It will get better!

I started having severe shortness of breath (almost exclusively when breathing in, not out, as in asthma), random nausea, faint-feeling and chest pain in September. I do have mild asthma, for which I don't even need a steroid most of the time, but this was very different. My primary doc sent me to a cardiologist for an arrythmia workup. Billions of dollars later....no heart issues at all. The cardio did say: "i wonder if you have heart burn?", but i initially dismissed that. Heartburn??? I'm a 43 year old woman weighing 105 pounds, a near-daily trail-runner, ballet dancer, true health food afficionado (though i do drink ONE cup of coffee every morning and about 1 glass of wine most evenings) --- how can i have heartburn? Long story short- I have airway reflux (aka LPR, throat reflux, silent reflux etc.). AFter discovering this in November, I cut out the famous list of foods that the GI doc suggested: coffee, alcohol, mint, chocolate, soda (didn't drink anyway), onions, garlic etc. AND HERE IS WHERE I'M GIVING MY FAVORITE PIECE OF ADVICE: I also went online and started researching this...looking for ways that I could cure myself without having to use PPIs, or H2 blockers. I found Dr. Aviv's Acid Watcher Diet book. GET THIS AND DO IT! You really have to be vigilant, and his 28 diet is NOT easy, but it most definitely did get me going in a MUCH better direction. Per the suggestions in his book and other places online, I did go ahead and start the PPIs and the H2 that my GI prescribed. I have done 6 weeks of these now and within the last week (?) am starting to see some real improvements in my breathing. After I finished the 28 day diet, I started adding back a few of the items I truly missed: tiny amounts of coffee and ONE glass of red wine. These are not "acid watcher-friendly", but I was feeling better and the deprivation was bumming me out. Turns out, I can drink a little wine now with no problems (but I take days off too!) The coffee is still a problem -- even 3 mouthfuls will set me off. I have a magic bullet thought: ESSENTIA water. It says it has a pH of 9.5 or higher (whatever the "or higher" means..). I have learned that the first thing that happens in a reflux episode is some throat tightness and a real need to clear the gunk from my throat. It comes on suddenly and is followed by the terrible shortness of breath. It scares the heck out of me each time -- nothing worse that wondering if you're going to be able to get the next breath. Now when i feel the throat clearing, I'll grab a bottle of Essentia (you can use any of the new popular health food fad waters that are a higher pH) and drink several large mouthfuls. Then drink some more. It really does quell the episode and keeps my breathing in check. So -- I have two more weeks of the medication before I consider weaning off. If I'm not feeling mostly normal by then, i'll stay the full course, which was 3 months, then wean off. My hopes are high, and I'm really happy to see the improvement. I truly feel that the 28 day diet from Dr. Aviv's book gave me a good jump start to healing this B.S and getting back to my normal life.
Here are the things that I truly think have helped me:
1. Dr. Aviv's 28 day Acid Watcher diet (it's a book)
2. Essentia water when a reflux episode is starting
3. Continuing to avoid any foods that trigger (coffee, for example, but i fully intend to get back to that someday!)
4. Drinking Teeccino, as a coffee replacement. I swear -- that stuff is delicious! I've been drinking coffee since age 14 and had no issues getting off it with Teeccino as my substitute. I'm also a little less testy in the early part of the day now. Go figure! haha
5. Sleeping quite elevated. I haven't bought that magic pillow, but i sleep with two large pillows stacked, then a smaller pillow in front of them vertically (as a back support), then a smaller pillow on top of that as a head support. It's comfortable, it keeps my reflux completely away at night, and my neck issues have gone away as a bonus. The only downside, is that i can't cuddle with husband at night very well, so I just pat him on the head and get a great nights' sleep. Cuddling in the morning is easier
6. I do not put anything but water in my mouth for 3 full hours before bedtime. I do take the H2 pill right before bed, but that's it. Nothing else, no matter how hungry I am, or how good that banana looks. This has REALLY helped me sleep well and avoid night reflux.

Good luck! You can do a lot to help yourself, and IT DOES GET BETTER! On!On!

