Shortness of breath with PMS

[joy122003]

I'll make this short, but since the birth of my child...3 years ago, I have been getting shorth of breath about a week before I start my period. My GYN says he has never heard of this and he thinks it is all in my mind. Of course it isn't! Anyway, I am a healthy 34 year old. The only medical problem I have is hypothyroidism and I am taking medication for it. Thank you for your time.

[Samantha561]

This post saved my life! I was having terrible shortness of breath 24/7 air hunger. Went to urgent care, went to the ER. All the doctors said it was just anxiety. I even had a therapist diagnose me with OCD! She thought I was fixated on my breathe. I actually COULD NOT BREATHE. Finally found this post and realized that this was happening  during my period! Low progesterone causes SOB. It’s all hormonal. I feel 10x better now that my period is over but I’m going to a functional medicine doctor to do labs and get hormone therapy/ supplements. I highly recommend this type of doctor or an integrative doctor. They actually LISTEN to you. I knew this wasnt in my head. I kept saying “this feels so physical” not just mental. Then I found this post!! I started using progesterone cream and DIM. Listen to yourselves!! It’s not just anxiety!! It’s hormones. Doctors need to take women more seriously and actually LISTEN. Hormones effect everything especially for us as we get older. Thank you to everyone on this thread. We have to stick together!

[Emilymarie911]

I have been having breathing trouble, chest, shoulder, jaw pain and some tingling in arms and legs during and a few days after my period. I have been to multiple doctors all pushing me to some other specialist. I have have asthma test, stress test, autoimmune testing. But have got no answers and I swear all these doctors think I am nuts. I am happy to read that there are so many others with similar issues.  

[AMELGAR35]

Same :( I am 25, I have went to the ER two times in the last two months. I was scared I thought I was going to die, my heart was racing , my hands got sweaty , I was gasping for air. They did X-rays , blood work. Notbint, I am healthy, they said it was anxiety , which it wasn’t how do you just lay down on fb relaxing then boom, couldn’t breath. Scary.
I just got my period today! And this started 3 days ago, so I am goin to assume this is also PMs related. I hope this dosent last for many years , honestly this is depressing.

[Magdalena2102]

I have been waking from sleep because of shortness of breath before my period for YEARS.  I am 48 and it started in my late twenties, but progressively has gotten worse as I've gotten older and likely because I am reaching menopause within the next decade or less.

I went to the doctor over this summer to get a hysterectomy to alleviate my horrendous PMS, and he said "no, you're healthy and I won't give you a hysterectomy.  So you have a really bad case of PMS!  It's not uncommon, so I think in your case it's better if you just deal with it."

Of course a male doctor WOULD say that - but I guess I will wait it out...  all PMS symptoms are crazy. In fact, people think I am a homicidal maniac about a week before and I recluse as I cannot sleep.  It has caused problems with jobs, etc.  Let's hope in the future doctors will NOT say it's in our heads, or panic attacks (I agree, that's rubbish)..and they will actually do research to find a way to assuage the horrible symptoms.   I am a firm believer that some women kill because of hormonal problems.  Not all, of course.  Some people - women included - are just sadistic psychopaths.  However, some women become impulsive and enraged during menses...not a good combination.  It's time the medical establishment did something about this before it's too late.

[AngelaMiller]

Reading this made me cry! I thought I was crazy!! Now I know it happens to a lot of women. Thanks for sharing!

[mednerd]

I have been having shortness of breath during and/or just before my period for the past six months as well.  I did a bit of research and I think that the shortness of breath may be caused by catamenial asthma.  Catamenial asthma is asthma that is associated with your menstrual cycle.  Though the precise cause is unclear, there are various theories about how hormonal fluctuations may cause shortness of breath.  There is more information about catamenial or premenstrual asthma here: http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/158/13/1405.  This article was published in JAMA, a highly reputed medical journal, so it's worth reading and talking to your doctor about.

Hope this helps!

[d851]

OMG. I have had this since FOREVER. Over the last year and a half as my period became less frequent (am 49) I stoped having the problem. Then my period became "regular" again over the last two months and boy is it back. I have asthma, too, but my inhaler almost makes it worse! When are they going to really, REALLY study the affects of hormones on wome?. You read bits and pieces of studies that say hormones affect gall bladder disease, colon cancer and a host of other health issues! Mine bothers me when I ovulate and then again for the first few days of my period. AM having it now and know that the anxiety of having it makes it even worse...

