Trouble Breathing - Bloating?

[Curt]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone else out there has trouble breathing or getting a good deep breath? I'm thinking it's because of my bloating or my stomach feels like it has a big rock in it. Maybe this causes problems with your diaphragm. I work out and am in good shape but just so often feel like I can't breath good. This sound familiar to anyone?

[jerseyangel]

Hi Curt,

I had something similar. After being gluten-free for several months, I developed terrible reflux for the first time ever. I felt that "rock", and was always feeling like I needed to take a deep breath.

My (not so) helpful GI told me to take Phazyme....

My allergist actually diagnosed me with bronchial spasms due to reflux. He put me on Prevacid, which helped--but I stopped taking it afer 3 weeks due to side effects.

Hope you get some relief soon

[Curt]

Hi Curt,

I had something similar. After being gluten-free for several months, I developed terrible reflux for the first time ever. I felt that "rock", and was always feeling like I needed to take a deep breath.

My (not so) helpful GI told me to take Phazyme....

My allergist actually diagnosed me with bronchial spasms due to reflux. He put me on Prevacid, which helped--but I stopped taking it afer 3 weeks due to side effects.

Hope you get some relief soon

Yea, I've never taken a drug yet for any of my digestion problems where the side effects weren't about as bad or worse than the problem! I don't get reflux except when I took Bentyl for spasms. I tried everything for gas and bloating to no avail so hopefully over time the gluten free diet will work.

[jerseyangel]

Have you considered additional food intolerances?

A lot of Celiacs have trouble digesting dairy products--especially at the beginning while they are still healing.

Other problamatic foods may be soy, legumes and corn.

I am intolerant to all of the above plus coconut! I felt much better after I identified the problem foods and eliminated them.

[Gentleheart]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone else out there has trouble breathing or getting a good deep breath? I'm thinking it's because of my bloating or my stomach feels like it has a big rock in it. Maybe this causes problems with your diaphragm. I work out and am in good shape but just so often feel like I can't breath good. This sound familiar to anyone?

I have those same symptoms. My lungs always tested perfect so it was then brushed off as anxiety and stress by my MD and hyperventilation by my Naturopath. But I was never convinced of either. Enough people on this board have these symptoms to make me think it somehow has it's origin in celiac/gluten intolerance. Your bloating theory may have some validity as well. I surely have that too. The only difference is that I definitely don't work out and am definitely NOT in good shape!

[Gentleheart]

Hi Curt,

I had something similar. After being gluten-free for several months, I developed terrible reflux for the first time ever. I felt that "rock", and was always feeling like I needed to take a deep breath.

My (not so) helpful GI told me to take Phazyme....

My allergist actually diagnosed me with bronchial spasms due to reflux. He put me on Prevacid, which helped--but I stopped taking it afer 3 weeks due to side effects.

Hope you get some relief soon

Like you, I am getting first-time ever relux issues after being gluten free for several months. Did it eventually go away on its own? I take no drugs.

[jerseyangel]

Like you, I am getting first-time ever relux issues after being gluten free for several months. Did it eventually go away on its own? I take no drugs.

For me, it was legumes! Believe it or not, when I cut them out completely, both my reflux and eczema went away--and have not come back.

[Curt]

Have you considered additional food intolerances?

A lot of Celiacs have trouble digesting dairy products--especially at the beginning while they are still healing.

Other problamatic foods may be soy, legumes and corn.

I am intolerant to all of the above plus coconut! I felt much better after I identified the problem foods and eliminated them.

Yep, been all through that. I don't eat dairy, eggs, or soy. In fact my diet never changes I eat the same exact foods every day that I know are okay. I did this when I went gluten, dairy and egg free so I would know for sure that these were my problems.

[Curt]

I have those same symptoms. My lungs always tested perfect so it was then brushed off as anxiety and stress by my MD and hyperventilation by my Naturopath. But I was never convinced of either. Enough people on this board have these symptoms to make me think it somehow has it's origin in celiac/gluten intolerance. Your bloating theory may have some validity as well. I surely have that too. The only difference is that I definitely don't work out and am definitely NOT in good shape!

If you consider how your lungs and diaphragm work, where your diaphragm has to contract downward to let your lungs expand, it may make sense. The gas could be preventing this from happening easily so you end up struggling to take a full breath. I think this is why when I'm really bloated it's easier to breath laying down. I actually bought a breathing device where you breath in and out against resistance thinking this would strengthen my diaphragm. It may help some but getting rid of this @#$% bloating is probably the key!

[CMCM]

For over 20 years I had a lot of breathing difficulties. At times I felt like you might feel if someone were laying on top of you...I felt like I couldn't expand my lungs fully, and breathing was a real effort. Not all the time, but a lot of the time. I also had a chronic cough that went on for months at a time, then sometimes would go away for awhile. I had extensive testing for asthma, the doctors said no, it wasn't that.

