MS Hug and shortness of breath

[JulesL5S1]

I've been away for awhile.  I'm a limbolander - I won't go into details now.  Still in limboland however my neurologist has reopened the door on the possibility of MS.  

Anyways.... I've had shortness of breath for the last two months.  I've just completed a complete cardiac workup including echocardigram, stress test, 24 hour halter monitor.  The good news is that I passed all of the those.  No issues were identified.  My heart appears to be good and strong.

I have an appt for a lung specialist in a few weeks.  This is all deja vu for what was happening in 1999.  

I'm having extreme shortness of breath with little exertion.  I'm not gasping for breath or anything.  My airways are clear it just seems I can't get enough oxygen.  I have to stop and rest going upstairs.  This came on suddenly in Feb.  There is tightness/heaviness/restrictive band feeling in my chest.  It doesn't matter if I try and sleep on my side, back, stomach, other side.  

Can the MS Hug sensation cause this type of difficulty?  I'm not gasping for air, my airways are clear, I can take deep breaths just fine.  It's just that what I breathe in doesn't seem to be enough.

I saw the cardioligist on Wed for the reports on my tests, saw my primary care on Thurs, so yes my doctors are aware of this and monitoring it.  I have the referral for a lung specialist.  

Just wondering if one of those pesky "invisible" lesions could be causing this problem.

[jensequitur]

I agree - I think she's just a doctor who has MS - educated but not an expert.

But there's so many people with MS who have shortness of breath, unrelated to exertion, that I have to wonder what's going on.

[essdipity]

Jen, I've read that article a few times over the months, and have to say I haven't found other sites that agree with it. Ms. Stachowiak has a doctorate, but I don't think she has expertise in MS. She records her experiences very well, of course, and I don't doubt them, but that's different from providing scientifically validated evidence.

Nevertheless, I still have shortness of breath!

ess

[jensequitur]

I had shortness of breath for about four months, and it's very similar to what you describe.  

I also noticed that whenever I bent over, then sat back up, I had shortness of breath, and a hammering in my head - as if the blood was backing up in my head.  This was combined with a pain in my neck.

Sometimes I felt like I was 'thirsty' for air - like the air that was in my lungs wasn't doing enough to provide oxygen for me.  When this happened, I would take extra-large lungfuls of air, and try to relax.  Eventually it would go away.

So I went to the doctor so I could see if there was any cause for the shortness of breath, but they weren't able to find anything.  And of course this was at the end of the four months, so while I was being worked up, the symptoms went away.

My neuro is odd - some things that seem to be obvious MS symptoms he'll discount, and others he'll pick up immediately.  So he doesn't think it's related to MS, but I do.

This is an article by Julie Stachowiak on about.com about respiratory problems and MS.

http://ms.about.com/od/signssymptoms/a/respiratory_gen.htm

[twopack]

I'll be looking to see what you find out.  I'm recently diagnosed with MS after having symptoms for many years.  I also started with the tight band feeling, air hunger, and heaviness last February.  I had some changes and abnormalities in my heart rhythm but all the tests on blood flow in the heart and coronary arteries were fine.

The cardiologist started me on a beta blocker and that has lessened the symptoms but they don't have much to offer in the "why" department.  I've been reading about microvascular disease, a problem with blood supply to the heart that can happen even when the coronary arteries are clear.  It's seen most often in women.

I think I'd rather this be one of those MS things than a potential heart problem.  I just don't think I can risk making the assumption.  Trouble is, how can we tell?  I'm still investigating and will try to be both heart and MS healthy for good measure.

Mary

[essdipity]

My guess is that it could. The MS hug often makes people feel as if they can't draw a full breath, when in reality they can. If feels as if something is stopping the ribs from expanding as far as they are able.

It's good you're keeping up with this and making sure your heart and lungs are healthy. I went through the same thing about a year ago. PCP sent me for several heart tests, including nuclear stress test, which was okay, but I had to stop before I should have because I was totally out of breath. Also have a pulmonologist who repeats pulmonary function tests. Mostly I do pretty well, except for the diffusion component. I seem to be able to access only about 60% of the oxygen I take in. Still, no diagnosis in this regard. I'm somewhat overweight though not obese, and I'm out of shape, for sure, after many years of working on fitness. They tell me to exercise more, which of course I'd do if I could. So it's a chicken/egg kind of thing.

Meanwhile one of my neighbors keeps asking why I'm panting after climbing about 30 steps. Happens all the time.

I wish I could be of help to you here, but I'm pretty clueless, since nothing wrong has been idenified. So please just go through more testing and let us know what you learn.

Good wishes,
ess