Stomach tightness, cannot fulfill a breath

Im 29 and suffer from this as well. What I find helps is if you try to breathe through pursed lips, breathe in through your nose *slowly* and push your lips tight together to breathe out. I do this a couple times and the symptom will usually go away. Also if i hold my breath for a couple seconds sometimes it helps. I really think it may be related to anxiety because Ive been diagnosed with anxiety and I notice thatwhen Im not thinking about it, it usually doesnt occur. If playing xbox and my mind is on the game or something - the symptoms disappear. Hope this helps.

I'm curious to know if any of you eat a clean diet such as Paleo? I'm having similar symptoms. I'm going to try eating smaller meals, mostly veggies and lean protein. I suspect the problems is from lack of fiber from veggies and too many calories from poor food sources.

For me, diet plays a major role in my discomfort. When I remove starchy carbs, and caffeine I have 80% of my challenge beat. Combine that with daily cardio, and the symptoms disappear. Some faith, or practicing whatever philosophy that brings you serenity, and you'll be good to go.

Diet definitely helps. I was paleo for a bit. Now I'm reduced wheat, caffeine, sugar and watch a lot of heavily fermented things - like wine or draught beer. Seems to make major differences.

I have the same thing periodically, and I do squats involving my back. If you strengthen your back you strengthen your belly and your breathing. Do 4 sets of ten squats.

My Mother has been going through this for 2 years and every test shows everything to be normal. She was put on pain medicine because of the discomfort which resulted in a bowel impaction. After she made it through that, the pain came back and even more intense. She is now having pain blocks done and they think it is an impenged nerve that affects the left side of her bowels, her lung and stomach. This has been a medical mystery to Doctors. I am a OR RN and have been extremely assertive in her care, or else some Doctors would have left her to live a life of constant pain. Best of luck.

Hi I am suffering from the bloating problem very badly I live in Delhi, plz tell me if this treatment is available here in Delhi.
I will be truly thankful to you.

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To those who are confident in their heart that it has little to do with anxiety, know that you're not wrong
for feeling that way.

I've had this problem for almost 3 years--though I want to say "these problems" because it's a cluster of issues--My symptoms were abnormal palpitation, overwhelm, inability to focus, breathlessness. Doctor would tell me I "just worry too much", I "need to relax"; my dad would say the same. "You're somatizing. You need to get out more, exercise, talk to people" Newsflash: I did all of that already to varying degrees with no success.

After years of having my life ruined by misdiagnosis, and abuse (yes, I call that abuse, people making you doubt your awareness of your own damn body! Making you feel that you don't have the faintest grasp of what happens to your organs), and side effects caused by medications (antidepressants, anxiety meds, ADHD meds) that weren't addressing my issue, I said enough was enough: I started treating my symptoms as the mere physical expression that they were.

I found out I have far-sightedness. I would go to bed every day with migraines, my "anxiety" would be exacerbated by my inability to read texts without straining. Went to the doctor, she did a 20/20 test--not in the least inconsiderate way I must say--and it came out fine. I wasn't having that so I asked for a referral to an ophthalmologist. Since I've been given glasses, my migraines, which were supposedly a result of my "thinking too much" have gone--gone! It's been 5 months already since I got glasses and I can't even remember what migraines feel like anymore.

Next I had to address the constant bloating I had in the stomach, the gas, burping and all that jazz most of you guys are familiar with. My PCP wanted to up my dose of antidepressants, "I don't understand why you're so against taking them; they're not going to hurt you. You're depressed and you need them," but I refused. I wasn't having that yet again and asked for a referral to the G.I. I had an endoscopy and they found I had a hiatal hernia, duodenitis, gastritis and a host of other issues. I was given some Pantoprazole and Sucralfate to heal the gastritis and duodenitis; it helped a little, but now that I'm off them it seems the issues are coming back.