[Jeannine47]

Hi!
I also suffer from shortness of breath shortly before and during my period.
This is my theory and how I help myself:
I am 47 years old, have Hashimoto thyroiditis and have been taking
high doses of medication for hypothyroid for 2,5 years now. Along with
the Hashimoto I developed estrogen dominance and treat this
with natural progesterone cream in the second half of my cycle. The natural progesterone also supports the absorption of my thyroid medication. I don't take progesterone because my doc recommends it. I did the research and helped myself. If you only rely on your doctor, you are lost!!!! The natural progesterone works magic. 2-3 days before my period is due I have to stop using the progesterone. This is when I am short of breath... my Gyno doesn't have a clue why... but I do. It is due to the sudden drop of estrogen and progesterone before, during and shortly after your period. But mainly it is due to the low progesterone. Estrogen is produced in several parts of the
body, progesterone only after you have ovulated. Low progesterone (or higher or unbalanced estrogen due to lack of progesterone) causes the red blood cells to transport less oxygen. Which makes you short of breath. If I feel this coming on during my period I use just a teeny amount of topical progesterone cream and it works wonders.I can breathe much easier. Progesterone is small doses is also recommended for PMS. I can only speak for myself but I would
be lost without my progesterone. I have a bottle at home, one in my work bag. If I need it, it's close by. No more mental fogginess, no bloating and my memory works much better when I use it. My vision is improved. My mood is great and I can be an  active person even through perimenopause... progesterone really makes me feel in control... and not like I'm losing it. After all, we women have enough on our plates with working, kids etc. and really don't need this aggrevation of not only not feeling well but also being misunderstood. A lot of OBGYNs need to absolutely look into this more and stop treating their patients like panicky, hysterical hypochondriacs. Natural progesterone as a cream (NOT to be confused with Progestin as in the pill) can be bought by many suppliers on the web. Good luck to all of you. But remember, it has to be Natural Progesterone which is bioidentical to the progesterone in your body.
I understand you. :-)

[tamara_m_99]

Thanks so much for this! Wondering what brand of cream you use?

[Jeannine47]

Bio identical progesterone from Biovea.

[LisOPBueck]

Hi, I am so happy that I’ve found others dealing with this symptom and not imagining this really disturbing feeling of not enough breath. I never used progesterone cream before but I definitely want to try and see if can manage this symptom cause it’s really hard to keep going with life once it comes. Any particular area you apply the cream?

[PinkFloridaFlower]

Why no one mentions IRON ? I have shortness of breath right before periods (like 10 days or so) and it is (as we found out!) due to low IRON levels. You need to take blood test to check your iron levels. Not hemoglobin, not red blood cell count or hematocryt (those came back normal for me!) but specific test for IRON. You maybe surprised to score low.  This is whats causing shortness of breath before period. You body uses a lot of 'material' meanaing blood to create lining in the womb and it needs a lot of iron during this time of month.
Iron deficiency takes years to develop and a long time to fix, at can be symptompless for many. Sometimes you may feel more fatigued, dizzy or light headed, out of energy when doing things, headaches and other strange symptoms that may not feel like something serious. My blood test showed that i do not have any other deficiencies in minerals mentioned here (magnesium, vit. D , calcium etc)  
Check your iron levels! As my iron levels got severely low my shortness of breath became horrible. I cannot even walk normally and wake up at night to catch with breathing and sometimes it will not even help. Scary!!! Check  your IRON, ladies, TODAY!

[cdbeebee]

This thread has been such a blessing. I have gone through what many of you have - with shortness of breath since I was about 38. It started after a bad cough and a few months on inhaled steroid -- maybe it threw my hormones off kilter? Maybe my age? I have also had any number of asthma tests, heart tests, CT scans, and throat exams and all the doctors came up with was GERD (and of course I had a few doctors blow it off as "anxiety," which it's NOT). I had shortness of breath all of the time, but after about a year it turned into just short of breath and a racing heart a few days before my period. I am now 43 and I still get that way before my period but much milder. I want to share what's worked -- I take Claritin daily. I avoid foods (primarily dairy and tomato sauce) that cause reflux. This has helped tremendously. But what has helped the most has been taking vitamin D supplements. I was tested and found my vitamin D was extremely low, and increasing it has made a huge difference for my breathing. Like I said, I still do feel short of breath with PMS but it's nowhere near as bad as it used to be, and it doesn't stop me from getting on with life as it had been.

[ahenslee]

I have experienced the same type of shortness of breath for over ten years now. It happens mid-cycle (during ovulation) and right before my period. This last episode pasted five days and was so frustrating. My doctors seem baffled and say they have never heard of this issue, which—clearly—is not limited to me and my hormones.

