Shortness of breath, left side pain, chest tightness, can't get deep breath, yawning

[milesmills]

Hello everybody,

I'm new to the site and have been scrolling the forums looking for others with symptoms like mine. I have found a few older conversations about this but I wanted to spark another discussion about it.

To start out, I am a junior in college and have been having these issues since my freshman year. At first my doctor told me I had asthma and gave me inhalers and steroids to help. These did not help so I went back to the doctor and told her my symptoms all over again. She then diagnosed me with anxiety (which I believe is an accurate diagnosis due to the high stress I deal with in school and work). I take medicine for my anxiety which I feel prevents the panic attacks I used to have, but I was still having shortness of breath that concerns me greatly. 

About three weeks ago I went back to my doctor and requested a blood test to be done for a gluten allergy. The results came back and my doctor diagnosed me with celiac as my blood contained the two antibodies. Although I have read a few times that this is not a definite diagnosis, I am confident in it as I do feel a bit better after being on a gluten free diet for 3 weeks. 

I am concerned that I am not feeling 100% better after being gluten free for these past few weeks. I still have chest tightness and feel that I can't get a deep breath unless I yawn. I work out every day (lifting weights and running on treadmill) and don't feel it affects me during my activities.

Does anybody else experience these symptoms? Must I be gluten free for longer to see results? Could this be another food allergy I'm unaware of? 

Thank you for any help!  

[Scott Adams]

Panic attacks and anxiety are consistent with untreated celiac disease, and the good news is that if your symptoms were caused by gluten they will improve if you stay gluten-free.

Although celiac disease has a wide range of symptoms, and even no symptoms, shortness of breath you are reporting would not be typical, however, it could be related to the anxiety issues.

Even though you are young be sure to talk to your doctor about this to rule out any un-diagnosed heart issues. Hopefully they are related to celiac disease and you will see improvement on a gluten-free diet.

[cyclinglady]

Time.  It takes time to heal.  Most members report that it takes up to a year or longer to heal.  Why?  One reason is that the gluten free diet has a steep learning curve.  You can expect setbacks.  It can happen.  Just keep moving forward. 

Consider avoiding processed foods and if you do, while learning, look for products labeled gluten-free.  Do not eat out until you see significant improvements.  Eliminating dairy might be helpful as many celiacs are lactose intolerant which may resolve once healed.

Finally, you are sick.  Prioritize.  Exercise gently.  Give yourself time to heal.  Get sleep.  This is common sense advice I give to my own college student (who has finals next week!)

 Celiac disease is systemic.  Anxiety is one of many symptoms.  You will feel better soon.  Already you are seeing results.  How great is that?  

[anonymousplease]

The shortness of breath is an experience I've had from eating nightshades. Some nightshades include:

• Cayenne
• Curry Powder
• Eggplants
• Goji berries
• Hot Sauce
• Ketchup
• Paprika
• All Peppers (including bell peppers, sweet peppers, chili peppers, jalapeños)
• Pimentos
• Potatoes (does not include sweet potatoes or yams)
• Tomatillos
• Tomatoes

It could just be related to celiac disease for you and I would take some more time to heal before experimenting with other diets, but when I cut out nightshades from my diet I noticed the shortness of breath, or rather, the feeling of not being able to take a deep breath, was gone within 3 days. I also have asthma, but that is a completely different feeling. So if your asthma medication did not work for it at all, I think you're right to assume it's not asthma. Also, I would check the ingredients of your anxiety medication for gluten. Often it's difficult for doctors, pharmacists, and even the manufacturers of the medications to know where the ingredients are sourced & whether or not they are gluten free, so you might hit a dead end with this one but it's worth trying. 

Try not to get overwhelmed by this process of going gluten free. There is a lot to learn but there are a lot of us here to help! 

[psig]

Hi "milesmills". Congrats on getting a Celiac diagnosis early in your health quest! I, too, have had "shortness of breath" episodes since high school, 50 years ago.  My mother had the same sensations. We describe it as feeling like the oxygen "can't get over a wall" and down to our lungs.  Yawning sometimes helps as does taking a really intense deep breath. Exercise doesn't trigger or impact it, but sometimes just thinking about it does. Doctors were never able to identify a cause but I've had myriad unsuccessful treatments over the decades. I used to think the sporadic episodes were hormonal, linked to menstrual cycles. I do not have asthma or panic attacks, and was diagnosed with Celiac 20 years ago, after false-negative results 10 years earlier. I've been 100% gluten-free for 20 years and have not noted a change in the frequency of shortness of breath episodes. It can take 6 months or more for your body to heal from gluten damage so be patient. And be extra careful - each accidental exposure may set your recovery back months. "AliRae", I'm intrigued with the link to nightshades for you; I haven't made that correlation myself but will pay attention.