Aside the meds given by the G.I, I followed an elimination diet, and, for about a month, strictly limited my carb intake and didn't eat anything spicy or seasoned. Oh, and I didn't eat wheat either. Guess what? My bloating went away the very first day! The stomach cramps went away, the heartburn diminished tremendously. In class, since that's where those symptoms bothered me the most, I didn't have palpitations and stomach growling and gas and heartburn anymore. I could finally listen to the course without having those pesky issues grab at my attention. Again, so much for anxiety and "just thinking too much"

The gas remained for a while, as well as the burping, but those too, went away when I realized they were caused by eating too much Oatmeal.

My G.I recommended that I go back to eating normally, "just don't go and swallow a whole tbsp of vinegar, or eat a whole bucket of chicken", and I feel that doing has f ucked me up once again.

Anyways, despite the progress I was doing, there was still something bothering me a lot, which I couldn't put my finger on. I couldn't get up a chair, or walk up and down the stairs without feeling extremely exhausted, sored, lightheaded--as if about to pass out. So I kept probbing, and found out that both my posture, and the hiatal hernia I thought was symptomless were at play. I started doing some lordosis-related streches and hiatal hernia stabilization exercises and the very first day I noticed the difference--the hernia has slid back down--in that I no longer feel lightheaded, fatigued, sored from getting up from a chair, from walking up and down stairs. Also, this hernia made it impossible for me to enjoy my hobbies because of the soreness it gave me, but now that has also tremendously changed. I'm so happy, it's like I'm rediscovering life.

It's not over though. I still can't sleep at night. I suspect acid reflux induced sleep apnea is at play here (I stop breathing multiple times at night, I snore a lot, I can't get comfortable lying on my back without feeling chocked). I have an appt later today with my PCP, and I'm still musing over how to bring the issue up to her without having to deal with the usual "you're just depressed" spiel.

Again, to those who are confident in their hearts that they're not "depressed" and "anxious" and "stress" (or are all those things, but they know it doesn't bother them as much as to cause the symptoms), hang in there, and know that you're not deluded in thinking so. Keep probing, even when all want to make your doubt your sanity!

Oh, I forgot to add that in my case, allergy was (still is) to blame for my issues as well. i don't know, but it seems most places don't use clean A/C/heating solutions; it always smells musty and dirty. How can "normal" people tolerate that? When the A/C is on, I tense up automatically (allergic reaction). If I'm exposed to the pollutant for too long, I get teared-eyed, and the tensing up relaxes my LES even more (my LES is already very weak), which pushes the hernia farther up, acid with it.
I cope by wearing a surgical mask at home. When I'm outside, I just accept that i will suffer in silence because I'm not confident enough to walk around with that on my face. It sucks though, having to sleep with it at night, so uncomfortable, but what can do for now? I've already told my parents that they could wear extra layers if they're cold at night so we can turn the heat off, but they don't seem to care much about the effects of the heating on me.

With exception to the unfortunate individuals to discover they actually do have a heart problem, everything you just articulated is spot on. I can say with great experiential confidence, 90% of the symptoms we suffer derive from poor eating habits. I suppose equal emphasis should be placed on daily exercise. Combining the two has removed 99% of my anxiety related misery. My challenge is, I absolutely love eating. Oddly, the comfort of eating in social settings, temporarily gives me comfort that exceeds that of which I experience as a result of not eating. But it ALWAYSS comes back to haunt me.
From the last week of November (Thanksgiving) trough December 31, I either throw, or attend dozens of family/friend, Holiday get-togethers, all revolving around phenomenal eating frenzies. Last night we ate Chinese food, top notch Chinese food. Today I immediately feel the difficulty in breaching and the inlamation of my organs and face. I'll stay clean until New Year's Eve, when I expect to eat like I'm going to the chair- especially rainbow cookies. The one thing a stay completely clear of, is coffee. Coffee definitely precipitates anxiety, and anxiety causing symptoms, especially stomach bloating. Most of what I write above can be neutralized with hard core caradio, but it's met with that fierce competitor called, food hangover exhaustion. It's like
Pressing two magnets together. I battle with the "life is too short" mentality. Why should I live my life to feel normal, when everyone else seems to be having so much fun eating?? A healthy life is cool, but it's definitely not always fun. It's like a real head-kill, when you have to walk by the lasagna tray, and Oreo cheesecake with Nutella

Same here for the past 5 months after i was diagnosed with bad iritation on my stomach, after all test everything looks normal but it is not, any suggestion

AMEN. GOD is a healer. I too go through these things, and my trust in GOD is what keep me going.

