Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: Katherine on May 04, 2023, 09:07:47 AM
-
Hi ladies,
I had such a frightening episode of breathing difficulties last night, this time much later, 6am, I woke up drenched in sweat, my airways were tight and my heart was irregular, and my lips were a bit swollen. I had eaten at 2am, and had loads of blankets on so it could be explained by acid reflux and too much bedding, and the swollen lips due to the heat, but I’m frightened that something else could be wrong. I woke with milder breathing difficulties at 12.30am too and had eaten before bed too without taking gaviscon. It only seems to happen when I eat close to bedtime. This time though it was so frightening I will be avoiding food before bed at all costs and taking gaviscon like clockwork. I did have a chest X-ray a few months ago but never been contacted about the results.
-
I am really sorry to hear this Katherine. You saying this happens when you eat near bed time makes me wonder if it could be GERD. Thankfully you have had a chest x-ray so you know your chest is fine as they would have contacted you otherwise.
Are you okay now? I know you will have been frightened.
-
Hi Flossie, I’m ok now but am just worried it could be something serious. The swollen lips got me worried. I will just have to avoid food near bedtime and take gaviscon like clockwork to find out for sure, then if that doesn’t work I’ll go to my gp. The thing is I know what acid reflux is like, you get the burning and the taste but I don’t have any symptoms of acid reflux when this happens. Maybe the acid is going into my airways, but I’m not coughing. It’s weird.
-
I think not eating close to bedtime with help a lot. It could even be that will stop this from happening completely. It is a good idea to talk to your GP to help put your mind at rest.
-
I spoke to a gp about it a few months ago minus the sweating and the lips and he thought acid reflux too. I will try not eating in the night, it’s hard as I’m kept awake for hours by noisy neighbours quite often and it’s hard going without food for so long. Maybe I will try earplugs. Thanks for being here Flossie xxx
-
I spoke to a gp about it a few months ago minus the sweating and the lips and he thought acid reflux too. I will try not eating in the night, it’s hard as I’m kept awake for hours by noisy neighbours quite often and it’s hard going without food for so long. Maybe I will try earplugs. Thanks for being here Flossie xxx
How unfair you have to put up with noisy neighbours all night. I assume you have made a noise complaint? It really is selfish of them to make so much noise. I can understand why you need to eat after going without food for so long. Noise cancelling earplugs may be an idea or even a sleep band.
You are most welcome.
-
They are not very nice people shall we say so I’m not getting involved. I’m not sure what I’ll do, earplug’s probably. X
-
They are not very nice people shall we say so I’m not getting involved. I’m not sure what I’ll do, earplug’s probably. X
I understand. Earplugs are the way to go then. My partner has a sleep band he wears at night. It is like a blindfold to block out light but you can also listen to things on it such as relaxing music to block out sound.
-
I will look into that thank you it sounds good x
-
Hi ladies,
I had such a frightening episode of breathing difficulties last night, this time much later, 6am, I woke up drenched in sweat, my airways were tight and my heart was irregular, and my lips were a bit swollen. I had eaten at 2am, and had loads of blankets on so it could be explained by acid reflux and too much bedding, and the swollen lips due to the heat, but I’m frightened that something else could be wrong. I woke with milder breathing difficulties at 12.30am too and had eaten before bed too without taking gaviscon. It only seems to happen when I eat close to bedtime. This time though it was so frightening I will be avoiding food before bed at all costs and taking gaviscon like clockwork. I did have a chest X-ray a few months ago but never been contacted about the results.
Could the swollen lips and tight airways be an indication of an allergic reaction to something (eg. a food which you ate yesterday evening)?
-
Look up lpr, also known as silent reflux because it doesn't have the typical symptoms of acid reflux like burning etc. People do talk of it going into their always, ears, sinuses. Would explain why it doesn't happen when you take the gaviscon.
-
Hi KateJo,
Thanks for replying. I don't think it's a food allergy as I didn't eat anything new, and it only happens at night. I did think I might be allergic to Utrogestan for a while but the fact it doesn't happen when I've had Gaviscon or Omeprazole makes me think it's not an allergy. I was very hot and drenched in sweat which could explain the swollen lips.
-
Hi Penguin,
Thanks for replying. I just looked up silent reflux and LPR and it sounds spot on. I had never heard of it. I had better be careful then as it can result in all sorts of complications. When the gp initially said acid reflux I didn't believe him because of the absence of burning and acid taste, etc. I am going to have a proper look into that.
-
Hi Katherine - so sorry to hear you're going through this. Just want to add that swollen lips (called angioedema) is a classic allergic reaction symptom as Katejo said - I'm very surprised your GP didn't pick up on this. Histamine is at its highest overnight, so it might not be connected to what you're eating, just that it's "tipping over" in the evenings. Sweating and breathing difficulties are all symptoms of histamine issues too.
