Suggest Treatment For Breathlessness And Pressure In Upper Chest Upon Exertion

Hi, I have carefully read your question and understand your concerns. I see patients like you on a daily basis. If i was your physician i would come up with the following possibilities for your shortness of breath: 1. You were doing a work up for unstable angina that gets worse during effort/exercise. Since all your heart testing came normal and your heart was not the cause of shortness of breath makes sense to reduce Coreg in half and gradually stop it completly. Do not forget to check your Lipid Profile ( Total cholesterol and LDL Cholesterol levels ). If high, i would advise to start a fat free low carbohydrate diet and repeat labs in 2 months. 2. You might have GERD ( gastro esophageal reflux disease) since you have heart burn. Reflux causes some of the stomach acid to travel to your lungs and trigger cough and shortness of breath. My advise would be eating in small portions and start a GERD diet i.e avoid coffee or chocolate, alcohol, smoking, fried foods, tomato juice, citric fruit such as oranges, lemons, grapefruit etc. Eat lean meats, no fatty foods. All foods must be boiled or baked. If your heart burn gets worse your doctor may prescribe a PPI medication such as Omeprazole or Pantoprazole to reduce your stomach acid for 2 weeks. if you still have heart burn, you may need an upper GI endoscopy to find out what is causing your heart burn . The most common cause is Gastritis( inflammation of your stomach) 3. After reading your history of moving to a renovated house, another cause of your shortness of breath might be mold induced hyperactive airway disease/ Asthma . Mold is an allergen that is present between the house walls or anywhere the humidity is high, such as the basement. This allergen or other environmental house allergens like dust mites can cause an allergic reaction in your lungs that will cause difficulty breathing. Asthma is triggered by mold or dust mites, but you need to have other criteria such as wheezing and low Pox (oxygen) to make that diagnosis. So, in this case i would suggest you get tested for environmental allergies and do PFTs ( pulmonary function tests) to determine your lung capacity and volumes during breathing in and out. If your shortness of breath gets worse i would start you on Albuterol pump. I would suggest you see a Allergy specialist to run the above tests and start treatment as needed. I hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further. Take care, Dr. Ledia Qatipi General & Family Physician