I am having the same symptoms you posted. Is there a way I can get in contact with you?

I found this site by doing a search, and have many of the symptoms everyone describes. However, mine came on suddenly 16 months ago and have not abated a whole lot since.

My original problem was feeling very ill, shortness of breath, chest/stomach pain, pain down left arm. I thought it was a heart attack. Tests showed heart involvement and finally, an echocardiogram showed fluid around my heart--pericarditis, an inflammation of the heart sac.

The terrible feeling of squeezing of the lungs and stomach are still going on, even though the fluid went away and my heart looks good now. I have that "tight band across the belly" issue almost constantly. I also can be lying down and feel the "squeezing" of muscles start. So I know it has something to do with physical things, not just anxiety. I never had a panic attack, nor any more anxiety than the average person.

I also get a pressure in the stomach and chest-like having swallowed a bowling ball. I have done a LOT of research since all this started, and that bowling ball in the stomach feeling is usually caused by gastroparesis--where your stomach will no longer move to churn food you've eaten. So it just sits there, feeling like a bowling ball.

I have talked to many others who have had overgrowth of yeast from antibiotics (I was on them for 17 years straight) NSAIDS (which also kill good stomach bacteria) and had yeast throughout their body causing many problems-including a celiac reaction to wheat. I stopped wheat, started probiotics, got off proton pump inhibitors, sip a glass of vinegar and water each day (use the vinegar with "mother" in it, the cloudy kind or it won't work) and have incorporated coconut oil (kills yeast naturally) and tried to cut way back on sugar. This all helped me and I'm about 75% well.

I did find some other research describing the tight band across the stomach feeling--people with MS describe this too, and it is a nerve or muscular issue. There are even nerve demylinating diseases which cause your diaphragm to not work right, so this is a very rare (mostly in old people) issue that can happen. A friend gave me a few Xanax's and when it gets too bad, I take a half one. This seems to give me several good days, which leads me to believe it is a muscle or nerve spasm happening on some level, either stomach, diaphragm etc.

I have had every heart test at Cleveland Clinic, lung function tests, blood work etc, and all have come back to near normal. Yet this persists. Next will be the colonoscopy and gastro doctor. I think from hearing others describe an ulcer, this may be what I'm dealing with, since I had to take massive amounts of NSAIDS. I wish you all well, and remember, what I had is very rare, VERY rare. But what you all describe is usually one of two things: anxiety related, or stomach related-remember, Doctors do NOT think of yeast/candida overgrowth. Unless you ask for a systemic yeast bloodtest, and even then, if it's only in your guts, it probably won't show up. Try probiotics, yogurt, coconut oil, vinegar and water. Give it a week or two (took me 2 to feel better) at least you will know if this could be the problem in your own case.

I also want to say that your vagus and phrenic nerves run across heart and stomach, control breathing on the diaphragm etc. I found out the "shaking" vibrating sensation is gas pressing on the vagus nerve. Any irritation of stomach or heart irritates the nerves also. Look these up people, When I had pericarditis, inflammation around my heart, I woke up gasping several times a night, but never had any sleep apnea before or since. It's amazing how nerves work. And what can affect them...do a search and I bet you will find coexisting symptoms from digestion probs/yeast/celiac etc. It really does come down to our guts and that's where 75% of our immune system also resides. Change diet/probiotics, foods and change all of it.