When you suffer from shortness of breath, the first thing that comes to mind is that there’s a serious medical condition. It can be irritating too especially when it happens after eating meals. Most of the time, it isn’t something that is life threatening but you still have to check out what really caused it.
Here are some of the possible causes so check this out;
• Food Particles
You might have noticed that once in a while, food particles or even liquid may be inhaled while eating. It’s called Pulmonary Aspiration which is the entry of foods, pharyngeal secretions and drinks from the gastrointestinal tract to the lower respiratory tract and larynx.
If you’ve got healthy lungs, these can be coughed out but doing so may cause shortness of breath or even sore throat. But if you have unhealthy lungs and the particles are not coughed out, there might be a build-up of aspiration pneumonia.
The symptoms may include; chest pain, shortness of breath, halitosis, wheezing, fever, fatigue, swallowing difficulty bloody, green or foul smelling phlegm, and sweating.
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
This is a progressive disease of the lungs wherein there’s difficulty in moving air in and out of your lungs thus resulting in decrease of energy levels. This will also make it hard for you to go about your daily activities.
If you are suffering from this lung disease, you can also encounter shortness of breath when eating. Eating too much can be difficult for people with COPD.
These are the symptoms of COPD; wheezing, tightness in the chest area, and frequent coughing.
• Food Allergies
This happens to be one of the most frequent reasons you experience shortness of breath after eating. It doesn’t just happen to you but almost everyone experiences this once or more in their lifetime.
Sea foods and nuts are two of the foods that usually cause allergies. If this happens to you often, consult a doctor. You may be asked to undergo an allergy test to determine what foods can trigger.
An allergy attack that can be severe and may need an urgent medical attention is called Anaphylaxis. This one’s quite deadly and these are some of the symptoms; throat tightness, shortness of breath, palpitation, rashes, and fainting. If you have this kind of allergic reaction, make sure that you always have EpiPen. This is a medical tool which will allow you to inject yourself with epinephrine to counteract the allergic attack.
After you’ve been tested, try avoiding foods that may trigger difficulty in breathing.
• GERD/Asthma
People who have asthma suffer from difficulty in breathing especially if they are also inflicted with GERD or gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Asthma affects the airways inside the lungs while GERD is a disorder in the digestive system that affects the food pipe’s muscles. It’s the tube which connects the stomach to the mouth.
Avoid alcohol and caffeinated drinks, fatty and fried foods, citrus, garlic, onions and peppermint.
• Hiatus Hernia
This causes pain in the upper or middle abdomen. Hernia may occur when a tissue or organ squeezes in the body where it doesn’t belong. In hiatus hernia, the stomach bulges in the chest. This may cause shortness of breath and it may get worse after food intake.
