Coughing/Gagging connected to sexual intercourse

Posted By Elaine Strain on May 12, 1999 at 13:51:39
Dear Doctors:
Thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to ask your opinions about something.
I'm writing concerning my husband of 17 years.  He is 40 years old, a non-smoker, non drinker, slightly overweight, active and strong.  He works as a mechanic for United Parcel Service, usually putting in 8 to 10 hour days.  He eats normally, but because he is responsible for a fleet of trucks, his job postion is very stressful.
We've been trying to pinpoint how long this problem has been going on, but we've only been able to dicern that it's been close to a year--maybe a bit less.
About a year ago, he began experiencing heartburn.  He began taking Zantac, as the heartburn was only occasional, usually upon eating a meal high in fat content. Eventually, the heartburn began showing up every night, and the Zantac became a regular routine...taken before bed, assuming the heartburn would show up a few hours after he drifted off.  It always did.
A bit after that, another thing started up.  During sex, within a few SECONDS after orgasm, he is overwhelmed by one massive cough.  Many times this is followed by more coughs, just as intense, culminating in gagging.  As far as I know, though, he has not thrown up.  
We've gone to several doctors about this.  They run tests and tell him his heart is fine.  They've even laughed about it.  But it scares my husband.  He feels that, no matter what the doctors tell him, it's his heart. That's because he has always had an uncomfortable "weird" feeling in his chest. A pressure with NO PAIN. So he's associating the two. This DOES NOT occur upon other physical activity.  Running after the kids, etc. Just sex.
So far, we've only been able to come to one conclusion:  He MUST have acid reflux desease, as the Zantac stops working halfway through the night, and he can get heartburn at various times of the day--no matter what he's eaten or not eaten.  But the massive cough and gagging, we feel began way back before the reflux desease set in...back when his discomfort was probably simple heartburn.
We would simply like to know if there is a correlation between some kind of stressful change in the body taking place only with sex, this terrible cough and gag thing, and the acid reflux desease.
Thanks for any help.  We're at our wits end.  Oh...and this doesn't help our sex life!












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