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bloating and shortness of breath

My stomach seems to get bloated and sticks out intermittently.  It causes shortness of breath and anxiety.  The shortness of breath is very frightening.   I have been to the Doctor, but of course, Im never bloated when Im at the Doctors office.  Antacids dont help much, and it goes away after a couple of hours, only to return without warning, and isnt related to whether or nor Ive eaten.  My Doctor was more concerned about the shortness of breath, and since my lungs sounded clear to him, and Ive never smoked, he referred me to a cardiologist rather than a Pulmonologist.  They did an echocardiogram, and a treadmill stress test, all normal.  The cardiologist and my PCP told me to relax, but the bloating really gets awful, and then I feel like Im going to pass out from feeling like I cant breathe.   Is there a GI reason for my shortness of breath?  Thankyou, Chip
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Avatar universal
.....sorry, accidentally hit the enter button. But to continue, digestive enzymes can be purchased at any health food store or online and is fairly inexpensive. Believe me, the price to pay is well worth the piece of mind. I hope that this solves your problem as it did for me, so you can continue living a normal life free from anxiety and near panic attacks. As I've said, there is NO PAIN that accompanies the shortness of breath.
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Avatar universal
chip435,
I too suffer from this very same thing. I have shortness of breath, feel bloated often and it doesn't seem to matter if I eat or not. My physician checked my heart, lungs, blood pressure, did extensive blood work and didn't find anything out of the ordinary. The thing that makes this condition the most puzzling is that it is never accompanied by pain - stomach, chest etc., which leads me to believe that you have lack of stomach enzymes present in your stomach to properly break down and digest foods. Don't forget that it takes the stomach about 4-5 hours to empty, so if you're eating say breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a bedtime snack like I do, there's always some food leftover in the stomach. In my case, I found that by taking digestive enzymes, usually in capsule form and can be purchase
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Avatar universal
hi everyone, i have had this issue since dec/2007.
it got better in 2008, after 6 months but came back in jan/2010.
caused by Stress! little or more Overweight! anxiety!
I went to E.R. the first time , but now i know it was caused by Coffee and stress.
I took omeprezole in 2010, for 3 months. I am allergic to it. it has many side effects, so don't take for a long time.
I also had H.Pylori. that causes bloating, and gas. you need anti bacterial pills.
1: don't stress. dont worry, be happy.
2: No coffee, no tea, no soda."only water"
3: it is a type of ibs, so eat protein, rice, little cheese in morning only, yogurt with lunch, little fiber at a time "dont mix fibers".
4: no fried food, grilled is ok.
5: no spicy food.
when it occurs, lay dawn elevated upper body, and lean on your right side, chew gum it helps, and chew on rolaids, and do the deep breathing, and relax, dont think about it, drink water, watch funny stuff, listen relaxing music.
trust me it will go away.

you get anxious when it happened and you need to calm dawn.
talk to your girlfriend , boyfriend , wife or hubby, talk to them and listen to them, it will calm you dawn.

stopping caffeine and spicy food is a must.
avoid milk, see if it helps you.
half a garlic mix with your plain yogurt, eat it with your food, it will relax you.
lettuce may or may not be good, as they contain bacterias on them, eat with olive oil & vinegar.
let me know if it helps any reader.
GOD BLESS!
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