chest pain and difficult breathing a few days after drinking

If we take a quick look at the mild-moderate symptoms of alcohol withdrawal syndrome, we notice that most of the symptoms listed in this thread are present. Most people who have posted in this thread are experiencing these symptoms 6 - 48 hours after they wake up (or when alcohol has been fully processed by the body). This is typical of mild-moderate withdrawal. For a list of symptoms of AWS, please see below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_withdrawal_syndrome

I'm a 24 year old male who has been binge drinking since I was 17. What's interesting is that I've only now started getting symptoms of withdrawal. Everyone in this thread have said they've been drinking for years and have just started getting these symptoms. I guess it just depends on how many times we've had to detoxify our bodies. In my case, this number is high because of college....

Never the less, nausea, tachycardia (fast heart rate), heart palpitations, anxiety, gastrointestinal upset, insomnia, are all on the list of symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. What's scary is that continued detoxification (more binge drinking sessions) results in increasingly worse withdrawal symptoms. Mild-Moderate symptoms include hallucinations (visual, auditory) and delirium tremens, which can result in deadly seizures.

I'm done with binge drinking... I think most should follow suit.

Ive been experiencing the same shortness of breath symptoms for the last month, during wich i have not had any alcohol whatsoever, they were however triggered by a night of heavy drinking, I've been drinking for 4 years now, 2 or 3 times a month, in an all or nothing fashion. I've never experienced any side effects from drinking, aside from one or two very mild hangovers. I did catch a mild cold after my last night out and at first thought these symptoms were related to the cold, but the cold went away quickly and I received the same clean bill of health from the doctors regarding the lungs and heart, blood tests, etc, so far I've had two major attacks where the pain and pressure was unbearable but went away after 15 min of agonizing pain, the rest of the time if I do any strenuous activity I feel the pain and the pressure and have to stop and rest, some days are better than others. I've been drinking plenty of water but I'll try the Gatorade and some vitamins maybe that will speed up the recovery. I'm so glad i found this site. I hope this thing clears up soon, i miss going to the gym, has anyone fully recovered from this?



I'm Male, 36yrs, physically fit, exercise often (all or nothing like the drinking), never smoked, health conscious(except for the drinking), never had any panic anything, no asthma, no stomach/digestive problems,


Rick

[I have the same as you say, it sucks really bad"] I have the same exact symptoms! Drinking the night before... I'll have a hangover in the morning... But nothing too bad. The real fun starts late that afternoon with wheezing and chest discomfort. Then that night, trying to go to sleep.. I feel like the involuntary mechanism that makes u breathe is broken. I have to "remember" to breath. Then when I finally fall asleep.. I'll wake up panting for breath... Like I stopped breathing. I know that this is 100% due to the alcohol the night before... But sometimes I can drink like a fish and not have he next day symptoms. I have been suffering with this for about three years. My doctor is zero help. I wish someone online would help...

[Wow this is the same as me, it really bothers me to think that my girlfriend or people around me will ask me if im ok and that makes me feal like im going to go out of my mind. If you would like to talk about this you can ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** private e-mails not allowed **
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"]I am stunned to read this.

For the past 5 years but mainly 3 I have had this. I have had to make plans around it, knowing that the day after drinking I can't be in a space that I feel I can't get out of. I am a fit 28 year old, at the peak of fitness.

For me I have no pains but have horrid breathing issues and apnea that can last up to 12 hours the next day. Starts around 10 - 12 hours after the last drink. I don't believe I am alcohol dependant but my dad died of alcohol at the age of 53 in 2008.

Interesting theory on hydration, I find working out on a hangover and drinking loads of water cures this totally. I have not visited a doctor as I have learnt to deal with the symptoms. I too can have good days and bad days, but the pattern is consistent. I have had times so bad I have felt like death is imminient.

I find though that the fear of others knowing about it is the worst, so if I am in a restaurant or a car or a place I can'r escape from, it exaggerates it and makes it worse. That said, if I then remove myself from that enviroment it goes, so I know therefore this is not a punctured lung or asthma attack etc.

I am going to follow this thread and post again... Relieved to find others with the exact same issue - thought it was just me. I also was going to stop smoking, I found cutting down helped, but again I think it's all part of the pyschology of it all. I find swallowing and eating can be awkward in the state aswell. Kind of feels like your throat is narrower and your not getting enough oxygen.

[I do the same thing, i have to keep moving pacing back and forth and i go outside so if i do fall on my face someone will see me and call the medics."]

The guy that posted the Wikipedia link to Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms has basically nailed it on the head.

This is what is causing the problems. I bet all of us are the same - binge drinkers right? Or at least heavy drinkers.

