Following on from my experience of asthma flare up I'm wondering if like Cade in his post about breathing problems whilst exercising, if I could have silent reflux. It was shortness of breath that led me to seek medical treatment, and even though I had no wheezing or cough the hospital concluded it was asthma, as my peak flow readings were well down.
I have been experiencing shortness of breath whilst exercising. And my asthma has been worse, for no apparent reason. My chest x ray was clear, I've never had covid and have no signs of any lung disease. I have had a bit of heartburn recently and I know GERD and asthma go hand in hand.
Just wondering if silent reflux is the culprit and how to treat it?
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Sparklingsunshine
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I've noticed it at the gym mainly but also just round the house, its an odd sensation like air hunger rather than wheezing. I liken it to how I felt when I was anemic but thats not an issue now I'm post menopause. Seems the consensus is low stomach acid rather than too much.
It was years ago, I've spent much of my adult life on iron tablets, I've been vegetarian since birth, to the despair of my meat eating family lol. So maintaing iron levels has been an uphill struggle. I also have Pernicious Anemia which doesnt help either.
Ditto with most of what you have said above. I was diagnosed with small hernia about 3 months ago, but prior to this acid reflux, controlled somewhat with PPI and also the ? over asthma. Tried various inhalers with not a great deal of success, but to be honest I don't think I have given it a really fair try to be sure. So far as anaemia is concerned, showed up in blood tests and am on ferrous sulphate. Guess what causes acid reflux !! So not the greatest to take, yes I have also heard that acid reflux and asthma go hand in hand.
hi I’ve just done a post on here in regards to this go and see if the symptoms are the same, I’m waiting on a actual diagnosis of what is up but all I suffer with is breathlessness and a tightness of the chest, but I have just been told I have reflux and waiting on a scope xx
Silent reflux is the worse and seem to go hand in hand with asthma (in fact it was asthma nurse that caught mine), and I think the common cause between the two must be thyroid. I went on a mostly natural vegan diet without tomotoes, used Gaviscon advance at night before bed (as advised by ENT), Gaviscon double during the day. Cleared up within 6 months.
I really dont want PPI's as they make me dizzy. I already eat a strict vegetarian diet. I often wonder if Ehlers Danlos is a contributary factor as it makes things floppy lol.
My son was born with a hernia, he projectile vomited a la the Exorcist for 10 months before gravity and walking intervened, thank goodness he was an early developer. However it came back when he was in his 20's too small to operate on but big enough to cause GERD. He's been on PPI's for years. But he's now saying they aren't as effective. I often see the forum advising against PPI's for us hypos.
I think PPIs were helpful in the short term. It must be remembered that they cause vitamin deficiencies and I wish the GP had shared this as it would make sense to top up vitamins while PPIs.
I use Famotadine. It’s expensive to buy from an online chemist, over £30 but I don’t find PPIs effective. I bought 1 packet to try & then asked my GP for a prescription. I have a hiatus hernia caused by scoliosis or bent spine.
Diet plays a large part, avoid acidic foods especially for supper, no fizzy drinks, no alcohol etc. Eat frequent small meals. Eat something bland if you feel acid.
Since you’re not sure if you have it you should ask your GP for an Endoscopy to look for damage to your throat.
Try to leave at least 2 hours between thyroid hormone dose & Famotadine. Lastly raise your bed head on bricks or supports available from Amazon.
I have found that taking T3 dose in the evening reduces the problem. How are your T4 &T3 levels?
Since I introduced T3 they are good, very good. I dont drink fizzy drinks, smoke or drink alcohol. I hate spicy foods, so a bit of a loss. I do like coffee but try and limit what I have. Thank you for the tips.
Hi there, I'm a bit of an expert (self appointed, no medical training ) on silent reflux. And yes, you can definitely have asthma like symptoms. I thoroughly recommend this book which explains what and why you're experiencing symptoms, and how to heal your oesophagus, as well as how to deal with it going forward. amazon.co.uk/Complete-Acid-... . I had a chronic cough for years before I figured out the cause. I had post nasal drip, sore throat, asthma like symptoms. Got looked at by ENT, but no problems. GP said not asthma. GP said probably reflux, but I scoffed and said, no I don't think so, I've got no (typical) reflux symptoms (and I'd had bad indigestion as a teen, then chugged gaviscon during pregnancy, so felt I knew what I was talking about). At no point was silent reflux mentioned. I did however agree to trial some PPI (I think it was for a couple of weeks), and lo and behold my chronic cough disappeared. I didn't want to continue with PPIs due to long term side effects, but at least I knew what the problem was now! It took me years (a decade?) to get to that point. This book really helped. Photo is symptoms list from book.
