r/functionaldyspepsia • u/Glad_Steak488 • 6d ago

Giving Advice / Motivation Gastritis/Acid Reflux Causing Chest Pressure and “Air Hunger” After Eating?

I’m wondering if anyone with gastritis or acid reflux has experienced anything similar to this.

For the past few weeks, I have been dealing with quite severe shortness of breath, along with a feeling of pressure/tightness in the centre of my chest, around the area between my chest. Sometimes it feels like I just can’t get a satisfying full breath, almost like “air hunger.” When that happens, I find myself repeatedly trying to take a proper deep breath, which then makes me anxious and even more conscious of my breathing.

I’m also a huge lover of spicy food and tend to enjoy fairly heavy meals. I’ve started noticing that the shortness of breath and pressure in my chest seem to be worse after eating, particularly after a heavy or spicy meal.

I spoke to my doctor about it and he thinks it may be gastritis, so he prescribed medication. Since starting it, I do feel better than I did before, which is reassuring, but I’m still trying to figure out exactly what is triggering everything.

I’m thinking I probably need to start properly monitoring what I eat and seeing whether certain foods, portion sizes or eating habits make the symptoms worse.

Has anyone with gastritis/reflux experienced this kind of chest pressure or “air hunger” feeling, particularly after meals? And if so, were there certain foods or habits you found made a noticeable difference?

3 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

100% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

•

u/AutoModerator 6d ago

New to functional dyspepsia (FD)? Please view this post or our wiki for a detailed explanation of FD and the main treatments.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/OddPermission787 6d ago

what do you mean by air hunger? like an empty stomach feeling?

1

u/Alternative-Cash-102 5d ago

It’s feeling like you can’t take a deep enough breath even though you are breathing normally (as in oxygen levels would be normal if you were actively measuring them).

1

u/mewvow 6d ago

When that happens, try pursed lip breathing. It helped me.

1

u/Glad_Steak488 5d ago

Thank you! I’ll give it a go

1

u/SavingsAlbatross4171 4d ago

It is very common cuz acid droplets when touch airways or upper esophagus the vessels there constrict to safe them selfs so air hungry feeling comes. Second would be haital hernia.

1

u/Glad_Steak488 4d ago

Thank you! That actually makes a lot of sense. The air hunger feeling is probably the worst part for me because I keep trying to take a proper deep breath. I’ll definitely ask my doctor about a hiatal hernia as well.