Thank you -- I actually already did that and I was answered by "Dr. Tinkelman" there. His answer was also greatly appreciated.
Also, you can ask your question on our Ask an Expert forum:
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Respiratory-Disorders/show/61
Where a doctor from National Jewish will respond. It's a free forum!
C~
Tammy,
Thank you for your advice. My Gastroenterologist is already convinced of my having GERD and that it has resulted in moderate esophagitis. I was placed on presciption strenght omeprozole for it. I think though that he and his PA who talked to me, were neither one convinced that the GERD was causing my asthma symproms. This almost seemed like denying the obvious to me because eating often flares the symptoms.
I think your mention of food allergies is an important one because certain things do affect my breathing very noticably. Like drinking coffee a couple of times or more in a row (sometimes even once), causes the acidicness of it to bring on my shortness of breath symptoms. Same is true of peanutbutter. I tested negative a few years ago for major food allergies (peanuts, eggs, dairy) however, I think I have intolerances to some of them and so it might as well be an allergy.
I will do more testing by elimination diet of these, to see if I see improvement. I do wonder though, with my having the constant phlegm production at times, if this can mean serious upper airway damage (I also know that spirometry doesn't always pick up on asthma, even with confirming or ruling out immediately present COPD).
I didn't mention in my first post, though should have, since the forum Dr. will probably read only that one, that I also commonly hear crackling and popping sounds coming from my throat. It's related to the mucous and not crackling like people have with pulmonary fibrosis, which is not mucous but rather from dry lung tissue. Besides the type caused by fibrosis, can only be heard in the lower lung quadrants via stethoscope (mine come & go and change, unlike fibrosis sounds, which are always there).
Still, the constant mucous sounds are concerning because it makes me wonder if serious damage has already occurred. I actually use a fan at night for noise, to keep from hearing it because I mouth breathe due to dry rhinitis -- my nasal passages stay very tight. They're small noises of course but hard not to concentrate on them, when you know they're happening.
Thanks again.
It could be the GERD causing problems - have you done a 24 pH monitoring or impedenance test? It tests for reflux (impedenance tests for both acidic and non-acidic reflux) - you write down the times you have symptoms and they upload the results to see if they correlate.
Allergies can also cause widespread inflammation - especially food allergies. You could try eliminating the common food allergens for a couple weeks and see how you feel.