GERD, allergies, and maybe asthma??

[missweasley824]

I am an 18 year old girl.  I am allergic to something I don't know what so I started to take Claritin daily.  This whole thing began in mid-May with a feeling like there was a lump in my throat.  I went to an ENT and he used a scope and saw nothing.  I still had the feeling like there was something stuck in my throat and this was accompanied by gagging, dry heaving and vomitting up anything that I ate.  I was also constantly spitting this mucus-y, clear saliva out of my mouth.  I went to the ER one day because I threw up and felt like I could not breathe well.  They ordered a Barium Swallow which showed nothing except acid reflux (I had been on Protonix at the time).  I then went to see a gastroenterologist, explained my symptoms and he suggested post-nasal drip and to go back to the ENT.  The ENT said he saw nothing and gave me a prescription for Nexium 40 mg 2x daily.  Around this time I also switched to Claritin-D and began using a neti pot.  I had an upper endoscopy: nothing there.  Since then the feeling of the lump is better and the nausea has stopped.  I don't vomit anymore or feel the need to gag.  My throat still makes a weird gurgling noise sometimes and I still feel the need to burp.
For the past month I have also been expieriencing trouble with taking a deep breath.  Whenever I breathe I feel restricted: like I can’t get enough air.  It seems to be worse in the morning and at night.  Even going up the stairs I have to pause and catch my breath.  I am also coughing a little and constantly feel the need to clear my throat.  There is a pressure in my chest, it feels tight, whenever I take a breath and sometimes I feel a little dizzy.  When I cough though, I feel like I can't do it well.  I sometimes also get this pain in my chest that moves to my back around my left shoulder blade.  It also feels worse sometimes just after I eat.  Could it be asthma? or something else?  I also have been feeling very hot all the time and I get very emotional and moody.  

[missweasley824]

I'm only 18 years old.

[Dr_Aparna]

Hi,
Although it is an impolite thing to do, I would have to ask for your age, because a few of the symptoms you have desceibed sound like peri-menopausal symptoms to me.Menopause is the complete shutting down of the female reproductive system.
If you are in the late forties-early fifties it could be due to the  hot flashes.The average age of menopause in the Western world is 51 years, and the normal age range for the occurrence of menopause is somewhere between the age of 45 and 55.
In biomedicine, perimenopause means the menopause transition years, the years both before and after the last period (although the "last period" can be determined only retroactively). During perimenopause, many women find that they undergo symptoms of hormonal fluctuation, such as hot flashes, that cause them to seek medical advice. Mood changes, insomnia, fatigue, memory problems.
Perimenopause is a natural stage of life, not a disease or a disorder, and therefore it does not automatically require any kind of treatment. However when the bodily effects of perimenopause are severe and disruptive, they may be alleviated through medical treatments.
Hormone replacement therapy or HRT, known in Britain as Hormone Therapy or HT, and the SSRIs appear to provide the most reliable pharmaceutical relief.
ref:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menopause
The extreme fatigue may be the reason for the feeling of breathing difficulty.Alternatively it could be asthma for which you will need to be assessed medically.