acid reflux and breathlessness

Don't think acid reflux would do that. Do you take omeprazole for that? It's very good.

As we get older I think our lungs can't hold quite so much air, so we can't go on talking for so long on one breath. I find. Could that be it? Not sure why your words would be slurred though.

Hmm My GP decided I had reflux. I had a series of ENT infections and then a horrible sore and ulcerated tongue that I was given steroids for & which cleared it. Ended up with a sore throat that has now been going on , intermittently, for weeks! I eventually went to GP who said it was caused by reflux and prescribed omeprazole. Still have the sore throat.

I would have thought, if you had acid reflux you would have known about it. In fact, I am sure you would have done.

I thought acid reflux was acid coming up from the stomach into the oesophagus. At least that is what happens when, occasionally I have acid indigestion, and I thought the two were the same thing.

If you have that, you know about it.

Exactly! & no I do not think I have that! I am going back next week to see a different GP!

The omeprazole works by limiting the production of stomach acid.

Omeprazole gives me terrible wind and does not help with the acid. Gaviston is good though.

My mother sometimes had problems with her voice, sometimes it would go quite squeaky. Even though she was old her voice normally didn't sound old. She noticed it often happened if she was in a room with air conditioning. Mum died 21 months ago with cancer of the eosophagus, she had allergies and also problems with swallowing for many years and she had her eosophagus stretched regularly.

After Mum died I noticed I was beginning to have problems swallowing, severe heartburn and indigestion. I changed my diet after looking into alkaline/acidic foods which helped immensely.

Two weeks my 27 year old niece had an endoscopy because of severe acid reflux and has been diagnosed with eosinophilic oesophagitis. She said she may have an intolerance to some foods, which she suspected and has been advised to go on a six week elimination diet.

I am wondering if all this ties in together willsandco. The foods my niece is eliminating for the next six weeks are wheat, dairy, soy, eggs, meat and nuts. Not sure what she will be eating, it cuts out a lot of food.

Was that a doctor who suggested that diet Faye?

Hi I used to suffer from bad stomach bloating (not gut) and also had 2 x endoscopy exams. 1st found H-pylori and that was treated with anti-biotics almost 20 years ago. I had gall bladder trouble and had it removed 5 years ago but bloating issues continued. 2nd endoscopy found nothing untoward. I had a York intolerance test and excluded yeast/wheat/gluten from my diet and have been so, so much better. A change of energy & well being and life has been good! 2 years ago!

That is why I was surprised when GP said reflux ..I thought I got my digestive issues under control!

I don't think I could tell whether omeprazole is giving me wind or not.

Apparently it is standard procedure Jess, my niece said she is now seeing an allergist/immunologist. The Australian Society of Clinical Immunology And Allergy explains it very well. Apparently it was originally thought to only affect children and young adults, now they believe it also affects adults.

Laryngopharyngeal reflux is known as silent reflux because you don't have the usual symptoms of reflux. I had severe laryngitis until an ENT consultant did a laryngoscopy and prescribed all the usual anti reflux medication and I got my voice back.

Oh anno thanks for that info..will take a look on NHS website before i see GP again!

thanks for that, ladies. I am being prescribed proton pump inhibitors, eliminating all the chocolate, caffeine, alcohol, spicy food, using a bed wedge to raise my head in bed. But I just feel as if my voice has lost its projection and sometimes it just fades away before the end of the sentence. It seems like I have a lack of oxygen. Plus I have had a recurrence of lung infections over the last few weeks and had antibiotics and steroids - and inhalers. Going to go to GP to get results of blood tests on Wednesday and she is going to refer me to a specialist although I dont think she knows yet which one she is going to refer to! (depends on blood tests, I suppose) This is dreadful for me cos I am never ill! Complete nightmare.

Proton pump inhibitors remove vitamin B12 from your blood, so that could be why you feel like you have a lack of oxygen. Try a B-complex tablet before you go to the specialist.
If you find it's a B12 deficiency they'll put you on injections every 3 months.
Speaking from my husband's experience.

Acid can sometimes spray into your trachea if you get reflux, feels as if you have chest infection. I stopped taking ppis because I had been on them years and was probably depleting essential minerals and vitamins. I find Gaviscon at night works quite well if I am propped up too. I have a hiatus hernia and discomfort is an on-going problem

thanks everyone. I have seen GP today, she sent me for an chest Xray, booked me into ENT specialist Monday next. If that comes up with nothing, it is the respiratory specialist, then perhaps the gastro intestinal man, then perhaps the neurologist - and then I will be ready for the psychiatrist!! The complication which is baffling them is the fact that I can no longer properly enunciate my words.....cant get oxygen to get to the end of sentences........! trust me to get something that confuses the medical profession. I am 66 now and am very rarely ill! Darned nuisance.

Sounds like you need an old fashioned jack-of-all-trades medical diagnostician but they are very specialised these days - there is so much more they know and can do. I had my larynx looked at once. Bit like a dental exam and he showed me the pictures. Let us know how you get on.

Yes will do. I just need to know what is going wrong. If I have to pay for a second opinion, I will do but at the moment GP isnt sure which one to consult. She is starting at the beginning and working through, which I suppose is the sensible thing to do. When I eventually feel normal again, which I hope I will, I will never complain about anything again!!!

I blame NSAIDs - Diclofenac to be exact. I started it over 20 years ago for a 'squash' elbow and it worked like magic; then I got a frozen shoulder, so kept on with the tablets. Eventually I had a hip replacement and a partial shoulder one - still using the diclofenac to keep the pain under control, which it did. However, I also got diverticulitis which the doctor thought was an effect of the medication; then the laryngopharyngeal reflux blew up and finally a hiatus hernia. I am not now allowed to use diclofenac. But I reckon that the damage has been done, though I cannot blame it for polymyalgia rheumatica - as far as I know!

hello all. Just an update. Went to ENT specialist yesterday. He put a camera up my nose. He said that everything was clear i.e. sinuses, throat, vocal cords and larynx. That was good news. Anyway he said it was possible that acid reflux was causing my problems so I have to inhale steam, take gaviscon regularly, especially at night, continue with the diet, continue with the bed wedge to raise my head - and to go back in 2 months to see how my voice was going on - oh yes, and he referred me to a speech therapist to get the breathing right again - and he checked the chest xrays done last week and they were clear. So we will see how it goes. What is real and true is that I cannot go on feeling this peculiar week on week. Lets hope that this is the end of all the trouble. I dont ever think I worry much about stuff but perhaps the dizziness I have had is psychological............! wait and see, eh? I have been driving my poor OH mad - we are trying to arrange a spring wedding and all this has been a real complication. I wonder sometimes why he still wants to marry me at all! Onwards and upwards, eh?

I wonder if the problem of your running out of breath before finishing a sentence is making you over-breathe (a sure way to get dizzy). I'm a bit surprised the doctors haven't suggested a bit of anxiety in there. You obviously have nasty acid reflux, but I wonder if a bit of stress is creeping in. What with the wedding plans and everything.

But I'm no doctor!

Good luck with the wedding plans btw.

That's good news, wills. The consultant seems to have done a thorough job. I found the course of voice therapy very helpful and still do the exercises if I feel my voice going. I do them in the car where nobody can hear the strange noises I make. You will need a working voice to say those marriage vows!