Breathlessness & chest pains for 6 months?

[Mummy9431]

So, the feeling of breathlessness starts immediately after eating in the morning and last all day, by dinner time the pain in the chest starts too.
(I really think the amount of air in trying to inhale is causing this pain to my chest)
I’ve had bloods, camera down throat , ECG and a chest X-ray done (all clear, except waiting on results from x-ray)

3 drs have put it down to acid reflux which I do suffer horrendously with, to the point it wakes me up in the middle of the night, no amount of medication or gavison seem to work.

my anxiety is going mad because I’m thinking it’s something more serious than acid which isn’t helping the situation in hand.

any thoughts that could easy my anxiety or how bad acid reflux can really be?
thanks

I can’t believe loads of people know about iron levels giving chest pain and breathlessness but the dr hasnt mentioned this once and I’ve been 5 times about the same issue 🤯

It seems any food can set acid reflux off for different people, I have definitely changed my diet but I will be cutting it back more then start adding things back slowly.
the dr did say when I had camera into my stomach that the value was open abit so that’s how the acid is coming through.

Doesn't surprise me at all

Iron deficiency and anaemia are woefully undermanaged in this country and yet proper treatment can completely reverse symptoms. It is a condition disproportionately seen in women and therefore not important to the medical profession.

The WHO actually discusses anemia as a public health crisis as being iron deficient in your reproductive years can lead to lasting health issues for the baby too.

Loads of good advice already about iron levels etc

It’s great that you have been checking out already in terms of ecg etc to rule out anything obviously structural wrong with heart or life threatening. Try to talk calmly to yourself and remind yourself that while horrible to experience there is likely nothing seriously wrong.

additional things to check beyond iron and B12 levels:

what is your heart rate doing? If you have a smart watch, keep an eye on your heart rate especially going from sitting to standing. Breathlessness could be due to dysautonomia (eg POTS) where your heart is trying to compensate for low blood volume by beating faster. This will make you out of breath. It’s usually particularly striking going from sitting or lying down to standing up. Losing a lot of blood, the infusion and the low iron could all be triggers

Also try breathing exercises to calm the breathlessness. I found buteyko breathing really helpful for that “help I’m not getting enough air” feeling - which is known as Air Hunger. It can happen when you can breath fine, but for whatever reason your circulation system isn’t using oxygen very well. That sends signals to your brain to breath more. Breathing exercises help retrain your system to get better at using oxygen.

Both of these - air hunger and dysautonomia- can feel like anxiety or a panic attack. And are often initially dismissed by doctors as that. The symptoms and sensations are the same. But there is a physical (albeit not life threatening!) cause.

There was an article in The Guardian recently about undertreated iron deficiency- https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/nov/02/why-do-i-feel-tired-iron-deficiency-symptoms-anaemia-fatique-exhaustion

The op has had bloods taken. A full screen when someone is presenting with breathlessness would include ferritin. It isn't an an unusual test that would be requested separately.

The fact the op doesn't know what the result is suggests, like all the other investigations, that is is normal.

Acid reflux seem to be what the medical professionals have diagnosed plus as the op says they are very anxious so panic will be ramping it up.

They didn’t do my ferritin levels for some reason, I can see it all on the app and also asked the dr to confirm this.

I am going to book an appointment for it testing tho.

no my anxiety isn’t great at all especially with health. I don’t really know how a dr would treat it as I’ve lived with it so long. I can’t understand how it could be treated?

That’s a great suggestion about smart watch! I have one I don’t wear so I’ll be putting that back on and keeping an eye on my heart rate thank you!

With all due respect that is not my experience. Nor is it the experience of many iron deficiency patients in the UK.

Many GPs do not check for Ferritin routinely. They check for Hb and if it is within normal female range (and the literature discusses that the reference ranges may already be wrong) they do not look further into iron defiency before or without anaemia.

Also the NICE guidance states that a Ferritin below 30 is iron deficiency, but my local hospitals uses a lowered threshold of 11 for their reporting. Additionally, the haematologists caring for me stated that mine must stay above 100 to ensure no symptoms.

Not knowing the result of your Ferritin, or being told it is fine, is not necessarily enough in the current NHS to rule out an iron deficiency reason for breathlessness.

