shana or anyone -breathlessness

[ashpie3]

I posted a few days ago regarding this breathlessness I've been suffering from on and off..I still have not gotten an answer..this need to constantly try to take a deep breath or make myself yawn is driving me crazy..Does anyone know if postnasal drip and allergies could cause this..does anyone have any suggestions? I still can't tell if this is the anxiety I seem to be prone to or something else..I also have a deviated septum and take zyrtec and flonase

[National Jewish]

The key to this is for you to establish that there is no problem with your heart and lungs. If the tests performed have already done this, then this should help with your anxiety over this problem.  It is not common for allergy or postnasal drip to cause a sensation of difficulty breathing.  However, some people who have a blocked nose do express this sensation.

[spicer]

Hi!  I was hoping your doctor visit would help you but I guess not.  Do you have this every day?  Do you have it all day?  Can you recall if you were sick before you got this, with maybe an upper respiratory infection?  Did it come on all of a sudden or did you notice it gradually over the course of a few days?  Is this the only symptom you have other than the throat tightness?  Any chest pain or heavy feeling in your chest, either now or when it first started?  Can you recall anything at all that might have triggered this?

[angel_eyes24]

Have you been tested for Asthma? If your doctor didn't give you a Methacholine Challenge test, then maybe you need to ask him to give you that test. Have the docs checked your heart? Are you going to a specialist or primary care? If you aren't seeing a respiratory specialist, I would recommend making an appointment with one in your area.

[ashpie3]

i have had this off and on for the last 10 years..It will come on and last a few days and go away..I also get a heavy feeling in my chest sometimes and the nedd to keep trying to take a deep breath..Like I said before I had thought is was anxiety because 3 yrs agoo I had gotten breathing tests done except for the mechicoline (spelling}challenge and chest xray and everything was normal..Do you suffer from any allergies? I do get chest tightness and throat sometimes and sometimes if it's real bad the pins and needles in my fingers..how have your symptoms been?

[ashpie3]

I see a allergist/asthma doctor who did a bunch of testing except the methcoline because I was pregnant..I am getting that next week though..the only thing is is that I don't wheeze or cough..I just get a heavy feeling in my chest and upper back and the breathlessness..not gasping for air but more like I feel I'm not getting enough air..like I can't get a deep satisfying breath..any suggestions?

[spicer]

Did you read the hypeventilation document I sent you?  Because you have the classic symptoms of it, especially the pins and needles sensation in your fingers and the fact that it comes and goes.  Personally, I would be a little hesitant to attribute it to asthma, especially after 10 years.  The Methacholine Challenge is suppose to help determine if someone has asthma or not, but there's too many false-negatives and false positives to know for sure.  You could take it and have it show you have asthma, even mild, when in reality you don't have it at all.  
Did they ever try you on any inhalers?  Most people that I know with this will tell you inhalers don't help.  
You say you're an anxious person, and I'm sure the anxiety you feel with this is just making it worse.  Did you doctor ever prescribe any anti-anxiety medication for you to try?  Honestly, it helps me so I know alot of mine is simply the way I breathe, and the Xanax helps calm that.  
No, I don't have any allergies, in fact I was tested once and it all came back negative.  Do you?  

[spicer]

Hi - I was just wondering how you're doing on your asthma medication?  I've read quite a few of your postings on being diagnosed with the Methacholine Challenge, but you're not really sure if that's what you have.  I noticed at one posting you said you were sure you had asthma due to this particular test, but in the hyperventilation postings you had written and said you were doubting if it even was asthma and that your inhalers aren't helping much.  It seems as if you could help alot of people out here, especially if you had the challenge already and you're still wondering if it's asthma.  You have the same symptoms as ashpie, correct?  Not being able to take a deep breath.  Is that an asthma symptom?  Because it doesn't seem so from what I've read, and it doesn't seem as if asthma is what ashpie has, either.  I just read through this and it seems like there's soooo many people with this same symptom, I mean, the two longest postings in this section are about that one symptom, not being able to take a deep breath.  And honestly, it does sound more like hyperventilation and irregular breathing patterns than anything else.  
Can you let us know how you are and if anything is helping you?  (weren't you suppose to go back to your doctor?  I saw you wrote that somewhere)  Thanks

[ashpie3]

Hi, I have doubts that I could have asthma since I never had the "classic"asthma symptoms..I don't cough or wheeze so who knows..I think my doctor is just sending me because I had the other things done already..I know that my symptoms sound like chronic hyperventilation and I'm not one for taking medication but living like this is getting frustrating..How long do your symptoms last? I have a hard time believing that I could hyperventilate for a week straight! and then I have that aching in my chest especially when I breath in sometimes too..maybe I should just try a xanax or ativan and see if my symptoms improve.