Just to give some context, when I went through months of horrendous chronic spontaneous urticaria in the summer (which I'm now fairly sure was a result of my Estrogen level being too high) it was also accompanied by angioedema of the lips most nights - and again, it would only happen overnight. xx
-
Hi Gilla999,
Thanks for replying. I've never noticed me having swollen lips before, it's just this time I looked in the mirror as I felt so bad. So my GP doesn't know about the swollen lips part. It was another, male GP I spoke to when this first happened so I've never spoken to her about it. I'm going to make sure I take gaviscon or omeprazole before bed and make sure not to eat no matter what at night, to see if it's LPR, and I might have to see my GP too. I'm just worried they will take my precious oestrogen and utrogestan from me, they literally feel like an essential life source for me at the moment! I will have to think about this. Then again if I don't go to the GP maybe I could die from it in the meantime. So many decisions to make on 5 hours sleep! Oh well I will sort it out.
-
I hadn't thought of histamine, that's a good point, hormones can really mess with your histamine response. Katherine I do think it would good to mention the lips to your doctor, or perhaps at least try taking an antihistamine when it happens to see if it helps with the swelling?
If it is histamine caused by too high estrogen whatever, rather than food, then they may just want the dose adjusting so your levels don't go too high or law, whatever the issue is.
-
Yes i wouldn't worry about them taking your HRT away, even with my severe condition that was never a conversation.
Just to highlight though... when you have angioedema of the lips, you know immediately that it's that, without even looking in the mirror. They feel grotesque (and often end up looking not as bad as they feel to you). If you only noticed when you looked in the mirror it's possibly not the same thing. Good idea to rule things out as you suggest xxx
-
Hi Katherine
Im so sorry you had this. it must have been so frightening for you.
I think its a good idea to avoid food well before bedtime.
Im thinking of you. take care xxx
-
I hadn't thought of histamine, that's a good point, hormones can really mess with your histamine response. Katherine I do think it would good to mention the lips to your doctor, or perhaps at least try taking an antihistamine when it happens to see if it helps with the swelling?
If it is histamine caused by too high estrogen whatever, rather than food, then they may just want the dose adjusting so your levels don't go too high or law, whatever the issue is.
Hi penguin, after thinking about this and searching for images of swollen lips due to allergic reactions,etc, I don’t think I had that, they weren’t as swollen as any of the images, I think the swelling was due to my body overheating as I was dripping with sweat. I don’t know why I was sweating like that because I had the same bedding on last night in similar air temperature and I was fine.
That night when it happened I had 1 extra pump of oestrogel in the evening for the first time in a few weeks and a small glass of red wine from the bottom of a bottle that had been in the fridge maybe too long and I know red wine gives me excess stomach acid and boxed red wine with high sulphite levels makes me wheezy, but I thought I’d be ok as I’m usually ok with bottled wine but I drink infrequently. I just didn’t remember the gaviscon. I think because this breathing thing happens fairly infrequently, once it stops I feel like it’s not going to come back and I don’t have a strict routine as such, but it looks like now I really do need one as this will just keep happening otherwise.
Last night I followed my new rule of no food within 2 hours of bedtime and gaviscon before bed and I was fine, so I’m hoping it’s just eating too close to bed or the occasional wrong red wine that’s causing it.
-
Yes i wouldn't worry about them taking your HRT away, even with my severe condition that was never a conversation.
Just to highlight though... when you have angioedema of the lips, you know immediately that it's that, without even looking in the mirror. They feel grotesque (and often end up looking not as bad as they feel to you). If you only noticed when you looked in the mirror it's possibly not the same thing. Good idea to rule things out as you suggest xxx
Hi gilla, I looked at images of angioedema of the lips and I wasn’t as bad as that, now I think it was due to my high temperature. Thanks for your help though, I welcome any thoughts or ideas as they often are useful. Xxx
-
Hi Katherine
Im so sorry you had this. it must have been so frightening for you.
I think its a good idea to avoid food well before bedtime.
Im thinking of you. take care xxx
Hi discogirl,
Thank you, I was good last night, no food at least 2 hours before bedtime and gaviscon, and I was fine. Xxx
-
I just wanted to say thank you to all you ladies who replied, I felt quite traumatised after what happened and all your messages in itself made me feel better and recover quicker, you are all lovely xxxx
-
How did last night go Katherine? Did you manage to get a decent sleep without the breathing difficulty?
-
Hi Flossie,
I did sleep fine last night with no problems thank you, I followed my new rule of not eating within 2 hours of bedtime, I took 2 tsp Gaviscon before bed too just to be on the safe side. I had no symptoms as all. So hopefully this will continue. I have heard, however, that it is not recommended to take anti acid products regularly and that doing so slightly increases your risk of stomach cancer.