So these symptoms are just a sign that we are one step closer to alcoholism, and if you don't believe that you are in denial.

We all need to just drink less. I only imagine this problem gets worse and worse. If you read the Wiki on Delerium Tremens, it doesn't sound that far off the worse episodes i've had from this. Its clear the solution is to just drink less. Or, you can do Valium style drugs to soften the symptoms, but that is not a good road to go down.

Actually, it is not necessarily a sign of alcoholism at all. Perhaps for some it is; however, for the majority it is most likely a gastro-oesophageal reflux (which is an acid reflux). Even if you do not have chronic acid reflux, you can still experience an acute reflux that is typically triggered by something you consume. In this particular case-- alcohol. There is a muscular ring located at the bottom of your oesophagus before your stomach called an oesophageal sphincter. Whenever you swallow something, it moves through this sphincter into your stomach, and as soon as it is through the sphincter, the muscle contracts in order to prevent stomach acid from traveling into the oesophagus. However, if for some reason, this muscle becomes too relaxed, acid from your stomach will flow up into the oesophagus which causes a burning sensation through the chest and throat (and occasionally even up to the mouth). This is what causes the chest pain and burning. As far as the difficulty breathing, the fluid that flows from the stomach often irritates the respiratory tract and the larynx (which is what you use to talk). This irritation is what makes it hard to breathe and can also cause the voice to become hoarse as well. If this reflux occurs frequent enough, it could possibly result in the swelling of the oesophagus making it difficult to swallow as well. The reason this all occurs after drinking is because alcohol causes the previously-mentioned oesophageal sphincter to relax; therefore, it does not work properly and allows the acidy fluid from your stomach to flow up into your oesophagus. In addition, coffee, various fruits and fruit juices, tobacco, high-fatty foods, and over-stretching the stomach by eating too much cause the sphincter to not function correctly as well. Therefore, it isn't about having alcohol withdrawals, it is simply due to your body's chemical makeup and its interactions with what you put in it. Going out and drinking then having late-night after works double-time at decreasing that muscle's ability to do it's job and keep your gastric fluid in the stomach, and this is only exacerbated the next morning for the ones who wake up and drink coffee. When this occurs, it is necessary to neutralize the acid. This can be done by taking over-the-counter antacid tablets (Tums, Maalox, Pepto Bismol, etc), eating foods that will neutralize the acid, avoid high-caffeine drinks/foods, and avoid lying down right after you eat (gravity works against the body and only makes the matter worse). Foods that are good to eat include: bananas, rice, bread, potatoes, apples, broccoli, water, low-fat cheese, oatmeal, carrots, etc. I hope this helps some!!

So after yesterdays heavy drinking session, as usual, I had very bad chest pains - particularly the left side of the chest. I was worried it was some kind of heart condition, then I came upon this thread. Taking the advice of previous posters: I drank 1.5L of water with salt. Almost INSTANTLY my heart pain went completely away.

I'm 25, good health and suffer from this exact issue, i feel it is definitely anxiety related. But AM SO GLAD i found this post to know i'm not alone. I used to drink daily over the summer when this occured bad, the following day after drinking, at night i would experience a fluttery pain in my chest up through my back.. I had correlated it to drinking and cut back on drinking a lot because the pain it causes is discomforting. I'm glad to see other people can relate to me!



I'm experiencing this right now =(. But the good news is, it does go away.. (i drank last night like a m***n).. anyhow, after going weeks without drinking recently i started feeling 100% again and not feeling like dung anymore! I guess some people are better off not getting wasted. I consider it my bodys way of telling me to chill the hell out on drinking so much.

Okay, so other than drinking, I have one question for readers and Please respond even if this isn't the case.. But i felt at one point this pain/weird feeling might of been correlated to PALL MALL cigs, the weird pain seems to be highly aggitated by Pall mall's do others smoke these?

Even a friend i used to hang out with complained about randomly one day that pall malls were making him feel strange.

Whoever is saying its acid reflex, maybe for you, but I disagree thats the majority of us. I've read a lot into this and the symptoms really do match alcohol withdrawal after binging.
I'll tell you one thing that really helps me, which wouldn't if it was acid reflex, is to drink a large bottle of gatorade (1 litre) when I wake up. The U.S one is full of electrolytes, which drinking too much can unbalance (by this I mean reduce the amount in your body). The gatorade also has lots of sugar which you need, because lets not forget alcohol spikes your sugar levels leading to a crash, so the gatorade can help cushion this.

The post about the muscular ring and G.E.R.D is the most educated response to date.

Please remeber guys, it is usually brought on by heavy drinking and the symptoms are most severe the next day. If symtoms continue, as in my case, it is probably accompanied by acid reflux.

