chest pain and difficult breathing a few days after drinking

I'm 36 and I've reached the stage where I can't drink anymore, I have to give it up because if I drink on a Saturday, the following 3-4 days is a nightmare where I can't breath properly and get extremely weak where I can hardly walk, feels like I am going to collapase for days afterwards, and the gasping for air thing is like being suffocated or buried alive. I binge drink once every week or every two weeks, these side effects are getting worse and I am afraid I will not wake up one morning if I don't stop drinking now. It's literally like being in a nightmare that you can't wake up from, and the ill effects of drink are so bad now they keep me awake all night, I get no sleep for days now if I drink. I feel to sick.

 

I have had severe panick attacks after drinking, the last one was so bad I thought it was a stroke, my hands locked up and I couldn't move them and I felt like I was seconds away from dropping dead I couldn't catch my breath and my whole body locked up and my thumbs locked inwards, this lasted for a hour and my family was so worried they called a ambulance. They said that breathing to fast can increase your oxygen levels and cause this panick attack, even though you feel like you can't breath or are dying, you have to breath in slowly, hold it for 5 seconds, then let it out slowly, this will reduce the oxygen levels in your body and your breathing will return to normal in a while. But if like me, you will struggle to breath normally for days after drinking. I am a lager drinker and I never ahd this problem in my 20s, the older I get the worse this is getting.

 

When I don't drink for a week, I can do my workouts, my walks, my bike, I like to workout I am fairly fit, I lift weights 3 times a week, if I drink, I am as weak as a old man for 3-4 days and can barely walk and can't breath. There is more to it than anxiety, when I drink I get bad water retention and dehydration too. I think it's a combination of everything, the body being posioned and under pressure from drink and trying to rid itself of the drink and the imbalance it's causing.

 

I have tried everything to combat this, before and after drinking I take multi vitamins, glucose drinks, lots of water, fruit, lots of workouts, walks, fresh air. Nothing helps. The only solution is to stop drinking. For people like us who suffer these horrible side effects of drinking you have to make the choice, you wither quit drinking all together and live the rest of your life in peace and good health, or you continue to drink and live the rest of your life not being able to breath properly and in cycle of torment and pain that comes around every time you drink. When you get to the stage where like me, you feel that you are slowly being suffocated for days, all because you chose to have a few drinks on a weekend, you will have to give it up. If you don't you are destroying your life.

 

I would also advise people to quit smoking at the same time, I get very similar symptoms to the above, from smoking. One ciggerette is enough to cause breathing problems for me, and have sometime been the trigger after drinking for a very bad panick attack. I can give you some good news. I gave up smoking and drinking once for 3 months and I felt like superman, I felt like a new person, the difference is unbelivable.  If you quit this drinking/smoking you will feel like a new person in a few weeks/months I promise. I made the worst mistake of my life going back on the drink/smoking. Luckily I have another shot to fix things, and that is what I am doing now. I have given up drinking and smoking so I can live a life of normality, the last time I had a drink I was in bed for 3 days, I couldn't breath and I didn't have the energy to walk for days, it was like being in a coma. This is where you are heading if you keep drinking, because the older you get, the worse it gets, and there is no cure except to stop drinking.

Wow. I am 42 and I am having the same issues and they just started this year. If I drink, I literally feel like I have to remind myself to breathe the next day. I feel like I have absolutely been run over. I also suffer from a feeling of tightness in my stomach and chest that sometimes feels like it goes up to my head. I am smoker also and I am trying to quit drinking and smoking. It makes me miserable most of the time. So glad to know I am not alone.

Had another major attack during the withdrawal period from a heavy night out.

Decided to see the Gastroenterologist privately and he is adamant these symptoms are caused by GERD (which causes the shortness of breath and chest pains - which then triggers a panic attack and makes everything worse)

On his orders, i now take an omeprazole half an hour before eating (a 24 hour acid reflux pill)


- stop drinking fizzy drinks  (even diet)

- cut down on beer

- no heavy meals after 6/7ish

- graze food (smaller meals more often throughout the day)

- sleep with head up

- regularly drink water



About a month in....Feel great,. Most symptoms have completely dissappeared.

I have some general questions. Guys that are experiencing the chest pains. Do you have circulation problems? One foot that seems to have athletes foot? Do you have dan-drift? Have you ever eating a lot of sweets and had the same situation happen? Question for this is that if you fit these other descriptions you may have a form of yeast overgrowth known as candida. Basically your intestines under your lungs would be inflating with gasses. Since your bodies long and short intestines are so long having them inflate even slightly can cause very noticeably effects. Since candida can survive off of the smallest amount of sugar the only real way to kick it is antibiotics. However you need to make sure you eat pro bio-tic foods afterwards to repair the good bacteria in your body that break down foods. Essentially not taking the a pro bio-tic would have been the cause of the candida to begin with after a past antibiotic. So look up candida eat probiotic foods like yogurt. And stay away from sugars and breads. (alcohol is crazy sugar). QUick fix even though it might be hard is alot of torso aerobic movements. Get the poop out essentially.

