Short of breath, wheezy cough, muscle fatigue

[Anna3104]

Back again with breathing worries. Started a couple of weeks ago with a tickly cough but now much worse. I feel as though my airways have closed almost. It’s tough to inhale clearly. When I cough there’s a horrible wheeze. All my back muscles have seized up because of my effort to breathe and now they almost feel as though they’re crushing my lungs. Alongside this I’ve been getting globus and acid reflux symptoms (which I’ve had before). Doctor rang last week and said all this is the reflux and put me back on Omeprazole having not even examined me. Thing is I find it hard to believe that acid can labour my breathing to this degree. My legs burn after climbing the stairs which makes me worried I’m not getting enough oxygen. This breathing thing has plagued me for years. It totally ruins my life while I’m experiencing it. I’d love to get to the bottom of it, has anyone got any words of wisdom? Have you had acid affect your airways this way?

[Scissel]

I'm also on Omeprazole for GERD.

https://www.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/guide/reflux-disease-gerd-1#2-5

[Catkins]

It definitely sounds like your doctor is right. I'm on lansoprazone for GERD and occasionally it flares up and I get all kinds of other symptoms - a lot related to my anxiety levels, I have to up my dose for a couple of weeks and it settles down.

Have you had any help with your HA?

[PanickyGuy]

Back again with breathing worries. Started a couple of weeks ago with a tickly cough but now much worse. I feel as though my airways have closed almost. It’s tough to inhale clearly. When I cough there’s a horrible wheeze. All my back muscles have seized up because of my effort to breathe and now they almost feel as though they’re crushing my lungs. Alongside this I’ve been getting globus and acid reflux symptoms (which I’ve had before). Doctor rang last week and said all this is the reflux and put me back on Omeprazole having not even examined me. Thing is I find it hard to believe that acid can labour my breathing to this degree. My legs burn after climbing the stairs which makes me worried I’m not getting enough oxygen. This breathing thing has plagued me for years. It totally ruins my life while I’m experiencing it. I’d love to get to the bottom of it, has anyone got any words of wisdom? Have you had acid affect your airways this way?

Yeah sounds like the acid is backing up into your bronchial tube and irritating your lungs a bit (coughing and wheezing), while causing esophagus spasms. It happens to me on occasion. A doctor told me GERD can cause all kinds of issues like that. And when it does happen, you might think it's something else going on when it's just GERD a majority of the time.

[Anna3104]

Thank you everyone. I’ve now stopped the Omeprazole so that I can get a stool test done for HPylori. Apparently Omeprazole can affect the result. Coughing much better though after the 2 weeks of Omeprazole and burning seems to have gone. Saw a nurse last week who checked my peak flow and it was perfect. Oxygen levels 100% too. So, I reckon it must have been acid causing the cough etc. However I'm now left with the feeling of just not being able to get a decent breath (which is pretty standard for me). The only way I can describe it is it is as though im trying to inflate my lungs but they are in a tight jar that will NOT expand. Im sort of fighting against some kind of resistance. Having had a clear lung function test I can only put this down to muscular tightness. I think that’s what I need to work on next, however I seem to be permanently tensed up subconsciously!