I am looking for hope and reassurance. I know I have Gastroparesis and also GERD, although I have the GERD very well under control with Pine Nut Oil (the stuff was like a miralce for me!! I highly recommend it). Anyway, about once a month I get what I can call a "bout" of SEVERE trouble breathing and severe bloating with distended abdomen. It happened again 2 nights ago.... I was drinking a cold beer... a real no-no given my digestive probs but I was drinking it anyway, and drank it on an empty stomach. Within a short time, I realized I was having difficulty breathing and had to get up, dump out the rest of the beer and then proceed to go downstairs and pace the floor with my cell phone in my hand in case i decided to call 911. There was SO MUCH pressure inside my stomach and guts that it felt just like a big balloon blew up in there.
I could hardly get a breathe and a deep one wasimpossible. I was frightened and prayed like crazy for God to help me. I honestly thought I might die; I felt like i was suffocating to death. In sheer desperation, I took a mild tranquilizer and also some sugar, as it had been some time since I last ate and I do have hypoglycemia. I felt like there was such a small pocket inside of my body for my lungs and diaphragm to expand inside of, because the bloat/air and distension was just so, so severe. It was insane! And that is the 3rd time this has happened...
Nothing helped, not walking around.... massaging my gut.... attempting to suck in my gut.... the air was just there and I felt so afraid and so, so distressed. I considered going to the ER... out of fear I would no longer be able to breathe at all, but I didnt.
In about 20 minutes, the tranquilizer kicked in and I was able to relax and not panic so much... I am an anxious person by nature, unfortunately. It was still hard to breathe and the bloating was still incredible, but it didnt bother me so much once the medication kicked in. By the time the next morning rolled around, I was still distended but the breathing was FAR better.... the passage of time and a nights sleep seem to have dispelled the air/gas or whatever.
Does anyone know WHY this happens?? I KNow I have Gastroparesis... so is it that I am swallowing air... and my stomach isnt pushing it thru due to the gastroparesis so it gets "stuck"? Like too much air in my stomach and possibly also intestines?? The distress I wasin was insane. Normal people get bloated but not like what I am describing!! i was near tears and also near tears the next day just thinking about it, what an ordeal. Thank God it passed and yes I am stilla live.
If i had gone to the ER< what would they have done? Just told me not to drink beer and not to drink very cold beverages on an empty stomach and take Gas X? My distress was severe... i didnt even feel Ok enough to drive. What can I do? Is it possible to get so bloated that your lungs CANT expand and you can die?? I am afraid of that... any advice, please....