I think this seems most logical to the shortness of breathe and closed throat. COnsuming one of those things in large quanities may set off a delayed allergic reaction. Which i think is happening to me

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A DOCTOR.

I'll start of with thanking all of you for posting and following this post. It has been extremely helpful to me in my dealing with the issue (the one we all speak of). It was a truly a gift to know I wasnt alone. I was skeptical to post simply because over time it seems to get repetitive with the list of symptoms. We are all well aware of them. The reason I posted is because no one has seemed to attempt to place a remedy down and I've seemed to have found a safe haven. I would love nothing more to help everyone of you because I know how awful anxiety and panic attacks are so here's my attempt. I wont lie to you and say that all the symptoms have vanished (because they haven't...) but they have been drastically weakened.

After becoming a hypochondriac nut trying to find out what the hell was wrong with me, I like you (frequent doctor visits), was scared out of my mind. I stopped drinking, smoking, anything that was toxic/foreign to the body and still experienced awful symptoms regularly. I was given Xanax. It helps....(for those of you who wonder how?: It's a "F*ck it pill"...when you cant fight the negative ideas and thinking  yourself, you take a xanax and its a mental motivation for you to say F*ck it.) but it tends to take you to a place reminiscent of LaLa land. Which could be too fun of a mental playground to want to leave and then you want stay...AKA it's capable of being a highly addictive substance. It should only be taken when you really are struggling with panic/anxiety. I've learned that straying away from medications makes the process a lot easier to break free from, as you become dependent on nothing but yourself.

Here's my remedy: Naturally Decaffeinated green tea 2-3 times a day to naturally calm yourself and place your mind in a happy place. (Stray far from caffeine. It is your enemy), increase your intake of the natural vitamins available in raw fruits and vegetables (ESPECIALLY BROCCOLI, as it is a driving force for your liver to work optimally). Switch your deodorant from anything containing Aluminum Zirconium (anyone using Proctor and gamble products didnt notice how much theyve increased the content of this chemical for a "long-lasting freshness".) its extremely toxic and too high of an aluminum content in your blood affects brain function (dramatically over-time), and it highly linked to breast cancer and kidney failure (read the label). Be aware that deodorants and antiperspirants are completely different! I recommend: Jungleman Deodorant its all natural, a little weird, but it works. Flaxseed Oil, flaxseeds, or flax-seed pills to obtain the highest concentration of omega-3 fatty acids to help assist in brain function. Take 2 a day (pills) or eat seeds with food. YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT. Remember that if you've done all physical test and it turned out to be all negative, then your mind is the culprit. Run for at least a half hour five days out of the week, to ensure that he blood and nutrients are getting dispersed throughout the body and that hormones are working to release adrenaline you've otherwise been storing up for your next panic attack....Stop smoking. this is stimulant much like caffiene and for this reason it is also your enemy. Marijuana, is not a good idea either as THC is a direct hit to overclocking brain function (Aka times seems slow, food tastes better, everything looks 3-d, etc). Now, when I have a drink...I pay close attention to the time it takes 52 minutes for your liver to digest one pint of averagely strong beer/one glass of wine/one shot...work with your liver. work with the time. one beer per hour and a half of glass to a glass of water in between for insurance. If you notice symptoms, stop immediately. Wait for a while and attempt another type of alcohol (trial and error between: wine/ beer/ etc) find your comfortable drink. if the symptoms persist you may have a more seriously issue on your hand in regard to alcohol and a possible allergen.

Now if you choose to follow any my opinionated ideas this does not mean you can jump back into heavy drinking because it DID put you where your at. This is just a small fix for being able to have a drink with some friends (how I use it at least). I still experience chest pains every now and then. I 've come to realize that its possibly connected to the fact that drinking relaxes the muscles and your esophagus is like a muscle and therefore as you drink, it becomes weakened, heavy drinking=weaker esophagus. To assist with this, try to talk some alka seltzer (regular, not plus) daily (one doze) it calms the stomach and if you experience the chest pain after a meal throw down a tums. I thought the idea of reflux was tossed in the toilet but, its not because doc says heart is fine, emergency room says oxygen is fine so what else is close the left side of my chest well....my stomach, esphagus and liver....pain gotta come from somewhere right?? ALSO alot of whole wheat your stomach acids love to play with whole wheat and multigrain (not joking, even though its sound funny) May be a far fetched approach buts it been working for me. And as bad as the condition is and was/ i'm glad it happened because I quit of alot of bad habits and im in the best shape ive been in since I was 12. I cant promise that this will all work for all of you but its been helping me and I figured I'd lend a hand to all of you for helping me.    if you want to chat or have questions  contact me... and if anyone has any other cool ideas to help POST THEM!