[spicer]

My, you have almost the exact same symptoms as me - heavy feeling in my chest and upper back pain at times.  You're fortunate your symptoms are only for a week; I've had mine for over two months.  It was really bad at the beginning but has slowly gotten better with the Xanax, and now it's pretty much gone except for an occasional episode.  And yes, you can hyperventilate for quite some time because chronic hyperventilation has to do more with your breathing patterns throughout the course of the day as opposed to an isolated 'attack' where you would start breathing very fast.  Most people who have it have had it for years, like you, and go from doctor to doctor trying to find out what's 'wrong' with them.  You have almost every classic symptom of it, even more than me.
I want to ask you about the heaviness in your chest that you feel, just to see if you're feeling the same thing I am.  To describe mine, I guess it would be like what someone with asthma would feel, at least from what people with asthma have described to me.  They say it feels like an elephant is sitting on their chest.  Mine isn't quite that bad, but it does feel 'heavy' and 'tight', very uncomfortable.  Makes me think this is what a normal person would feel if they laid on their back and set a book on their chest. Is this what yours feels like?

[ashpie3]

Hi Shana, yes that is what the heaviness feels like to me also..and sometimes if this breathing thing goes on for aWHILE I get an aching sensation when I inhale..and it feels like the muscles in my upper back ache too..is your problem constant like everyday or do you have a day where it doesn't bother you and then you become aware if it and it starts up again? how old are you? do you feel like when you try to make yourself yawn that the yawn gets stuck and you can't yawn?

[spicer]

I'm in my 40's but I've had this problem for about as long as you have.  And yes, I have days when it's gone only to pop back up again.  I don't get the ache in my back too often but I've had it a couple of times, right where yours is.  Never had a clue what that was from.  But I'd only have that for a day and then it would be gone.  Yawning is a joke on my bad days, and I'm sure I look just as silly as I feel.  I try to yawn and I look like someone who is faking a yawn because it doesn't look or feel real.  And it's terribly frustrating because I can't get enough air in to finish it.  I have noticed lately though, certain times when it's worse, and I think it's because I'm breathing different.  Alot of times when I'm working outside I'll feel it when I come in even if I was fine when I went out.  And all I'm usually doing is watering flowers, nothing really strenuous.  But I'm thinking maybe I'm breathing different or through my mouth more because I'm still being more physical than I would be sitting on the couch.
When do you go for your Methocholine Challenge test?  Will you let us know what happens?

[angel_eyes24]

Sorry it took so long to respond. To answer your question I went back to the respiratory specialist and I told him I was still having trouble getting a good deep breath but it wasn't as bad as it used to be, he told me to keep taking the inhalers and see what happened and that I wouldn't have to come back a year. What a crock of ****!!! He tells me to come back in a year but yet I'm still having problems. I made an appt with my PCP b/c I had been experiencing reflux, so he prescribed Nexium. Also I previously took Paxil for my anxiety but I stopped b/c it made me feel out of it, so my PCP switched me over to Zoloft. He told me I could take Xanax if I didn't like the Zoloft. Anyways, after I started taking the Nexium and Zoloft I started feeling sooooo much better. MY PCP told me that sometimes asthma meds won't work if you have reflux and in order for the meds to start working you have to eliminate the reflux. I forgot to take my Zoloft for a few days and b/c of that I started having problems with trying to get a deep breathbut at the same time I was stressed out so I don't know if the stress had something to do w/it. My PCP said that if I wanted him to treat my asthma to call him. I had told him how the respiratory specialist wouldn't listen to me. When I mentioned what meds the respiratory specialist had me on my PCP got this look on his face like you couldn';t believe. He told me that if he were the one to diagnose my asthma that he would've gone about it a whole different way and would've started me off on Advair. I take Albuterol, Atrovent,Qvar, and Singulair. My respiratory specialist told me from the start that treating asthma takes time and finding the right meds takes time. He say's it's process mixing and matching. Well, if that's the case then why didn't he change my meds to see if something worked better for me. At this point I'm still clueless about whether or not it's really asthma.
I have begin to notice that I don't breath normal. What I mean is I breathe with my chest instead of my stomach. When I start concentrating hard enough I am able to breathe with my stomach and I notice that I don't have problems getting a good deep breath. I used to smoke but I quit 6 yrs ago. You know when you're smoking a cigarette you tend to take shallow breaths, well maybe it's b/c I forgot how to breath normal. I can remember when I smoked I never caught myself trying to take deep breaths. It's like I forgot how to breathe correctly and I still haven't learned. I don't know though.
Chest pressure is what worries me. I have had the Echocardiogram but I still think about "what if" it missed something. I read on hear that an Echo can't determine whether or not there are any blockages, that's what scares me. I need to go to my PCP and see what re recommends and go from there. If need be I'll get a 2nd opinion.
Also, my friend has been experiencing the same symptoms as all of us, she is having all sorts of tests ran so I'll let you know what they come up with, if anything.

[Jmariew]

ITS CALLED VOCAL CHORD DYSFUNCTION...ASK YOUR ERN DOC ABOUT IT. I PROMISE YOU THATS WHAT YOU HAVE, GET IT CHECKED OUT AND YOU ALL WILL START FEELING BETTER VERY SOON.

