
What Causes Tightness In Upper Abdomen Along With Difficulty Breathing?

I have no sense of pain in heart / chest; a little sense of 'stitch' but I think this is because I am struggling to stretch my ribs to take a deep breath.
Seems to be acute gastritis.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome to health care magic,
I have read your query and understand the concern.
The feeling of tightness over upper abdomen or below ribs,diaphragm seems to be due to acute gastritis where one might have normal bowel movement and appetite.
The causes of gastritis could be helicobactor pylori infection,oily and spicy diet,or drug induced.
Here, I would like to know some more information
i ) is there any relation of your feeling tightness with meal?
ii) are you taking any medications?
iii) what's your routine diet?
Although,you can go for routine blood count,ESR,urinalysis with ultrasound abdomen with upper GI endoscopy to rule out other gastric pathology or to confirm gastric inflammation.
You may require h2 blockers (like ranitidine) or proton pump inhibitors (like pantoprazole,rabeprazole) with cytoprotective drugs like sucralfate,misoprostol etc.
You should consult general surgeon or gastroenterologist who may take complete medical history and thoroughly clinical examination with relevant investigations to diagnose correctly and can prescribe you above treatment.
Hope this will help you and feel free to ask me further.
Regards,
Dr.sandipkabra


I am currently taking a diuretic as I was feeling bloated. My doctor told me I was pre-diabetic and the diuretic along with losing weight could help me avoid getting diabetes. I have not been able to loose weight and am currently 260 lbs and should be less than 200 lbs given my height, build and age
Needs further evaluation.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thanks for the follow-up.
It is good that you do not have any other symptoms of gastritis but still when you have feeling of tightness in upper abdomen with also history of peptic ulcer,hepatitis A in the past,it must be evaluated further to diagnose correctly.
As I said earlier,you should see gastro-physician who can take complete medical history and order relevant investigations (complete hemogram,liver function tests,urinalysis,abdominal ultrasound and upper GI endoscopy) and start the treatment.
Your shortness of breath and sleep apnea might be linked but we need to rule out gastro-intestinal factors first.
For your occasional migraine,you can take symptomatic treatment if it is troublesome.
You can continue with diuretics as advised by your doctor considering your puffiness over feet on waking.
Try to reduce your weight by both diet (reducing fatty diet and carbohydrates) and exercises (at least half an hour daily) which will also help to improve your glucose intolerance or your pre-diabetic status.
I would suggest you to see gastro physician as stated earlier to rule out the causes rather than just thinking on your own.Your doctor will know all the factors better.
If still any clarification then feel free to ask me.
Regards,

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