I have been posting on this thread for months. I have not had a drink in over 3 months yet I still have symtoms. Most days are good but every now and then I get a breathing problem (no alcohol involved). I was by no means a raging alcoholic but I did over indulge when I went out with friends.

I have found that by watching my hydration and anything that can trigger my reflux (alcohol, cigs, fatty foods, chocolate, mint, etc...). I take prilosec as well as xantac.

I am not doubting that the first few days of symptoms are withrawl...they are...but anything after that is most likely severe acid reflux probably caused by years over drinking.

Here is what I have learned to help those of you that get scared....I'm used to it at this point (still very uncomfortable though).

1. Get hydrated when symtoms are severe (gatorade and water....tons of it).
2. Lay off any stimulants (cigs, coffee, greasy food, alcohol)
3. Don't PANIC...you are not dying!! Most important!!
4. If you can't get a satifying breath then put your index finger cross ways in between your lips and breath around it with a deep breath....it gives you that satisfying breath.
5. Don't over drink!!! If you must (not recommended) drink water between every drink and take an anti-acid before bed....no late night food!!!
6. Hot bath or excercise seems to calm people down.
7. Some doctors have prescribed a anxiety med for those of us who panic from the symtoms.

Let's face it ....we all like to go out and have fun .....but this is freakin scary!!! There has to be some concrete answer to this. I refuse to believe that is only drinking because I have not had any alcohol in 3 months. I know it is the major reason but there is more to it that that!!!!

Please keep posting guys and as I always say..."Remember....you are not alone".

Reguy40

Thank god I found this posting. I have suffered with this problem since September and it getting worse and I have some info but need answers. Let me give you some background and see if it helps anyone. I had the first situation in April of 2010 after a few days of drinking at night. I went to the ER and they said it was asthma and gave me IV's and kept me overnight. Every test was negative including heart tests. I then went back to normal drinking several weeks later and was fine for months. Then in September after heavy drinking the same thing happened and I went back to the ER. Again they said asthma but I was not sure. Then 5 days later, with no alcohol in between, I couldn't breath again I went to the ER and said give me every test possible. OK so CAT scans all good, all heart tests good and all blood work good but I did have slightly high iron levels in blood. Which can be caused by alcohol. So I thought that is it. I went to a hemotologist and he suggested getting a phlebotamy which is basically drawing blood on a regular basis. I started to feel better and thought that was the solution. But what I didn't realize is that I was also taking prednisone at the time, which my family doctor gave me to take. I realized that once I went off the prednisone the breathing was bad again. So it was the drug that helped not giving the blood. Prednisone helps people who have asthma its basically an anti-inflammatory steroid. I then went to the pulmonologist and did all the breathing tests and passed the first one (I forget what its called) but I ended up failing the second one which is the methocoline test. They basically pump stuff into your lungs and if you have a reaction then you have asthma. So that became the problem. I made sure and did stress tests for heart and cardio tests and chest xrays and brain scans and everything posssible. ALL were negative, the asthma was the only test I failed. So the doc put me on several different meds and the only one that helped was advair(the purple disc). So I started to feel back to normal, but I was drinking during this time. I have since had several time that I went out and drank pretty heavy and like clock work the next day around 4 or 5 hours after I woke up the breathing problems started again. It goes away in about a day but I don't feel right for several days. Its driving me nuts, I think that the alcohol might be a trigger to my asthma thats the only thing I can think of. But I am willing to do trial and error with several people and we can try different things and figure this out. But it is not anxiety, you can develop anxiety because your not breathing right and that makes it worse but the main culprit is not anxiety. Also I drink alot of fluids after the night of drinking and the next morning but it didn't help so I don't know about dehydration. If so why all of a suddent to we get so dehydrated after one night of drinking that it takes days to fix? Please email me ( ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** private e-mails not allowed **
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) and lets get some support group going or something because I don't want to go through the rest of life and never drink again. I have realized I'm older now, 34, and get after it like I used to and I am fine with that but I should have to suffer for 3-4 days and feel this way after drinking for one night? Also even if I have a couple beers I can feel it the next day not as bad but can notice a difference in breathing. Also I am not seeing many solutions or follow-ups from previous posts. Why??

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Need to get a group going to try different things.

you all hit the nail on the head to how ive been feeling. im not gonna bother reposting my symptoms.
for over a few months i was drinking pretty heavily and have drastically cut back now. and all of these symptoms have started. it sucks i know exactly how you all feel. all i wanna do is go back to how is was before. the occasional night out with the boys and not having to worry about holding my chest days after.
someone here take this thread and show it to a family friend doctor who will actually look into it please and find out what we can do. i got a physical and explained my symptoms only to be told i may be over stressed, im not a stressed out person.
someome with some concrete ideas please help