[POLLYANNA2828]

I had that problem for sooooooooooo many years and got NO
help from several doctors. When I started taken the one
vitamin from the B family my breathing became regulated
almost immediately.
It is called PANTOTHENIC ACID and it is INEXPENSIVE.
You may e-mail me after taken thia vitamin to tell me
that it WORKED for you.
***@****

[POLLYANNA2828]

SORRY...........gave an incorrect address.
It is ***@****

[spicer]

Ok, you're going to have to give us a little more background on this.  You are saying that you had the same symptoms we all have?  Some on here have since been diagnosed with asthma.  Were you also?  I take a stresstab that has that particular B vitamin in it, 20 mg which is 200% of the RDA.  Did you take it by itself?  And at what strength?
I know I speak for all of us when I ask why this vitamin helped, or rather, what is it that it's fixing?  We would so appreciate if you could tell us a little more about what happened to you.....and thank-you for helping :)

[POLLYANNA2828]

I have studied health books for at least 40 years and know of NO multivitamin that is correctly balanced. Too much of one can create the need for another according to Adele Davis in her book LET`S GET WELL. Most of the writers refer to quotes from her.
I took Pantothenic Acid (100 mg.) and got immediate results.

[spicer]

I'll look up Adele's book tomorrow in the bookstore, I'm assuming this treatment is suggested in the book?  I will try the Pantothenic acid and see if it helps.  Did you ever stop taking it to see if your symptoms came back?

[spicer]

Hi - Was thinking about you and wondering how you were doing?  Are you getting any better, or are you still the same?  Also, whatever happened to your friend who was experiencing the same symptoms, did she have testing done to find out what it was?  Would love to hear how you are........

[angel_eyes24]

Hello! How are you? Well, I feel like I'm not getting any better. At one point I started feeling better, but this week it has been bad. I would like to try a different asthma med just to see if it helps, if not then I know it's not asthma.
My friend has not yet had her Methacholine Challenge Test, she went in to have her stress test but it was going to take 3 hours, so she had to reschedule b/c she was on her lunch break. I'll let you know how that turns out.

[blhutt]

Thank goodness....I've been feeling like I was crazy.  Let me add something to the mix.  I have been experiencing this for about 2 months..started with strong chest pain and the inability to take a deep breath.  Xrays showed fluid around heart, but later xrays were normal and pain subsided SOME, but not all the way.  The thing my doctor was concerned about was that my heart rate was only 47.  Very low.  Blood pressure and oxygen saturation normal.  I've also gained 12 unexplained pounds despite the fact that my activity has increased.  I'm 30, 5'7", and 132 lbs, so not overweight, but the weight gain is still unusual for me.

I have become so conscious of my breathing that I've noticed something I never have before.  It sounds strange, but I'm
"forgetting" to breathe.  I'll notice all of a sudden that I'm not breathing, so I'll try to take a deep breath, and sometimes I have to try several times before I can get that one good breath, or else I keep trying until I yawn, which satisfies the need too.  It's SO frustrating.  But my breathing is NOT regular, and I have to remind myself to do it.  Odd.  I've also noticed that I quit breathing as I'm going to sleep, and it wakes me up, but I don't remember waking up during the night after I've gone totally to sleep.  Does any of this sound familiar?

I've read a lot on central apnea, and it can cause the low heart rate, reduced lung capacity, and some stuff has said weight gain also.  Going to a pulmonologist next week, and hope he recommends a sleep study, although my problem is during the day.  

Please add your thoughts or comments...

[POLLYANNA2828]

I assume that you have obtained the Adele Davis book so I am
going to suggest another that can lead to MANY cures. The name is
Hydrogen Peroxide Medical Miracle by William Campbell Douglass,MD
Your local library will have it.
It is not as hard to understand as Let`s Get Well.

[twow]

Hi everyone....I have the same symptoms of not being able to get a breath in and sometimes waking up with tingling fingers, but I have no chest pain.  I have an aching sensation in between my shoulder blades and neck though.

I do have sleep apnea and sleep with a c-pap machine which seemed to help some, but I still don't feel rested most nights.

I had pulmonary emboli in the late 80's in both lungs and was in the hospital for 23 days.  Originally I was admitted for pneumonia but after the 10th day they realized that something else was going on.  I had an nuclear lung scan or x-ray taken which diagnosed the emboli.  I don't know if this is what is now causing my breathing problems or not.  I also feel like I need to yawn and I feel like I need to remind myself to breathe.

One doctor suggested pulmonary hypertension, but now to find a doctor to test for this is another story.  I had an echo cardiogram which is not the test of choice, so I guess I will need to beg to have something else done to rule this out as it is
nothing to fool with.

I am now 54 years old and feel like I'm 80.  I notice that when I lean back on a metal chair that I feel very uncomfortable in my upper back.  By the way, they never did find out where the blood clots in both lungs came from.  GOOD LUCK...Suzanne

[Vikki_Vik]

A related discussion, Air Hunger? Can't take a deep breath was started.