressed or anxious (other than the gasping for air, which much be frightening in itself)?

Alison

[DaveT81 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Alison, no nothing at all stressful otherwise. The only thing that's stressing me, as you mention, is the problem itself. I've been off work for 6 weeks, but I work for the NHS so I'm good for another few months yet, if I need it and my manager is generally supportive.

Prior to all of this, I was as healthy and happy as I'd been in a while - training for a 5K, planning a holiday to NY with my wife and generally going about my business.

The breathing issues came on quite quickly and suddenly and have only gotten worse. It isn't intermittent either, 24/7 and exertion only makes it worse.

[one-n-den]

Hi Dave,

The only additional thought that I had was that you may have a hiatus hernia, which would explain both the reflux and the breathing difficulties.

Depending on the severity of the hernia, it can be treated by dietary changes, drugs or surgery.

Has your GP suugested that this might the cause of your problems?

Hope that helps.

[DaveT81 in reply to one-n-den]

Hi one, it is actually something I'd considered myself early on. But with the chest x-ray, and CT scan of chest and abdo, this appears to have been ruled out by Drs.

I'm awaiting some advice from some gastro colleagues I work with (which has been a long time coming!) and I'm wondering whether a scope could help to see what's going on in there.

Having given up on my usual GP I decided to take the money I saved when my wife and I canceled our holiday to see a private GP. He has since prescribed my Omeprazole and recently upped the dose to 40mg twice a day. I'm not too happy about that, as I don't really feel it's helping my reflux massively.

Is it possibly that a hernia could be missed on x-ray or CT?

[one-n-den in reply to DaveT81]

I’d say it was quite possible that a hernia had been missed - mine was only picked up when I had Gastroscopy after having my gall bladder removed. I didn’t have a CT scan, however, so maybe that should have shown up any hernia. Good luck!

[Mattyk23 in reply to DaveT81]

You need an upper endoscopy to diagnose a hiatal hernia. I’ve had one for 3 years now and I get shortness of breath from it. It is caused by the pressure being put on the diaphragm.

[MrsMouseSJ]

Hi Dave. How do these episodes resolve themselves? I ask as from time to time I experience not being able to breathe adequately (it's the only way I can really put it) - as though I am being suffocated perhaps and I can't really talk properly for getting out of breath. It is extremely frightening but, I have realised, what I need to do is belch. Repeatedly and very violently. This can last for up to 10 minutes and I have to consciously initiate the process. Then I can draw air in ok again. With me the issue seems to be that my stomach is full of gas, pushing my diaphragm up. This has been shown, years ago, on an x-ray. We now also know that I have a hiatus hernia, which I assume makes matters worse as if I experience reflux an episode will at some point come on.

[LCat]

Dave, my heart goes out to you as I was in exactly the same situation as you (I’m Medical as well). As this happened to me twice (the 1st time for 3 years and the 2nd time for 10 months. I was constantly breathless and fatigued in a weired way. It was horrid! But now I’m fine). Like you I was misdiagnosed for years and GPs came up with all sorts of ideas (no wonder you have heated phone calls as this is so frustrating). It took me virtually years to understand that this must have been caused by an irritated Vagus Nerve. As you know the Vagus innervates various organs ....therefore it sometimes may be hard to exactly pinpoint where the pain comes from. You may think ( like I did and my GPs did) it’s your lungs or your heart but in reality the pain comes from another area : and the pain is so strong that it may feel like ‘you can’t breathe’ even though theoretically you can (=your lungs are fine and your heart is fine .... just like myself). After 3 years of misdiagnoses and suggestions to go the the pain clinic which I refused to do .... I insisted against other doctors views that I needed a Gastroscopy. And I was right: it was the stomach : I had gastritis plus ulcers (plus HP infection). After the successful Eradication Therapy strangely it took 7 months to recover from the pain (and breathing problems and fatigue). I found at the time that Omeprazole didn’t help me at all and just made the problem worse. This seems to be, by the way, the case with many other patients as well : a GP told me that too. My GI Consultant told me that this can take months to recover from this type of so called Functional Gastritis. The good news is that it is in the vast majority of cases nothing sinister that causes these horrid symptoms. The bad news is that it still feels so horribly painful and you can suffer for months . Sadly we’re still in the Middle Ages with these kind of GI conditions (the ones that are called ‘not sinister’) : there’s very little research done. My excellent Senior GI Consultant admitted that we basically know nothing about what this is nor what causes it nor how to cure it. There’s 2 top Consultants in the UK who are specialised in this and they also admit that we don’t understand this condition. Therefore at the time my GI Consultant’s advice was a certain diet.

[DaveT81 in reply to LCat]

Hi LCat,

I really appreciate you taking the time to reply.

I have actually had lovely trip to A+E this morning as it got so bad in the last few days. I've had 'sleep apnea' symptoms but last night I genuinely felt like I was choking as I was falling asleep. It just isn't normal!

I'm glad you mention the Vagus nerve, as this is something I've become all too familiar with following my atrial fibrillation diagnosis and subsequent ablation for it last year. It would appear that my afib is vagally triggered, and I've noticed that changing the position of my body often irritates it, so I can only assume it's related to the Vagus.

I was starting to wonder whether it could be either the Vagus or Phrenic nerve, and that maybe I'd somehow damaged or irritated one or the other somehow.

After my trip to the hospital today, I was told they'd suggest a gastroscopy to my NHS GP. So it'll be interesting to see if he follows through with that. My gastro problems kind of came out of the blue, as it'd never been an issue for me before, and a few months later the breathing problems started.#

I'm glad you got somewhere in the end though, nice to know there are some good doctors out there with opened minds! I may look them up and see where they are.

[Waiting_for_godo]

Does your heart race. Can u try mindful breathing. I had similar and I've worked on controlling the way I breathe and re teaching my body.