Please help i don't know where to go

I have been struggling for almost a year now to properly breathe. I feel as though something is preventing my diaphragm from going down all the way. I do not believe it is mental since I have been in therapy for it and also feel this issue even when distracted. It feels very mechanical, as it will take me over a minute to yawn as my diaphragm just gets stuck. This produces a hellish cycle of me continuing to yawn since i don't get the relief needed. I can admit the yawning cycle thing likely is somewhat psychological, but even if I suppress thinking about it I am still clearly not getting air and it sounds like I'm out of breath when talking.

For months I was convinced it was due to a separate condition I have where i cannot burp and thought it was just air in my stomach causing this. But after finally getting imaging done, my pcp said she has never seen so much stool on a ct scan before. She said that would explain the feeling of me not feeling like I can get a full breath.

What i do not understand though is I go every day! Sometimes twice a day. And it's usually good amount and a mix between 3 and 4 on the bristol stool chart. A far cry from all of the horror stories I read here of not being able to go for days or weeks. I will say that in the past year since this started I feel it's a tiny bit more difficult to actually push out stool, but I never once would have thought of complaining about constipation. It was wild to me to be told I was constipated without me actually thinking I was.

I have tried various prescription medications like motegrity and a couple of SSRIs to no avail. I have even done pelvic floor therapy for weeks and have had no improvement from that. I get on average 45g of fiber a day and drink plenty of water - I don't drink anything other than water and the occasional tea. I exercise daily as well.

I tried doing an entire bottle of miralax and it ran liquid towards the end, but it wasn't clear at the end so I don't know if perhaps I just didn't get it all. I'm a little hesitant to try again because the days after that were the only times i actually truly felt constipated. Like i started freaking out because suddenly i felt like i lost the ability to shit. Luckily that did not last.

I do not know where to turn. My local GI has not been helpful and is booked out for another 13 months. My PCP also is not helpful and is just telling me to keep calling GI for a cancellation (i have and they don't have any). This is a constant struggle with me since every breath i take feels like i am not getting enough. I cannot stand the idea of waiting 13 months for a GI that already has just shrugged at me. I have already dealt with this every day for a year right now and it has been absolute hell.

Has anyone else dealt with this before? Are there clinics in the US that are suited for this? I would be willing to travel, the only thing i dread is a year long wait for an appointment which seems to be par for the course in this field. I've turned to GPT in my desperation and it mentioned endoscopic disimpaction so I'm wondering if that's a valid course for me. But i have no idea where to go for that since i brought it up with my GI's nurse and they said they didn't do it.

Posted Sep 13, 2025, 10:48 PM UTC

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