Aa
Having trouble breathing, any ideas what it could be?
First off, I'm aware that no replies made to this post should be considered as medical advice or a diagnosis, I'm simply just wondering if anyone had a suggestion as to what might be going on inside my body.
So for probably two months now, I've been having trouble breathing. I can breathe in all the way, I'm not having pleuritic chest pain, I am short of breathe and my pulse ox doesn't seem to rise above 93. I saw a doctor about four weeks ago and he ordered an x-ray and cbc, both showed up with nothing out of the ordinary. He prescribed an albuterol inhaler and montelukast for what was thought to be allergies causing a nasal drip. I used both as prescribed for two weeks without any improvement, my breathing became worse and I was having to take deeper breathes more often. I saw him again and he put me on flovent hfa. It's been two weeks since then and I've noticed no improvement and my breathing has gotten to where I'm breathing in entirely every few seconds while resting. I don't dare try anything like walking up stairs or even fast walking, because I become very lightheaded and my pulse rises way before normal. I'm 17, 5 foot 11 inches and 160 lbs. I'm not obese, I have no pulmonary or metabolic diseases or illnesses. I was perfectly healthy besides having GERD. I've made another appointment to see my doctor again on Monday, I'm just wondering if anyone here might have a suggestion as to what might be going on with me. Thanks.
So for probably two months now, I've been having trouble breathing. I can breathe in all the way, I'm not having pleuritic chest pain, I am short of breathe and my pulse ox doesn't seem to rise above 93. I saw a doctor about four weeks ago and he ordered an x-ray and cbc, both showed up with nothing out of the ordinary. He prescribed an albuterol inhaler and montelukast for what was thought to be allergies causing a nasal drip. I used both as prescribed for two weeks without any improvement, my breathing became worse and I was having to take deeper breathes more often. I saw him again and he put me on flovent hfa. It's been two weeks since then and I've noticed no improvement and my breathing has gotten to where I'm breathing in entirely every few seconds while resting. I don't dare try anything like walking up stairs or even fast walking, because I become very lightheaded and my pulse rises way before normal. I'm 17, 5 foot 11 inches and 160 lbs. I'm not obese, I have no pulmonary or metabolic diseases or illnesses. I was perfectly healthy besides having GERD. I've made another appointment to see my doctor again on Monday, I'm just wondering if anyone here might have a suggestion as to what might be going on with me. Thanks.
So, you tried various prescription medications with no help.
More trial and error approaches? Hmm. It seems that successful treatment rates get alarmingly low, when doctors rely on certain tests which return negative results.
Well, I'll make an assumption that you are a predominately mouth breather.
The one single significant point, that I want to make here is, how critical it is to breathe well through your nose, for this alone can affect not only your breathing, but your entire life!
What makes nose breathing such a big deal? You're right to be asking!
Simple.
A. Nitric oxide, a gas made by your nose and sinus mucous membranes in small quantities, when inhaled by the lungs, greatly affects the lungs' capacity to absorb oxygen- up to 25% more! That is HUGE!
Also it assists the immune system at fighting off bacteria and viruses,
helps in gastric motility, plays a significant signaling role in the cardiovascular and nervous systems, regulates blood pressure by dilating arteries, improves sleep quality and memory and on and on it goes!
Nitric oxide was named “Molecule of the Year” in 1992.
Three US scientists—Robert F. Furchgott, PhD, Louis J. Ignarro, PhD, and Ferid Murad, MD, PhD— received the 1998 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine.
There are over 65000 studies done on Nitric oxide, since it it is involved in so many processes in the body!
B. Your nose produces up to 1L of mucus a day and if you're not breathing through the nose or your nose is not functioning well, mucus may become stagnant and lead to sinus and ear infections.
C. Your nose is connected to the nervous system and if not breathing through the nose, blood pressure, stress response, pulse rate may be affected.
One final note: Avoid sleeping mostly on your back,in order to optimize nasal breathing and to help avoid mouth breathing, post nasal drip and higher risk to obstructive sleep apnea.
Oh, almost missed this: Breathing retraining!
Please go to the Normal Breathing website, for details. Over 400 pages of amazing information by Dr. A. Rakhimov instructor and trainer of the Buteyko Breathing Method which is a powerful approach for reversing health problems associated with improper breathing, and which I have studied myself.
This method really works well to the point, that I'm very interested in taking the instructor's training in 2015.
Hope this helps.
Cheers!
Niko
More trial and error approaches? Hmm. It seems that successful treatment rates get alarmingly low, when doctors rely on certain tests which return negative results.
Well, I'll make an assumption that you are a predominately mouth breather.
The one single significant point, that I want to make here is, how critical it is to breathe well through your nose, for this alone can affect not only your breathing, but your entire life!
What makes nose breathing such a big deal? You're right to be asking!
Simple.
A. Nitric oxide, a gas made by your nose and sinus mucous membranes in small quantities, when inhaled by the lungs, greatly affects the lungs' capacity to absorb oxygen- up to 25% more! That is HUGE!