[Beverage]

I was undiagnosed with Celiacs for decades, as I did not have any intestinal issues. In that time, the sphincter of the stomach was damaged and I now have acid reflux and a healing hiatal hernia.  This lets acid and fumes up the esophogus that you can inhale and it gets into your lungs, and can cause asthma.  Also, stomach acid goes down as we age, and you need stomach acid to digest, and to break down vitamins so the upper intestine can absorb them. If you do not have enough stomach acid, food rots and ferments instead of digesting, which makes matters worse, same cycle, acid reflux, fumes, lungs get irritated, asthma.

The traditional doc just wanted to prescribe an acid reducer, but I said no way, that we need acid to digest our food and get our vitamins, which is super important for Celiacs.  So I am now working with a naturopath, which is helping a lot, and asthma is tons better.  I no longer ever feel the acid reflux.

This article was also helpful:  https://drjockers.com/hiatal-hernia-natural-treatment/

Here's what I do:
  The exercises in the above article help, especially the "warm water fix".

  Apple Cider Vinegar, 1 teaspoon to 1 Tbs of ACV before meals with protein, depending on the quantity of protein.

  Deglycyrrhizinated Licorice ( DGL)  2 tables after meals, coats the lining to help heal (too much can loosen stools).

Also it was suggested by the doc that I take my rescue inhaler (albuterol) before exercising, which when I remember to do that, I don't get the severe tightness in chest.

Good luck!

 

 

[knitty kitty]

Milesmills,

Newly diagnosed Celiacs are often deficient in vitamins and minerals.  Checking for nutritional deficiencies is part of follow up care for Celiacs.

Here's an article that explains the importance of vitamins and minerals in our mental health.  Thiamine deficiency can cause anxiety.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3046018/#!po=0.769231

Deficiencies of vitamins and minerals can affect your body in other ways as well.  

Thiamine deficiency can cause beri beri, which can present as trouble breathing, called "sailor's asthma," so named because many seamen ate a diet deficient in Thiamine. Here's some information on thiamine deficiency and its consequences....

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201204/nutritional-brain-bomb-thiamine-deficiency

Thiamine can help with asthma....

https://www.hormonesmatter.com/asthma-a1at-deficiency-thiamine/

Some medications, like albuterol, can cause thiamine deficiency.......

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12951730

And another about albuterol and thiamine....

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5965110/

And another article about thiamine....

https://www.dailymedicaldiscoveries.com/eat-these-foods-rich-in-thiamine-to-keep-your-memory-strong/

The above article describes thiamine as an antidote to a kind of alkaloid found in nightshades. 

Licorice contains chemicals that will inactive thiamine.

A field test for thiamine deficiency from the World Health Organization .....  Can you rise from a squat?  Thiamine deficiency causes a paralysis of muscles in the legs when trying to rise from a squat.  Going down into a squat is not a problem, but the inability to rise from a squatting position is impossible with thiamine deficiency. 

I flunked this test before my Celiac diagnosis.  Thiamine deficiency is overlooked by medical professionals.  Please discuss this with your doctor.

Hope this helps!   

 

On 3/10/2020 at 11:52 AM, milesmills said:

Hello everybody,

I'm new to the site and have been scrolling the forums looking for others with symptoms like mine. I have found a few older conversations about this but I wanted to spark another discussion about it.

To start out, I am a junior in college and have been having these issues since my freshman year. At first my doctor told me I had asthma and gave me inhalers and steroids to help. These did not help so I went back to the doctor and told her my symptoms all over again. She then diagnosed me with anxiety (which I believe is an accurate diagnosis due to the high stress I deal with in school and work). I take medicine for my anxiety which I feel prevents the panic attacks I used to have, but I was still having shortness of breath that concerns me greatly. 

