Breathing and Digestion

Emergency help needed!!! I’m seriously losing my mind here... So, about 3 or 4 months ago, I was training incredibly hard—weightlifting, running... basically pushing myself to exhaustion every single day. Then, one night, I overdid it on the food, ate like a beast, and went to sleep. The next morning? I spent three straight hours stuck on the toilet. I was straining so hard, just trying everything to get things moving, but nothing would come out despite feeling like there was still more waiting. Since that day... it's been a nightmare! Because I play soccer professionally, this is huge—I can't catch my breath. I mean, I *can* breathe, but I can't take a full, deep breath. That’s the best way I can put it. No matter what I eat, I just feel bloated with gas. I constantly feel like I have trapped air in my chest; I never get that satisfying sensation of a deep inhale, you know? Like when you yawn and your lungs finally fill up? It's constant, whether I've just eaten or I'm starving. My bowel movements are normal enough, but I feel like I'm constantly straining without any real relief. Nothing actually hurts, and I don't have heartburn. Here is what I've done so far: I had a gastroscopy—they said my stomach acid is high, but no H. pylori bacteria. I had an ultrasound—showed a massive amount of gas in my digestive tract. I also had CT scans of my chest and abdomen—basically, everything from my torso to my lungs looks perfect. Glands, kidneys, liver—everything is healthy. But I can't train normally, and I make decent money playing, so finding a solution fast is everything to me... PLEASE HELP ME!!!

Okay... has anyone ever actually dealt with something like this? Or maybe you've heard a story about it? I'm just refreshing the page here... still no updates on my end 🙂

Man, you'd probably outrun me just by farting! :-))))

Maybe try leaning more heavily into vegetables, fruits, and whole grains for a bit, and perhaps take a short break from your usual protein intake

Good grief! 🙂

I’m guessing your doctors probably told you to stick to a diet that doesn't cause gas... you know, avoiding stuff like beans, cabbage, or broccoli... and maybe if you actually followed that advice... it might not be a bad idea to head over to a specialist and get your thyroid checked out too. It might not be anything, but still—just check it.
Good luck!

You haven't really given me any specifics yet 😢. I don't take protein supplements or any kind of performance enhancers... my diet is pretty standard and I'm basically on a regimen right now... so that wouldn't be helping anything. What exactly am I looking at here? What kind of disorder is this? As far as my thyroid goes, I don't feel any pressure in my neck, and my CT scan showed that everything looks perfectly normal 😢
.
And gas isn't even my biggest issue—that comes and goes. My main struggle is actually my breathing, specifically when I try to take a breath in
.

Are you actually drinking water, man? 🤣

I mean, I'm just saying... 🙂 honestly, I did a little digging... looks like it might be GERD... because I've been dealing with pretty much the same symptoms...

Just a total hypochondriac 🙂 I honestly think drinking more water and eating more fruits and veggies would fix everything...

😕....I don't know....when I'm feeling crappy... I just go see a doctor....and if they can't figure it out - I move on to the next one....someone's gonna get it eventually
back when my kidney issues first started acting up....I went through GI, cardiology, and... a few others too....until they finally realized it was actually my kidneys....
that dragged on....for quite a while....🤷....why does it feel like nephrologists are always the last ones called when someone's actually sick?
I really hope you get some help and start feeling better soon....🙂

Oh, please... I know exactly what I'm feeling, and my symptoms are crystal clear. It's frustrating because they just can't seem to connect the dots...

Look, let me offer a little consolation—you’re definitely not alone in this!
Breathing isn't actually my issue, but man, do I struggle with trapped gas. Whenever I get hungry, I start feeling this sharp, stinging sensation right under my ribs—it's like this pocket of air just gets stuck there and refuses to budge. Then, once I finally eat, it's like the food nudges everything along, and the bloating and gas just take over.

I’ve already had a gastroscopy done, and they told me I have gastritis. I just started taking the medication they prescribed, so we'll see about that. My thyroid results came back fine, too, aside from one benign cyst—which the doctors brushed off as nothing to worry about... but still. What really drives me up the wall is that every single doctor I talk to tells me the same thing: "You aren't chewing enough," or "You're swallowing air." Honestly, since this has been plaguing me for two years now, I am incredibly mindful of how I eat.

And then there's the whole lecture about what I *should* be eating... which is honestly exhausting because I feel like I'm doing everything right. I stick to whole grains, drink soy milk, eat plenty of lean poultry, and load up on fruits and veggies. I drink tons of green tea and water, and I'm on my stationary bike six days a week... sometimes I even wonder if I might actually be overdoing it with all the produce.

Anyway, if these pills don't do the trick, I'm looking at another gastroscopy. Ugh, just thinking about it gives me anxiety!!🙄

Oh, this is just great, haha... Everyone’s jumping in with their theories and "causes," yet it feels like nobody—especially the doctors—actually knows what’s going on or what the next step should be. I'm basically just out here playing detective and gathering info. It looks like it might be GERD or a hiatal hernia, which are pretty much linked anyway. Apparently, the go-to fix is ControlAlt... I finally got my hands on some today (yay!), so we'll see how it goes.

ControlAlt works quite well, though you shouldn't expect any overnight miracles from it.
When it comes to your diet, I’ve found that sticking to cooked fruits and vegetables rather than high-fiber varieties tends to be much gentler on the system.
I personally deal with GERD, chronic gastritis, and a hiatal hernia, yet even with all that, I still haven't quite mastered the perfect lifestyle or meal plan to completely eliminate gas issues.
Interestingly enough, I noticed the least amount of trouble whenever I followed the Atkins diet; while I didn't see any weight loss, my gas symptoms definitely subsided significantly!

feralharbor89...look, if you've got the patience and the energy (I’d really appreciate it), could you walk me through what H. pylori and a hiatal hernia actually feel like? Also, if you wouldn't mind looking back at my initial post to see if my symptoms line up with either one of those... personally, I’m leaning towards a hernia. From what I've heard, isn't that something you pick up from overdoing it at the gym or straining too hard during a workout? I would be so grateful for your insight... 🙏

If I were having trouble breathing, I'd head straight to a pulmonologist first.

I mean, I'm pretty sure there's a huge link to digestion here... right? :S

Sean Brown86 said:I mean, I know, but it feels pretty tied to digestion... maybe... :S

That's just an assumption you need to verify. You could be looking at two separate issues happening at once...

I actually went to see a pulmonologist, and she suggested there might be a link to my digestion... and honestly, I think she's onto something. Could digestive issues be messing with my breathing? It’s such a nightmare... the weirdest part is that nothing feels sharp or acute. The only discomfort is in my upper abdomen, but only when I press on it...

crimsongull20 said:If I were dealing with breathing issues, my first move would be to see a pulmonologist.

I don't think the issue he’s describing is something for a pulmonologist; it sounds much more like a physical symptom of anxiety. I'm not entirely sure if there's a connection to his digestion or if those are just two separate things happening at once. Personally, I’ve been dealing with this exact sensation for about 2 or 3 months now, and I know exactly what's causing it.

Since I've had asthma since I was a little kid, I definitely know the difference. This isn't shortness of breath—my lungs are perfectly clear, everything checks out, so it's definitely not asthma or any other physical ailment. It’s just that feeling where I can't quite take a full, deep breath, and it’s really bothersome. I'm expecting it to settle down on its own once my nerves calm down and the situation that triggered it passes.

You might want to try Googling "anxiety symptoms" just to see if they match up.