So I will have to look into that. It might be that just avoiding food before bed and during the night, and only taking anti acid products if I have had wine or something like that, might be enough. Once I have gone symptom free for a few weeks I think I will try that.
Katherine x
-
Hi Flossie,
I did sleep fine last night with no problems thank you, I followed my new rule of not eating within 2 hours of bedtime, I took 2 tsp Gaviscon before bed too just to be on the safe side. I had no symptoms as all. So hopefully this will continue. I have heard, however, that it is not recommended to take anti acid products regularly and that doing so slightly increases your risk of stomach cancer.
So I will have to look into that. It might be that just avoiding food before bed and during the night, and only taking anti acid products if I have had wine or something like that, might be enough. Once I have gone symptom free for a few weeks I think I will try that.
Katherine x
Sounds to me like this was all connected to acid. How reassuring to know this and hopefully you can continue leaving a gap between eating and going to bed. I have read it is best to always leave a gap of 3 hours if a person has trouble with acid. Maybe in time you will no longer need the Gaviscon.
I hope you feel better about things now and not worried. It is horrible to feel anxious.
-
Hi Katherine I an so glad you had a better night and have worked out the problem! I do wonder about you reference to antacids and stomach cancer though, I thought that was only in relation to the proton pump inhibitors that stop acid production rather than products like gaviscon which basically form a raft over your stomach contents and stop them coming back up. Did you read anything specifically about gaviscon, because I use it most nights as an alternative to taking omeprazole but would be looking at finding a plan b for myself too if it was risky?
-
Hi Flossie,
I did sleep fine last night with no problems thank you, I followed my new rule of not eating within 2 hours of bedtime, I took 2 tsp Gaviscon before bed too just to be on the safe side. I had no symptoms as all. So hopefully this will continue. I have heard, however, that it is not recommended to take anti acid products regularly and that doing so slightly increases your risk of stomach cancer.
So I will have to look into that. It might be that just avoiding food before bed and during the night, and only taking anti acid products if I have had wine or something like that, might be enough. Once I have gone symptom free for a few weeks I think I will try that.
Katherine x
Sounds to me like this was all connected to acid. How reassuring to know this and hopefully you can continue leaving a gap between eating and going to bed. I have read it is best to always leave a gap of 3 hours if a person has trouble with acid. Maybe in time you will no longer need the Gaviscon.
I hope you feel better about things now and not worried. It is horrible to feel anxious.
I think 3 hours without food may be a big ask of me unfortunately Flossie but I will do it if 2 hours doesn't work, I suppose I will have to have a Chinese banquet or something to keep me going ;D. I hope you're right that in time I no longer need the Gaviscon every night. I do feel better thanks Flossie, my partner is staying over the weekend too so if anything were to happen I'm not alone and that's comforting. xxx
-
Hi Katherine I an so glad you had a better night and have worked out the problem! I do wonder about you reference to antacids and stomach cancer though, I thought that was only in relation to the proton pump inhibitors that stop acid production rather than products like gaviscon which basically form a raft over your stomach contents and stop them coming back up. Did you read anything specifically about gaviscon, because I use it most nights as an alternative to taking omeprazole but would be looking at finding a plan b for myself too if it was risky?
Hi Penguin, Thank you! I am not sure which specific anti acid product it was referring to so I can't say with certainty, but I suspect it was probably about omeprazole. I know many people rely on Gaviscon and take it regularly and no GP has ever said not to take it regularly. One GP told me to take Gaviscon before bed due to these breathing issues.
I am going to look into it though, if I forget to let you know feel free to PM me. Also we must remember that correlation does not equal causation - what I read is that people who take anti acids (or whatever specific product it was) have a slightly increased risk of stomach cancer, but it did not say that the anti acid product was the cause of this increased risk. I suspect that many people who take these products do so due to the effect of alcohol or unhealthy diets and that, I believe, is more likely to be the cause of the stomach cancer, although I don't know enough about this to say anything with confidence. I'm sorry if I have worried you and I will look into that. xx
-
Thanks Katherine, I am glad of any info tbh so no need to apologise, and my GP also knows I have a swig of gaviscon before bed, although for me it only seems to be at certain times of the month, then it goes and comes back again. I hate all these niggly little things that happen as we age. I remember laughing at my mum and the amount of bits and bobs she travelled with to keep herself comfortable and I am now doing exactly the same. I wrapped my gaviscon and took it to Germany with me last weekend, just in case I needed it 🤣
-
Oh I understand penguin, my bedside drawer is literally full of medications, hormones, inhalers, gaviscon, creams, whereas just a few years ago I didn’t take anything at all. Then there’s my supplements and energy bars downstairs. I also need my noise cancelling earphones with me at all times. 😂. I also used to be amused at home my Nan used to keep telling me the same stories over and over again and how she would forget our names, now I’m doing it. I even forgot my partners name for a few seconds recently, I do hope it’s just hormones!