I DRINK MILLER HIGHLIFE AS WELL MAYBE THERES A CONNECTION

I have done the ironman , lift 4x a week,and bike the rest .... Can I not have one party every few months with out this Happining ?

For years I saved my drinking time , trained for 8w blocks , then took a week off . A little bit of "drinky Time"' worked fine . Now 37though- it's fighting back. The drink that is . . I can relate to this thread in all is entirety ;) it ain't all bad :)

Yes I have regular athletes foot on one side (left) and when I eat a lot of sweets the situation is similar.
I will check for signs of candida

Also MR FRANK great post !

If it's alcohol related rehydrate because that's your body's way of telling you its under stress from alcohol related issues or,"withdrawls". I know its hard but you have force yourself to drink water. If its stress related THEN BREATH SLOW AND DEEP DOCTORS WILL DIAGNOS A PABIC ATTACK AND WASTE YOUR TIME

i'm 40 ,i quick drinking 15 yrs ago but ,drink much sometimes,like malt liquir,sometimes harder stuff ,but not too much (fall down drunk)
i quit smoking then to. i just started drinking about 10 or so weeks ago ,a little wine,then 1 or 2 beers every night almost and then, about 4 weeks ago started drinking some tequila,and last 4 weeks -a little rum almost every night ,5 or 6 shots.chased with can of beer. 7 Days ago i started having shortness of breath,and chest pains,i quit all together and now i have been breathing somewhat better,Did i get fluid in my lungs,i was caufing a little more ,i don't smoke,i even coudnt' catch my breath during the day sometimes. i might stop comepletely if this is the way its' going to be. i did purchace cruzan spiced rum at the last and maybe i had an alergic reaction,i did turn red a couple of the days, The last 4 days -i have been getting better. you may should check with a dr and ask him if it is safe at all for you to drink. DOES ANYONE know or have a good idea what happened ,is there a dr in the house? !

u have just said the exact same az i av bin having for the past 2 year's an am only 28 an it's every time i have a drink bin hospital docs an thay say there is nowt up with me SOMEBODY HELP ME HAHA.

I just went to the doc for my physical, asked him about all the same symptoms you are all having after a 3 day drinking weekend, here is the deal. The same nerves control your esophagus that control your lungs. When you drink too much acid like alcohol, it can burn the nerves and cause heart(chest) pain and it feels like you can't catch your breath. It is all due to the acid coming up from the stomach during the night and coating the nerves. He said unless you do this all the time, your body is very good at fixing itself in time and it would take years of abuse before you would see bad things happen. In the meantime, he suggested no eating at least 3 hours before bed, for the next 7 days I am to take over the counter Famotidine tablets 20mg each night. It is the generic form of Pepcid AC max strength. He also said if I want to go out and have a few drinks, take one tablet before drinking and it should help any reflux symptoms during the night. I will give it a try because this feeling of not being able to catch my breath is so scary. Good luck to everyone.

\\**********CURE****////////(maybe)

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Ok. So I read this forum days ago and I knew exactly what you were going through. I thought I was on my last breath.

I drank too much this last Saturday and it was Friday of the next week and stll experiencing shortness of breath. I felt like I could never get a fully satisfying deep breath. So much throughout the day I would be yawning, sometimes gasping for air. SO. I finally went to see my doctor (one of the best). He put me on a nebulizer which didn't do anything. Then gave me a chest xray. From the front there wasn't anything noticeable, nor was there much to see from the side. Only for me, I was at the doctors 2 month's ago getting a chest xray for an unrelated reason. He was able to look at the two and notice a difference with the new one (One that would likely be too hard to see without looking at a perfectly fine recent one). What he saw was a fine layer fluid on the outside of my lungs, between my lungs and lungs cavity. This was making my lungs not be able to fully expand and take up all their normal space. He called it "aspiration", but it's not same normal kind of aspiration. Anyway. he put me on musinex to loosen everything up, steroids for something, and antibiotics. I feel soo much better than I did days ago. It's not 100% back to normal but there is MUCH improvement; much less struggling for a breathe.

 

I hope this at least helps even 1 person out there that was suffering like me.