Shortness of breath, imbalance, chest tightness

[JillyBean1982]

Hi!

I wad diagnosed as Hyperthyroid 8 years ago and have regularly been seeing my doctor and been medicated on Tapazole since.  For the last few years my thyroid has been at a stable level.

Within the last two years, I've developed this feeling of shortness of breath, or feeling like I can't quite get enough air in my lungs.  My chest feels tight and I feel like I have to force a yawn in order to get the air in.  I chalked it up to humidity in the city when it first happened, and as it was on and off, I didn't think too seriously about it.  However, in the last 6 months to one year, it's become much worse.  And recently I've been feeling this way every day!  It's stressful and it creates anxiousness as I never know if I'm going to feel satisfied with my breathing.  In meetings and discussions at work this can be quite stressful!

Now, within the last couple of weeks I have felt off balance.  Although quite frequently this will happen when I get up, it also has happened when just walking, or even just standing in the kitchen preparing dinner.  It's only for a second or two but it's enough to make me very worried.  I'm 26 years old, exercise 4 times a week, in good shape, don't smoke, don't do drugs and eat very healthy.

Although my thyroid level is controlled, I am wondering if this could be related.  I've read so many posts and spoken to others with thyroid problems that I know the symptoms can really very.  I feel that these symptoms are really keeping me from living a normal, young, active life.  Any similar stories or ideas would be calming.  Thank you!

[Angelak777]

I am on nature-throid and take metformin and was taking spironolactone for about 2 years, stopped it and tried to start it again months later and ended up with shortness of breath. It's random and the yawning to get that breath is frustrating. I've been off it for 1.5 months and i now wonder if it hormone related. I just don't know what to do but it seemed to circle around the medicine

[AmberShok]

I have been having the exact same problem since I was about 14, I am now 24. I have found that it seems to be getting worse. I need help...any answers?

[healthsnoopin]

i know this is an old thread but i have had breathing problems for about the last year in and off and in the last six months its been more regular....i can echo almost word for word many of the previous posts...ive been in synthroid/levothyroxine 75mcg for the last three years tho i was diagnosed only with possible under function (read 'subclinical') and me being the typical ignorant and trusting citizen i just went ahead and took it no questions asked.  Here i am three years later struggling with high blood pressure with swings to low bp and heart rate...breathing problems and chest pain....and no answers so far....yes you are not alone.

[mole452]

i was just diagnosed with hashimoto's disorder about 3 weeks ago and have since been taking synthroid.  the first 2 weeks i was taking 25mcg a day and now i am up to 50mcg a day since i was not noticing any changes in my body temp. or tiredness.  since the increase in the dose i have been feeling very short of breath and as if someone is sitting on my chest or constricting it in some way.  i saw the dr. and he said it is just anxiety.  however, it NEVER goes away, no matter how calm i am.  it does however get worse with activity or when i try to catch more air.  it is very frustrating and scary and i just want it to stop.  i am just wondering if there is anyone who had these symptoms when just starting on synthroid and then they went away.  has anyone tried switching to a different type of thyroid hormone like cytomel or armour, and noticed a difference?

[mtkst13]

have any of you noticed the breathing problems relating to certain times of your menstrual cycle?

i find this topic to be funny because we all are wondering if we're crazy or making it up!!!  (i have to find humor somewhere).  when i feel good and am having no breathing issues, i actually try to induce the breathing problems just to see if i'm making it up or if it's all in my head.  i've never been able to "create" or "induce" the issues this way.  for awhile i thought it was anxiety, then asthma, then allergies, then anxiety again, then asthma (i actually tried my kids albuteral to see if that would work...it didn't).

it's frustrating because it seems to be random.  i've been documenting more and more on the thyroid tracker.  after a few more months, i'm hoping to be able to see a trend.

i'm off balance a lot!  i always fall to one side or the other.  i actually experienced a bad vertigo episode while sitting down last week.  i've only had 3 of these episodes, but ithey stand out because they're so strange and because i've only ever had them while sitting.  i feel like i'm falling apart!!

do any of you have anemia?  i have a mild anemia that seems strange to me because my hemoglobin has been in the mid-to-upper 12's over the past couple of years.  now it's 11.3 and my rdw is 16.4.

i'm always trying to connect the dots.  i'm trying to attribute my current issues and issues of the past to a recurrent/flare-up thyroid problem.  the problem is that i'll never know since blood tests were never run in the past.  oh well.  i guess i'll go from here.