Hey SciBell -
My update isn't as exciting as i might have hoped, but it isn't all bad. I'd say I've been holding steady since my post, which doesn't seem great, since I'm ready to be done with this crap. And...I did have quite the backslide last week when my husband and I were on our anniversary trip. I had been feeling pretty good (which I mostly gauge by my ease in breathing, since the reflux symptoms are sometimes vague), so I decided to try a little coffee again. This time, I tried an Americano, bc I read that espresso was less acidic than drip coffee. I drank about half of it and immediately started experiencing the shortness of breath on breathing in, so i stopped. I didn't feel reflux per se --- just shortness of breath. Sadly, it was pretty bad and lasted for at least 4 days! UGH! It has cleared up mostly since then and I'm back to being "pretty good" for most of the day. Upon waking, I have the most chest congestion, but it clears up in an hour or so. Most evenings, I start feeling the reflux, throat burn and shortness of breath, but it's not as severe as it was a month or two ago. Often, it gets better as my food digests. I'm still getting pretty gnarly bloating by the end of most days, so am in the process of trying to figure out what is causing that. I think i've it narrowed down to gluten or sugar. I'm laying off gluten and sweets (cookies, etc) for two weeks, to see if that helps. I'm still going to allow some fruit and some sweeteners like stevia and monk fruit. If the bloating stops, I'll add back in a gluten free sweet to see what that does. I'm feeling pretty sure that much of the reflux happens in conjunction with the bloating, so if i can get that to go away, i may have less reflux. Anyone know if any of the usual meds for this crappy condition cause bloating (PPIs, H2 blockers)? Also -- I'm not really convinced that my PPI is doing much and am thinking of weaning off. I've finished 2 of the 3 months originally prescribed and just don't really notice much help. Any insight would be appreciated.
Still --- all in all, I'd say it's better than it was in November. On!On!

Thanks for the update! Sounds like you are still struggling, I'm sorry to hear that!

I finally have an answer to what I have - the dreaded h pylori! I had very similar symptoms of you. I had constant stomach gas, belching, and all kinds of other fun things too for several months. I really think gas is what made it hard for me to breathe, I just didn't know it because the bubbles are HUGE in the stomach and they don't come out easily. Once that gas feeling is gone, I can breathe great again.

Some things that I have observed so far:

Hiccups: Deep breathing exercises have helped me! Breath all the way in using your stomach - as much as you can. Release all the breath out, up to 10 times. Don't hyperventilate, pause at the top and bottom.

PPI's: They aren't much of a help!! In fact, I really think they make it worse. My food doesn't seem to digest, and then the belching attacks start 1-2 hours after eating. I am considering getting off of them too after I finish the H Pylori treatment and see how I do. I also get more acid reflux then I did before I was on PPI's which is nuts!

Diet: My diet right now is pretty dreadful and looking forward to getting better! If I eat anything else I will have so much stomach gas my breathing gets effected. I still have the gas eating this diet but it's manageable for the most part. Sugar and gluten makes things way worse! which is sad!!

Brown rice
Chicken, turkey
Yellow sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli (for h pylori)
Tumeric, Carrot juice blend from Whole foods
Occassional swigs of natural cranberry juice (for h pylori)
Gluten free crackers made with brown rice
Brown rice cakes
brown rice cereal
Occasional raspberry jam
Manuka honey

That said I had a food intolerance test and gluten is not an allergy! In fact, I really don't have much for in tolerances. I think gluten just takes too long to digest ...I think and sits in my stomach and produces gas, bloating, and ultimately belching and breathing issues.

Almost done with my prevpac triple therapy for H Pylori and the gas isn't going away... yet. I have hope though! Most of my other symptoms are almost gone though. My theory is H pylori created a low acid environment, and upset my stomach lining. Then taking the PPI's kind of help because the acid with an upset lining is a bad combo. If my lining is healed I should be able to go away from PPI's and start increasing the acid again.. I hope. Good luck to you, I hope we both find answers!!

I hope we find solutions soon! Good luck to you!