About three weeks ago I went back to my doctor and requested a blood test to be done for a gluten allergy. The results came back and my doctor diagnosed me with celiac as my blood contained the two antibodies. Although I have read a few times that this is not a definite diagnosis, I am confident in it as I do feel a bit better after being on a gluten free diet for 3 weeks. 

I am concerned that I am not feeling 100% better after being gluten free for these past few weeks. I still have chest tightness and feel that I can't get a deep breath unless I yawn. I work out every day (lifting weights and running on treadmill) and don't feel it affects me during my activities.

Does anybody else experience these symptoms? Must I be gluten free for longer to see results? Could this be another food allergy I'm unaware of? 

Thank you for any help!  

 

[anonymousplease]

Knitty Kitty -

Wow thanks!

I know I'm not the original poster on this thread but this was super helpful to me! I have yet to read through everything but off the bat everything you listed here I can relate to. 

When I got a virus last year I started drinking a ton of tea with licorice root in it to coat my throat. After that virus subsided, I was left with asthma and the nightshade intolerance. It's been a year since then but I still suffer from the nightshade issues & very minor asthma (does not require daily treatments). 

Linking these two things with the thiamine deficiency might be a game changer for me. 

Thanks for sharing. 

[Beverage]

I looked back at my records working with my previous naturopath (the one who diagnosed me with Celiacs and I had all kinds of vitamin deficiencies), and see that I did have a B1 deficiency.  My notes say that the B1 greatly improved my energy, no notes about asthma.  I'm not sure why I am no longer taking separate B1 or a Multi B supplement, I guess I ran out and forgot why I needed it (why I now write on my vitamin bottles what I am taking it for).  I've now ordered some Thiamin HCL 100mg from Amazon, which will take about a week to get here.  I'm only getting about 20mg B1 with my normal supplements, so it will be interesting to see the effect after 5 years of building back up after Celiacs diagnosis.

[Scott Adams]

@Posterboy recommends Benfotimaine, and according to him "the fat soluble form (Benfotimaine) has like 6 or 7x the absorptive ability of the kind found in commonly available B-complex." I've been taking this myself.

[Posterboy]

To All,

Here is the Research...Entitled "Pharmacokinetic study of benfotiamine and the bioavailability assessment compared to thiamine hydrochloride"

quoting from the article...

Abstract

"Benfotiamine is a lipid‐soluble thiamine precursor which can transform to thiamine in vivo and subsequently be metabolized to thiamine monophosphate (TMP) and thiamine diphosphate (TDP). This study investigated the pharmacokinetic profiles of thiamine and its phosphorylated metabolites after single‐ and multiple‐dose administration of benfotiamine in healthy Chinese volunteers, and assessed the bioavailability of orally benfotiamine administration compared to thiamine hydrochloride. In addition, concentration of hippuric acid in urine which is produced in the transformation process of benfotiamine was determined. The results showed that thiamine and its phosphorylated metabolites exhibited different pharmacokinetic characteristics in plasma, blood and erythrocyte, and one‐compartment model provided the best fit for pharmacokinetic profiles of thiamine. The transformation process of benfotiamine to thiamine produced large amount of hippuric acid. No accumulation of hippuric acid was observed after multiple‐dose of benfotiamine. Compared to thiamine hydrochloride, the bioavailability of thiamine in plasma and TDP in erythrocyte after oral administration of benfotiamine were 1147.3 ± 490.3% and 195.8 ± 33.8%, respectively. The absorption rate and extent of benfotiamine systemic availability of thiamine were significantly increased indicating higher bioavailability of thiamine from oral dose of benfotiamine compared to oral dose of thiamine hydrochloride."

Without the Fat Soluble component are body's can't absorb it well (and why you should take it with food) as a Thiamine Salt (Thiamin HCL)... you overcome this by taking Megaodoses...

The Hormones Matter Site summarizes it well...

https://www.hormonesmatter.com/navigating-thiamine-supplements/ 

I hope this is helpful but it is not medical advise.

Everybody stay safe and stay well!

Posterboy,

[Z S]

I am a senior in college and I had the exact same symptoms as you since freshman year. My chest pains were so bad that I ended up in the ER six times. I got diagnosed last year and almost a year later on a gluten-free diet my symptoms are mostly gone (i have developed new set of GI symptoms as my stomach heals and is becoming sensitive to more things).