[JillyBean1982]

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the responses.  It's good to know that there are others suffering.  When surfing one of Med Helps other topic forums,  noticed that A LOT of people were posting similar problems, some of the posts I read felt like the words were coming out of my mouth, so it's definitely not just us.  But I wanted to find out if other thyroid problem sufferers were finding any similar symptoms together.  

I totally understand your frustrations.  I've hesitated this long with saying anything because I feel like dr.'s are just going to brush it off, saying I might be stressed, or not sitting properly at work or something like that.  And tracking it is a frustration too; the first thing by boyfriend said was, 'well, when do you feel like this?' and I KNOW that'll be the dr.'s first question.  Hmmm, I don't know...there's no rhyme or reason, some days I feel ok and some days it's awful from the moment I wake up...but I know one things for sure - I take the same dose of medication for my thyroid everyday!

I hope everything works out with all of you too.  Keep up the posts, as I said I'm going to ride this out now until my next appointment with my endo later in June.  So I will certainly keep you informed of any feedback that comes.  

Also thyroid sufferers, have you ever experience feeling inbalanced?  Not even dizzy or lightheaded, but just that you actually feel off balance, like you may fall - even for just a split second???

[jasmine8]

I posted the same question a couple days ago, beginning to believe I am the only one out there out of breath & losing mind, trying to pretend it doesn't exist.  The first time was after my thyroidectomy for cancer a year ago.  About a week after I came home I was very short of breath, that I felt like I was gasping for air.  My dr. put me thru alot of pulmonary tests to no avail...everything ok.  We did change my levothroxine to synthroid though, and over time it got better.  Until now.  Two weeks ago, I started on a low iodine diet for my upcoming 1 year RAI scan to check for cancer, and the shortness of breath started again.  Not as bad as before, but every morning I can't rush around, even walk outside for the paper without breathing hard.  This never happened before.  My endo of course said call my PC dr. and my PC dr wants me to see a pulmonary dr since all the tests she ran a year ago came back ok.  I didn't make the dr's appt. at first, but the next day when I couldn't breath again, I gave in and called.  It is scheduled a week after my scan.  If all these symtoms go away after going back on a regular diet, I will be completely convinced it is thyroid related....and not in my head.  If any real answers come from my dilema, I will let you know, but you are not alone.  I have no heart problems and my blood pressure is within range 98/68.  So what is it then??  Good luck and I sympathize with you.  It is a horrible feeling being in a middle of a conversation and gasping to get the words out.  But no one has the answer.  Hope you feel better soon.

[mtkst13]

i'm having the same issue right now.  i have to bend over sometimes to get enough air.  i yawn a lot as well.  it feels like i'm not breathing properly.  instead of belly breathing, i feel like i'm chest and shoulder breathing.  my shoulders and upper chest expand and go up, but my stomach goes in.  i thought everything was supposed to expand.

i'm on synthroid and just had my dose lowered from 112 to 88 because i had low tsh but normal free t4, free t3.  

i don't know anymore.  i'm very frustrated.  i'm sick and tired of the breathing problems!!!

[JillyBean1982]

Hey Skeeter,

Thanks for the reply...am so glad to know it's not happening just to me.  

I see my endocronologist every 3 months, and she always checks T3, T4 and TSH levels.  To my knowledge, I haven't heard of or been aware of FT3, so maybe something I will ask about as my next appointment is in June.

Thanks for the help!

[skeeterknitwit]

I can sympathyze with you.  Not being able to breathe is very unsettling.  You say your thyroid levels are stable, but what did they check?
FT3 had the biggest impact on my breathing.  When it crept up to high normal, I felt like I had asthma.  O2 levels were great.  I just had the constant feeling of hyperventilating.

So maybe it's time for more bloodwork to see if the Tapazole needs an increase?