I could maybe have avoided a prolonged period of ill health and a lot of additional issues if my GPs had even the most basic of knowledge or interest in iron deficiency, tested my Ferritin as well as my Hb and treated low Ferritin properly earlier on. The NHS wouldnt have had to pick up the pieces and provide emergency iron infusions for a start.

This may well be nothing to do with OP issues, but to be so sure that no news is good news on blood results is not always right.

Yeah I totally agree, my drs levels for iron is 10 to 291 within that range is classed as normal.
to say all this started after having my daughter and my iron levels went from 3 to 290 and back down to 50 all in 2 months is really making me think my iron levels have probably dropped more.

Also be aware that some people can take iron tablets and they work fine but others simply don't absorb it.

Best would be to get iron from food. So long as you're not vegetarian then I'd try organ meats e.g. liver. You can hide it in things like meat loaf if you don't like the taste.

I had those exact symptoms for 3 months plus a cough because the short breath made it hard to breathe. I was diagnosed with asthma. Never had it as a child and no family history. But years of being exposed to air pollution or whatever else can cause it as an adult even if you are a perfectly healthy person! I was shocked initially to be diagnosed but the doctor got it right as I am feeling back to my old self minus those awful symptoms. I am on a type of puffer (not the standard one people may associate with but one with a lower dosage).

Have you had your blood pressure checked? I had similar symptoms and was looking at iron/ B12.

Accidentally found out that my blood pressure was very high. Symptoms went away after starting tablets.

Yes I check my blood pressure quite often and it’s always good, also it’s always good when to dr does it too.

thinking more about my iron been low, I am always tired. Like I can have 10 hours and still be absolutely shattered. I just put it down to have two young children and working.
I also have spells of dizziness.

Given the dizziness and fatigue definitely do a sit stand test to check for dysautonomia . You can do it yourself at home if you have a BP monitor. Take HR and BP sitting down quietly. Then stand up. Don’t move around just stand still. Take a BP and HR reading after 1 min, and then every 2 minutes until you get to 10 minutes. It helps to have someone else to take the readings. Also note if you get any symptoms like dizziness, tunnel vision, breathlessness or palpitations.

You’re looking to see if your BP drops on standing and/or if your HR goes up by more than 30bpm and doesn’t come down again (it’s normal for it to go up when you first stand, but it should come down again within a minute or two).

If you get either of those things go to your GP, tell them what you’ve seen, and ask to be screened properly for orthostatic intolerance and POTS.

You can find more info about the latter on POTS.UK website

Just to update- X-ray results came back clear, heart and lungs are healthy.
iron and B12 results back.
iron 58 ng/ml. Normal range between 10-291
b12 228 ng/L normal range between 211-911

i do think there both on the lower side so it could be causing problems but if the drs think there normal they won’t do anything will they?

it’s worth discussing the iron and B12. They probably won’t prescribe anything, but they might support you buying supplements yourself and retesting levels in 3-6 months.

For some conditions some people find improvement if they can get iron up to 100 or so, and 58 is low-ish.

Ask to be tested for Helicobacter Pyroli.

Could it be the cleaning products you use? I was having shortness of breath and some chest pain for a few months, I eventually linked it to cleaning products, such as anything that sprays like multi surface spray, elbow grease, anti bac spray, bleach spray.

No they won't but you can buy ferrous fumarate otc if you're worried.

Stress and anxiety can cause chronic fatigue so I do think you need to take the focus off blood results and investigations which have all been normal and address wellbeing issues. Try calming apps, physical activity to promote good sleep and mood. Yes you have reflux but the chest pain and breathlessness (in the absence of other medical diagnosis) is classis panic attack symptoms probably brought on by your health anxiety

If I were you I'd think right bloods all normal, investigations all fine, I'm on thre correct meds for reflux then really try calming measures and self care stuff. Good luck.

My oldest DS tested positive for this. He was really quite ill with it. You can actually buy the testing kits in Boots now.

She has diagnosed gastric reflux and has had a gastroscopy. They'll have screened for HP with the symptoms the op has.

@Gloriia that’s correct, they took a biopsy while having the camera and everything came back clear :)

Reflux can definitely feel that bad - strong pain throughout the chest, up into the shoulder, feeling of discomfort breathing (sometimes think my asthma is kicking off)

I have to keep reminding myself that heart attacks do not last months when the pain gets going (again).

It's always worse if I eat large meals and alcohol is out of the question these days for me. It's best if I don't eat after 7pm

Gaviscon on the other hand is a regular tipple.