Shortness Of Breath After Eating?

[Freaked]

I have such extreme shortness of breath after eating atm that I just can't eat. The pains in my left arm have also gotten ridiculous. I wake up with chest pain and have constant itching pain in my chin, plus a feeling like something's stuck in my throat/chest. I vomit sometimes. Been to the hospital like four times over the past week; feel like I'm on the verge of a breakdown.

Anyone else with POTS get really short of breath after eating?

[Katybug]

Have you been evaluated for classic food allergies and also mcas? It sounds like you might be having some sort of allergic or mast cell reaction.

[AshleyPooh]

yikes!

What did the hospital say about what you were experiencing? Also I don't like the sound of the chest pain/ arm pain. I mean it could be from eating (gas can do that) but you need to make sure that's not something more serious.

I have had shortness of breath after eating. mainly it is due to heart palpitations and blood pressure drops associated with my NCS. overeating, or just being too full, can cause dysautonomia issues to mess up, so I hear, and so I have experienced as well.

[Chaos]

I've had shortness of breath after eating (and while trying to eat) that was pretty significant but don't remember that it was accompanied by arm and chest pain. While I've had all those symptoms, don't know that they occurred simultaneously while eating. I'm assuming if you have been to hospital 4 times they have ruled out obvious cardiac problems?

I've been told that one explanation for the SOB related to eating is so much blood rushing to the gut to aid with digestion that it messes with the rest of our systems. Hence why they advice frequent small meals rather than larger ones.

Sorry you're having such struggles right now. Like Katy suggested, have you checked into food allergies, etc?

[khaarina]

I also have had reoccurring unexplained pains in my left arm for the past two years, since I got got sick with POTS. Have you been able to figure out what that is? Can you describe yours? Mine is like a getting a shot in the muscle. I used to get birth control shots every few months and if feels just like that. They even did an x-ray on my arm because it had gone on so long, but nothing came of it.

I skimmed through your past posts and it looks like you have a lot of the same symptoms I do. Itching, high bp spikes, nausea, sweating, etc. I did really bad on Fludro. It made me feel really swollen all over and icky. Doesn't mean it will do that to you, but keep an eye on that one. A couple of your symptoms sound like GERD to me (I'm no doctor though). Before I realized I had indigestion problems I had a feeling that something was stuck in my throat or that my throat was swollen, and I also had a lot of nausea, vomiting, hiccups, choking while swallowing drinks, and a fluttery feeling in the middle of my chest (not heart palps, though I had those too). Have you had any other indigestion related symptoms? If you do have GERD, getting treatment for it can help you differentiate the heart stuff from the indigestion stuff. Sometimes they are very hard to tell apart when you have both.

[RichGotsPots]

Yes I think I have talked about this issue on here a few times. Mine got extremely worse 8 months ago. So I switched to a Paleo Diet because I found dry foods were the main thing that made it worse. So I don't eat any grain at all, or dry foods like nuts, nut butters, potatoes, etc... Also if I eat starchy veggies I usually low cook them and it breaks down the starches so they are better digested especially beans. It really helps. The only time I get it now is usually if I eat too much and am so full.

In my case it could be a number of things like stomach blood pooling, my Sjogren's which drys everything out or it could be inflammation.

Surprisingly I don't have any trouble with fish, eggs or meat. So I eat 80% fruits and veggies, 10% proteins and 10% starchy veggies for carbs.

I don't think it is an allergic reaction at all but if it's an overactive immune response it could be inflammation. Also could be a hiatal hernia on top of the other things that isnt helping the situation any.

[nataliaaaa]

I have the same issue, I was recently diagnosed with POTS. However I noticed when my left arm pains happen it’s not really at the same time as the shortness of breath. Along with the arm pain, when I eat sugar almost 30 minutes later I have all over aches and pains. But I cannot find the trigger as of why I am short of breath after eating. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t it could be as little as a quick little cup of fruit or a big meal. 

[MomtoGiuliana]

This may not apply for everyone, but I had similar symptoms after eating and my endocrinologist said that it was possibly due to increased blood pooling in the abdomen following a meal.  This leads to more severe POTS symptoms when in a flare.  He recommended more fluids with meals and smaller more frequent meals higher in fats and proteins and lower in carbs.  In general choosing foods with a lower glycemic index.  

Here is info about glycemic index.  You can also find lists of foods with their glycemic score/index #.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/glycemic-index/

I typically feel better when I avoid a high carb diet.  Especially in the AM I find it difficult to tolerate high carb meal.

[MikeO]

I agree with what @MomtoGiulianajust posted. Good timing as i have been working with my care team for similar symptoms. What we did uncover is that i get postprandial hypotension after eating. To show for this they have had me tracking vitals and eating at the same time each day and same like foods and like clock work my blood pressure falls.

Just by incident we also observed that when i would drink a cup or two cups of coffee with or after the meal my bp's would noticeably remain more stable. We will be meeting over this soon.

I did find a trial study on the NIH website that looked at the effect of Caffeine for postprandial hypotension.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3894971/  

[Pistol]

11 hours ago, MomtoGiuliana said:

This may not apply for everyone, but I had similar symptoms after eating and my endocrinologist said that it was possibly due to increased blood pooling in the abdomen following a meal.  This leads to more severe POTS symptoms when in a flare.  He recommended more fluids with meals and smaller more frequent meals higher in fats and proteins and lower in carbs.  In general choosing foods with a lower glycemic index. 

Same here. I used to be flat out useless after eating 3 meals a day, plus I was suffering from reflux really bad. Since switching to a 5-6 snacks a day ( rather than 3 meals a day ) diet that severely reduces carbs but is high in protein and fats I am doing much, much better. No more Thanksgiving-slump after a small lunch - food these days gives me energy, like it is supposed to. But I have to watch the carbs!

[Alexis Donn]

On 9/20/2013 at 7:34 PM, Freaked said:

I have such extreme shortness of breath after eating atm that I just can't eat. The pains in my left arm have also gotten ridiculous. I wake up with chest pain and have constant itching pain in my chin, plus a feeling like something's stuck in my throat/chest. I vomit sometimes. Been to the hospital like four times over the past week; feel like I'm on the verge of a breakdown.

Anyone else with POTS get really short of breath after eating?

I hope you are feeling better!!!! Vanderbilt’s Dysautonomia Clinic un-diagnosed me from POTS last July after I started seeing a functional dr who diagnosed me with mold, parasites and viruses. This is what caused my POTS. Its also what led me to get severe longcovid with constant chest pressure and shortness of breathing from eating. It was all the same thing - a bunch of mold and viruses lowering my immune system. . No matter what, I just hope you’re feeling better ❤️