Exercise

[Cathleenbak77]

I recently had to go to the hospital because of difficulty breathing.  I was told I had bronchitis with an acute upper respiratory infection.  I have been taking steroids for 5 days and I'm also now using a proair inhaler.  I was advised that I need to lose some weight and to quit smoking,  well its been a week with no cigarettes,  but i have noticed that I get winded fairly easy and need to sit down to catch my breath after doing simple tasks.  IE washing dishes,  picking up the living room.  Is this normal and if so what type of exercise should I do to drop some weight?

[David Tinkelman, M.D.]

Losing weight may be a desirable long-term goal, but it should not be a priority at this time.  What you describe suggests an acute respiratory illness in a person without a prior history of shortness of breath ( “get winded fairly easy”) suggests one of two possibilities:  1) that the diagnosis of acute bronchitis was either incorrect or was correct and was superimposed on previously undiagnosed asthma or, 2) that you do have acute bronchitis but, in addition, have one of two other diseases, those being pneumonia or blood clots to your lungs.

Your description also suggests that, despite the use of oral steroids and the pro-air inhaler, you have not experienced any improvement in your condition.  If that is the case, I strongly suggest that you seek additional medical attention to reevaluate exactly what is going on in your lungs and if different/additional diagnostic tests or treatment may be appropriate.

The bottom line is that, especially with treatment, you ought to be feeling a lot better than you obviously are and you ought to be reevaluated.

Good luck