Long story short, going gluten & dairy free eliminated this side effect, although at times I feel a slight bit of the old breathing difficulty. I really do believe it's connected to the gluten and, for me, dairy. I also have trouble with other foods, but those are the main ones. As to why my breathing problems waxed and waned, I think that it had to do with my diet, because I've always minimized dairy, but here and there I would eat a lot of it while at other times I'd go long periods without having much. Very strenuous exercising AND good eating (of mostly veggies, fruits, fish, plain meat) would help me feel better. The symptoms could be gone, and then start literally overnight and then go on for weeks and months. I think I would just reach an overload situation where I'd eat more and more gluten and dairy, which would trigger it, and then because I probably kept eating the wrong things, that just kept it going. I wasn't making all these connections then, of course, never thinking about celiac disease or any of this stuff! But when I seriously cut off gluten and most dairy, the change was dramatic!

[holdthegluten]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone else out there has trouble breathing or getting a good deep breath? I'm thinking it's because of my bloating or my stomach feels like it has a big rock in it. Maybe this causes problems with your diaphragm. I work out and am in good shape but just so often feel like I can't breath good. This sound familiar to anyone?

It happens to me every now and again. It is usually when my stomach feels very full. Nothing to worry about though. I too work out a lot and it happens quite a bit.

[deb.h.]

my youngest daughter who is now six has had this problem for a few years. it did clear up when she went gluten free a year and a half ago. she does still get it occasionally and I too like you came to the conclusion that it was her diaphram not being able to expand due to bloating. it happened to me one day and I put two and two together. I don't know that I am right for sure but this is my best guess. Sometimes when she gets it I think it is because she has been glutened or perhaps there is another food she is reacting to. it scares me to see this tiny little thing( she is still only about 34pounds and she is almost 7) not being able to breathe but it is never as bad as it was before going gluten free.

[drmmnjoe]

I have been having that feeling for a couple of months and I'm looking for answers. I constantly feel like I cannot get a satisfying breath. I am a singer and this is causing me a great deal of stress. I have not been diagnosed with Celiac but last week I cut gluten from my diet and felt quite a bit better. I wondered if anyone on here might have had any problems like this and/or could offer any suggestions.

Thank you,

[oceangirl]

YES! That feeling of not getting a full breath and an abdomen full of hardened cement is ABSOLUTELY something I associate with gluten! I feel it right now for the first time in a year or more (suffering a huge suspected glutening right now...) And, I have been a runner for 35 years and dancer for 28 years... so I don't think it's cause I'm out of shape.

Feel better,

lisa

[lizajane]

i hadn't thought about it since going gluten free, but i bet it is because i don't have trouble breathing anymore! so yes, i do know what you are talking about. it happened to me a lot when driving. i felt like i could not sit up straight enough to get air. i got anxious about my clothes being too tight or my posture because i couldn't seem to fix it. disappeared when gluten free because i have not noticed it for a month! yay! hope gluten-free ends the feeling for you. (and i am walking 39 miles this coming weekend in the Avon Walk, so I think i can safely say that i am in pretty good shape!)

[Roda]

I know this has nothing to do with bloating but it does with shortness of breath(sob). I think that sob can be a symptom of anemia. I have chronic low ferritin (my last known value was 6) and it does matter how little or how much activity I do. I always get sob and have this huge need to breath in as deep as I can the more I increase my activities. It really makes exercising challenging, but I'm determined to get in shape.

[jklatt]

Just to second and third and etc.....what so many others have said, I too have had these problems for YEARS before going gluten free. My breathing recently got worse before changing my diet and was accompanied by heart palpitations...which made me think I was having a heart attack!! I can't believe how different I am feeling now, however during the couple of occasions that I have gotten glutened, those same symptoms come right back!

[JBaby]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone else out there has trouble breathing or getting a good deep breath? I'm thinking it's because of my bloating or my stomach feels like it has a big rock in it. Maybe this causes problems with your diaphragm. I work out and am in good shape but just so often feel like I can't breath good. This sound familiar to anyone?

Yes. I have had trouble breathing when I have been glutenend along with the bloating. Most recently was tuesday.

JBaby

[smalltownslackermom]

I can remember having this off and on in my life. Most recently when I tried a gluten-challenge to see if I could get tested I developed the problem again: difficult to get a deep breath or feel like I'm getting enough breath. I had read that it had something to do with anemia, either the iron, B-12 or folic acid levels we have, right? I have been gluten-free again for a week and the SOB is fading, having less of it each day.

[princessofwitsend]

Yes. I have had trouble breathing when I have been glutenend along with the bloating. Most recently was tuesday.

JBaby

Yes I have this breathing problem as well ..It is almost unbearable at times ..Is there something you can do besides just wait it out ..thanks

[kuumeilani]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone else out there has trouble breathing or getting a good deep breath? I'm thinking it's because of my bloating or my stomach feels like it has a big rock in it. Maybe this causes problems with your diaphragm. I work out and am in good shape but just so often feel like I can't breath good. This sound familiar to anyone?

Interesting. The past 2 weeks I've had difficulty breathing. It seems like I'm working extra to take a deep breath! Im in good shape myself and workout daily. Another thing I notice in the past 2 weeks is I CANNOT GET UP without hitting the snooze for an hour. After work I just feel like sleeping. I always sleep early. I just don't get it. After I eat a glutened product I get gassy and bloat.

I self diagnosed myself with gluten intolerance. I've only started eating gluten free this past week and feel some relief.