I've been following (mostly) the guidance in this book for a couple of years now, and my chronic cough has mostly gone. It occasionally makes a reappearance, but I know how to heal and get things back on track. I'm careful with what I eat. I don't eat dairy because it causes chronic constipation in me, which puts abdominal pressure on my stomach, and forces acid upwards. Similarly I try to avoid onions which cause gas, again more pressure on the stomach. I take betaine hydrochloride tablets as necessary when I feel reflux starting after a meal. Increasing acidity closes the sphincter at the top of the stomach more tightly, so less reflux. I eat ginger to speed up stomach emptying. I also avoid too much, hard to digest foods (like whole seeds) and too much fat which slows stomach emptying. I eat smaller meals, with snacks between. I've also worked hard to improve gut health with bone broth to heal, probiotics to improve gut microbiome, and turmeric and fish oil tablets to reduce inflammation. It all helps! Phew, thats a lot of info there. Good luck x
Ha - yes, I know about silent reflux all too well and am currently going through a flare up after a couple of years being rather better.
I am asthmatic, also have a diagnosis of HSD/EDS and one for possible fibromyalgia (though I suspect the last one is probably not correct). I’m also being watched for possible hypothyroidism as the moment. I began to have the odd digestive isssue after giving birth to my first child (mostly in the form of certain foods disagreeing with me) which then went out of control post a norovirus infection when just about everything seemed to disagree with me and I ended up clinically underweight. The problem comes and goes now, sometimes better to the point of being almost non existent provided I stay clear of certain foods, to what I’m going through now: breathing issues and having to be very careful of what I eat, how much I eat and when I eat it.
I’ve been under NHS consultant led care for eight years for gastro problems and they still haven’t worked out what’s going on. I haven’t seen my gastro consultant for fourteen months (despite having two procedures which I should have had follow up appointments for). I began to have problems again (after two years of feeling pretty good) after eating a dish which I’ve had many times before so I thought was safe but I had a slightly larger portion than usual. After five days of struggling with general discomfort, feelings of reflux (though very little or no heartburn), feeling full for too long after very little, plus breathing problems which I was pretty certain were reflux related, the asthma began to flare (personally I don’t think the very damp weather we’ve been experiencing has helped with the latter). Contacted my gastro cons secretary to ask about when I was likely to see her because I’d had a massive flare up and, to cut a long story short, eventually discovered I was looking at a further 4-5 months. Very fortunately I was due to see my resp. Cons and when I contacted his secretary to warn him that I’d had to increase my asthma meds to maximum (and I’m on a fairly powerful asthma medication) the message obviously got through to him. Next thing I know I received a phone call saying there was a cancellation and would I like the appointment with my resp. cons. As a result of that (he isn’t happy with the way things have suddenly gone and wants the digestive issue sorted) he’s going to contact the gastro cons to see if I can get an appointment sooner rather than later.
Yes, reflux is common in asthma sufferers. From what I can gather there has been research to try to find a link between the two conditions but none has been found - yet.
Some things which might help:
Keep a food diary to try and work out what triggers your problems. Common ones are citrus fruit, caffeine (including chocolate), onions, garlic (though garlic oil is usually fine), fatty food, spicy food, tomatoes, rhubarb and pineapple. Some people also struggle with mint.
Eat smaller portions - in other words give your stomach less to cope with. Better to have five small portions a day than three bigger ones.
Do not bend over or allow yourself to slouch for at least two hours after a meal. Do not lie down for three hours after a meal. There’s this little thing called the oesophageal sphincter muscle at the top of the stomach; inadvertently putting pressure on that when your stomach hasn’t emptied is asking for trouble.
Do not go to bed for at least three hours after you’ve eaten or had a drink (so you need to finish your last meal of the day by 7pm if you are intending to go to bed at 10pm). If you can, have your main meal of the day at midday and have something light in the evening.
At night raise the head end of the bed about five inches. Gravity is a wonderful thing and this helps anything that is in your stomach stay there during the night. I’ve also found that with breathing problems if it’s stomach related lying on my left side helps (because of the way the stomach connects to the oesophagus). If it’s asthma related the breathing issues won’t go away regardless of how I’m lying.
Shortness of breath resulting from exercise is something I’ve had for as long as I’ve had asthma. I don’t think they really know what triggers it and why some asthma sufferers have it and others don’t (I get it, my asthmatic younger son never has🤷🏼♀️). There are sites for Asthma and also for GERD/GORD on HealthUnlocked where you might be able to find additional help.
One other tip for silent reflux (or any type of reflux actually), try to avoid tight clothing (as in really tight bra straps etc). Again it puts pressure on the stomach, which in turn puts pressure on that sphincter muscle at the top of the stomach…
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) on silent reflux. And yes, you can definitely have asthma like symptoms. I thoroughly recommend this book which explains what and why you're experiencing symptoms, and how to heal your oesophagus, as well as how to deal with it going forward. 
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