Shortness of breath?

[jenna2007]

Hello all

Did anyone experience Shortness of breath followed by chest pain during Ribavirin treatment ?

Thank you :)

[sfwandwow]

well i have had shortness of breath that comes and goes.and anxiety surely dont help us. before i started tx they gave me a EKG... and full physical.. have a great day..

[R Glass]

Yes, I have shortness of breath. Sometimes it is worse than others. Shortness of breath is a common tx side effect. The chest pains can be caused from a number of things such as stress, sleep deprivation, anxiety, etc. However, they are not to be taken lightly and MUST be discussed with your Dr. Shortness of breath and chest pains can be symptoms of Heart Problems. I have had a Heart Attack and know what to expect, and I was not overly concerned. But I did immediately discuss this with my Dr.

[hepCC]

I did. The shortness of breath started already in the second week of treatment, so I don't think it is solely an anemia issue. The chest pains came later, around week six. I was a little worried for a while, but after a few weeks they went away. During these weeks my haemoglobin levels did go down, but not below 11. Try to rest and take it easy, and get checked as others said. It's probably nothing to worry about, and normal for tx.

[nygirl7]

Ditto Jim.  While it very well could be anemia kicking in (do you have your CBCs done regularly? Have you been monitoring your hemoglobin levels) it could also be something much worse.........none of us are doctors we only guess at things here as we are just patients in truth.

If you are sure it's nothing like a heart attack or something.........have your CBC done. Procrit will help fix the situation but it can take 2 - 6 weeks to work. And they are LONG weeks!

Good luck!

[jmjm530]

Any shortness of breath and especially chest pain should be reported to your doctor immediately.

[FlGuy]

Many have.  It's often a harbinger of decreasing hemoglobin levels and approaching anemia.  Contact your doc, let him know and see if you can get a CBC to pinpoint any blood level impacts.