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The Ask A Doctor message board provided a medium for sufferers of Heartburn and Gerd to ask questions about medical and surgical options for heartburn and receive answers directly from experienced Gastroesophageal surgeons.
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From: mrswhodat@aol.com
Date: 12/14/00
Time: 16:08:56
Hello. I appreciate your time and advice.
I went to the doctor in late Jan 00, complaining of difficulty in breathing and a pressure along the bottom of my right rib cage. He did bloodwork, which was normal in all areas except TSH. I have Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism. I started synthroid .075 mcg in March 00. During the spring, I began to feel better, but in late summer, I was back at the doctor's office with symptoms again. Synthroid was increased to .125 mcg.
The breathing problems went away after I started synthroid. Other thyroid symptoms such as hair loss, tiredness, constipation, etc., have eased somewhat. The doctor told me to wear looser clothes and that the rib pressure would eventually go away as well. It has lessened, and will sometimes disappear, but always comes back. Since mid-October, I have also begun having excessive belching. Additionally, I experience pressure (kind of feels like a traveling gas bubble, but I don't know if you can have one here) that moves up the line of my rib cage, from the inside bottom toward the sternum. Belching seems to relive this pressure. I tend to stay constipated, which I am told is a symptom of hypothyroidism.
Can consiptation or gas cause these feelings of pressure at the bottom of the rib cage and inside the chest? Can either one also cause excessive belching? Could this all be related to my lack of thyroid function?
I have a doctor's appointment next week and am wondering what I should bring to her attention, if anything.
Thank you very much. Vicky