Hard to breathe, comes and goes

[Archangel1183]

Hi. I'm a 24 y/o male, I don't smoke, don't drink, or do any kind of illegal drugs. I am about 6 feet tall and I used to weigh 215 lbs.  

A month ago I started having problems breathing which caused me to go the the emergency room about 3 times. 2 of the times I felt as if my heart was beating irregularly, my chest felt tight, and I couldn't breathe. I started hyperventilating and felt like I was gonna pass out.The other time I just couldn't breathe. My chest felt tight again but I tried to slow my breathing.

Now I can't do anything without losing my breath (literally). I can't walk from my room to my living room, I can't stand for too long, I can't get up from bed or the couch too quickly or else I'd feel like I just ran a mile. I've had an endoscopy and a barium X-ray done to see if I had an ulcer or a hiatal hernia or if anything looked out of place and everything came out fine on both tests. I've had blood tests done and It showed that my blood was a bit thick but not much. I tested positive for H. Pylori and was given medications but I don't think that's part of the problem.

I have no idea where to go from here. Sometimes I can breathe better than other times but it's just not like it was before. I have to take deep breaths often to get my full oxygen. I do it so often that my mouth and throat become so dry. I feel that eating and drinking worsen my breathing problems so I don't eat or drink as often as I should and I lost 40 lbs. in about 2 months because of it.

I feel as if my breathing tubes tighten but would that cause my chest to feel tight? What can I do? This has completely knocked me down. I stopped working and going to school. Please help


This discussion is related to Can allergy stop me from breathing?.

[Archangel1183]

I don't know how, but my symptoms improved after a year of first having them. I was on medicine for acid reflux for a year and have taken it on and off for the past 8 years now. My breathing never got 100% back to normal, but I was able to live my life, go to school, and work  after this happened. Now 2016, my symptoms came back but worse.

In January 2016, I started waking up extremely nauseous every morning. I had to vomit intentionally in order to feel relief. I was vomiting a yellow sour liquid. I saw GI doc and he recommended that I get an endoscopy. In February, five days after the endoscopy, all these symptoms came back. Chest pain, breathing problems, bloating, and dizziness. It started from one day to the other.  I went to the emergency room several times thinking I was having a heart attack and because of breathing issues.

In early May, I was diagnosed with Adult Onset Still's Disease due to a high fever, joint/muscle pain, extreme weakness/fatigues, and a rash on my hands. I am currently on a 100mg daily injection of Kineret (Anakinra), 25mgs of Prednisone (steroids), and 40mg twice a day of Protonix (Pantropazole). The steroids helped my fever and helped reduce a lot of the internal/joint swelling that I had and I was able to move around in bed. The Kineret helped to get me out of bed and move around more, but I'm still weak, dizzy, have chest pressure/pain, muscle and joint pain, and extreme fatigue.

The chest pain I think is due to inflammation of the abdomen along with the esophagus. Maybe even esophageal spasms or esophagitis. Every time I feel this, I get a tension headache and really dizzy. Does anyone else have this problem or had it in the past?

[Archangel1183]

Thanks for the comment. I had an EKG done 2 of the times that I went to the ER. One of the times, the doctor said I was hyperventilating which caused my heart to beat fast. I've had chest X-rays done but I'm not sure what they were looking for.

I'm gonna go back to the doctor this week. I'm going to ask him to refer me to a pulmonologist and a heart doctor. I'll keep this updated. Thanks again

[Sunny602]

Have you been to a pulmonolgist to get a full assessment of your lungs done? Also, have they checked out your heart to make sure that is fine? If you haven't had them done, a set of PFT's (pulmonary function tests) should be done along with xrays at the very least and go from there.
Have you had an echocardiogram to check out your heart? That might be useful as you say that you have felt some irregularities in your rhythm. That test will be able to determine if you have any issues with your valves which can cause an irregular rhythm. It will also be able to give a rough measurement of your heart function and pressures.
Other tests to monitor your heart rhythm would be a holter monitor or even monitor which continuously measures your EKG over a period of 24 hours. The event monitor is worn for a few weeks, you push the button if you have symptoms.
I wish I could be more helpful.....I am not a doctor, just a former RN so please take what I say for face value. I do believe that you need to see a specialist at this point. Your life has been affected profoundly and you deserve some answers.
Sunny