Shortness of Breath

[Ryan]

I am 23 years old and have had asthma since I was two years old.  I was on Theophylline my entire life until about four months ago when I was taken off this and put on Singulair.  My breathing was great for about two months.  Then I started experiencing shortness of breath.  At first I just chalked this up to my asthma.  It would come and go for a couple of weeks so I went back to my regular doctor who then prescribed Prednisone for me to reduce the inflammation.  I was on that for a week and then went off of it.  I felt fine for a couple days afterwards but then it seemed to come back.  So I went to an asthma specialist who put me on Serevent and Flovent and also prescribed Uniphyl to see if that would reduce the inflammation.  I felt fine again after going on the Uniphyl for a couple of days but now I am starting to feel the shortness of breath again and I am getting worried.  I am not coughing, not wheezing like I usually do with an attack, and continue to work out on a regular basis.  I just have a hard time catching my breath even going up a flight of stairs.  It doesn't seem to be going away with medication.  I have always had heart palpitations but they usually don't cause me to really even notice them.  Could this condition be related to a heart condition or is this just a bad asthma episode?

[CCF CARDIO MD - DLB]

At your age, a heart condition would be less likely. It is much more likely related to your asthma. With your degree of asthma, you should be seeing a lung specialist.