Also it assists the immune system at fighting off bacteria and viruses,
helps in gastric motility, plays a significant signaling role in the cardiovascular and nervous systems, regulates blood pressure by dilating arteries, improves sleep quality and memory and on and on it goes!
Nitric oxide was named “Molecule of the Year” in 1992.
Three US scientists—Robert F. Furchgott, PhD, Louis J. Ignarro, PhD, and Ferid Murad, MD, PhD— received the 1998 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine.
There are over 65000 studies done on Nitric oxide, since it it is involved in so many processes in the body!
B. Your nose produces up to 1L of mucus a day and if you're not breathing through the nose or your nose is not functioning well, mucus may become stagnant and lead to sinus and ear infections.
C. Your nose is connected to the nervous system and if not breathing through the nose, blood pressure, stress response, pulse rate may be affected.
One final note: Avoid sleeping mostly on your back,in order to optimize nasal breathing and to help avoid mouth breathing, post nasal drip and higher risk to obstructive sleep apnea.
Oh, almost missed this: Breathing retraining!
Please go to the Normal Breathing website, for details. Over 400 pages of amazing information by Dr. A. Rakhimov instructor and trainer of the Buteyko Breathing Method which is a powerful approach for reversing health problems associated with improper breathing, and which I have studied myself.
This method really works well to the point, that I'm very interested in taking the instructor's training in 2015.
Hope this helps.
Cheers!
Niko
You are wise to see your doctor again.
The doctor will no doubt arrange for different check ups, and he can also send you to the hospital to get a lung function test done. He can do this at your appointment, but the equipment the hospital uses is more accurate.
It may be that you have "air hunger", may be get anxious and try to breathe more. When you feel like that, the best thing to do is to exhale as much as you can before taking a breath in again.
Make sure that you get a good night's sleep and have a good sleep hygiene. This means that you go to sleep at a reasonable time every night and not stay up playing computer games all night. Not having enough sleep can make you hunger for air.
If you have congestion and a post nasal drip, doing steam inhalations will help.
To do a steam inhalation, boil up a kettleful of water and poor this into a bowl (taking care not to get scalded). Put some Vick or olbas oil or any other menthol oils of your choice into the hot water. Bend your head over the bowl and cover your head and the bowl with a towel. Breathe in the steam for a duration of 10 minutes, by breathing in through your nose (or trying to) and then out through your mouth. Try and do this 4 times each day, but any will be better than none. You can do this for as long as you need to without getting any side effects.
The doctor will no doubt arrange for different check ups, and he can also send you to the hospital to get a lung function test done. He can do this at your appointment, but the equipment the hospital uses is more accurate.
It may be that you have "air hunger", may be get anxious and try to breathe more. When you feel like that, the best thing to do is to exhale as much as you can before taking a breath in again.
Make sure that you get a good night's sleep and have a good sleep hygiene. This means that you go to sleep at a reasonable time every night and not stay up playing computer games all night. Not having enough sleep can make you hunger for air.
If you have congestion and a post nasal drip, doing steam inhalations will help.
To do a steam inhalation, boil up a kettleful of water and poor this into a bowl (taking care not to get scalded). Put some Vick or olbas oil or any other menthol oils of your choice into the hot water. Bend your head over the bowl and cover your head and the bowl with a towel. Breathe in the steam for a duration of 10 minutes, by breathing in through your nose (or trying to) and then out through your mouth. Try and do this 4 times each day, but any will be better than none. You can do this for as long as you need to without getting any side effects.
My mother had severe GERD and severe LPR until I took her off acid blocker nexium and gave her betaine HCL with pepsin supplements to increase stomach acid (high stomach acid is rarely the cause of GERD) and digestive enzymes to help with digestion. Both conditions were gone in three weeks.
The bonus was 25 years of gastritis pain gone in about a year of taking these supplements. And one by one her long list of mental and physical health conditions vanished once her stomach acid levels increased. Once you can absorb your vitamins and minerals you can expect your health to get a whole lot better!
I personally have had shortness of breath from severe bradypnea due to hypothyroidism, iron deficiency anaemia, and magnesium deficiency.
The bonus was 25 years of gastritis pain gone in about a year of taking these supplements. And one by one her long list of mental and physical health conditions vanished once her stomach acid levels increased. Once you can absorb your vitamins and minerals you can expect your health to get a whole lot better!
I personally have had shortness of breath from severe bradypnea due to hypothyroidism, iron deficiency anaemia, and magnesium deficiency.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the General Health Community
Top General Health Answerers
Nelson, New Zealand
Queensland, Australia
AL
way off the beaten track!, BC
Discharge often isn't normal, and could mean an infection or an STD.
In this unique and fascinating report from Missouri Medicine, world-renowned expert Dr. Raymond Moody examines what really happens when we almost die.
Think a loved one may be experiencing hearing loss? Here are five warning signs to watch for.
When it comes to your health, timing is everything
We’ve got a crash course on metabolism basics.
Learn what you can do to avoid ski injury and other common winter sports injury.