[urvi_sharma]

This is happens to me too! I think its because of the abdominal  bloating before periods,  which tends to restrict diaphragm movement, if you also feel tight in the stomach while inhaling then this is likely to be the cause.

[wifemomteacher]

My doctor JUST prescribed YAZ to me because I have tried everything !!!!!! I’m 33. I have had this for about 5 years now! My doctor now(after being told by over ten doctors no joke it was anxiety “and you’re fired” I finally found an amazing one who told me exactly what the problem was) he completely believes me he’s amazing and says hands down it’s hormonal imbalance. He believes it’s because the progesterone drops rapidly week before our periods. He put me on natural depository progesterone 200mg per pill twice a day,  when I start to get symptoms, and it worked for over an entire year!!! Soon as I would feel the symptoms coming mildly before the serious air hunger peeked that led to only yawning every minute for  satisfaction it for that whole week, within two days of taking the progesterone pills, bam it was gone by the third morning. It was awesome. But it stopped working so now he thinks I over progesterone myself and wants to put me on YAZ to see if I can just entirely balance out everything. I’m scared to take YAZ though. I will be back to update you all and hopefully everyone reading this. For those of you who have tried nothing. Please try compound progesterone depository 100mg a pill twice a day. This doctor said the reason cream or oral pill doesn’t work is because when our levels drop our blood stream needs to absorb it quickly and all of it. Hope this helps someone out!!!!!!

[IamMikan]

hello!I just wanna ask are you from the Philippines?

[Kelly2727]

Does anyone have any new findings or updates on this? I’m wondering if either birth control or magnesium (maybe both) could help?
I’ve been experiencing these symptoms for 2 years now (just turned 30). I was recently diagnosed with chronic fatigue and shortly after with mold toxicity so I figured this may have been related. Although, after noticing that the shortness of breath / trouble swallowing seemed to come with my PMS symptoms or at least get much worse I found this forum. Would love to hear if anyone had found information or anything that has seemed to help with their symptoms :)

[blackcat2000]

I too have the same problem as many here :( and while researching my symptoms came across this board. People write us off as insane and all doctors can do is shrug their shoulders. My breathing problems started about 2 years ago, in my mid 30's, and at that point I was convinced I was dying. Like many others, have been to numerous doctors, ER, etc. All ECG, CBC blood tests, lung x-rays and lung tests were all normal. It literally started driving me insane and all the doctors were telling me it's all in my head. I was gasping for air every 5-10 minutes day and night and at one point it was so bad especially at night that I was literally waking up every 30 minutes gasping for air, chocking with heart palpitations that would reach 200/130. Needless to say I developed a really bad phobia of sleeping. As a side note, I know I did not have a panic disorder because the attacks would come out of nowhere and last for days or weeks without any cause or reason. What drove me even more mad is that some days (about 3-4 days out of a month) I could breathe just fine day and night and it had nothing to do with anything external. Anyways, from the countless hours of research I've done, the only thing I am pretty sure of at this point is it does seem hormonal. How exactly it effects out breathing I'm not yet sure but it seems to have something to do with the nervous system and since breathing is literally controlled by the nerves, the hormones seem to mess up those connections so to speak. As far as what I've been doing to aleviate my symptoms is firstly I cut out soy completely out of my diet  (you'd be amazed how many foods contain it), I started daily exercising , drinking more water and drinking chamomile tea before bed. I myself don't have all the answers and am still struggling but I do feel a little better overall since I've added those changes to my life. Also daily bowel movement is important as others have already mentioned here, as the overabundance of hormones need to leave the system. Try to cut out as many stressors as you can since it does seem to be caused by some nervous system glitch even though it might not be directly caused by anything external. I hope I am making sense here. Anyways, that's my story and I hope that someday the medical professionals take us seriously and finaly do some research on the subject because people are literally living in hell with this.

[kiran_ars]

Hello girls.
I have the same symptoms.and now I have found the answers of this problem of shortness of breath before my periods.this is all because of water retention in the body.some people call it bloating. Now I m going to tell u the cure.its all because of magnesium deficiency.u can take calcium magnesium tablets.but magnesium is more important.a woman needs 200 to 400 mg of magnesium per day.and one more thing to reduce water retention limit ur salt intake.avoid sodium one week.before ur periods.eat cumumbers,bananas,almonds they help in reducing water retention.avoid sugary food as well.I am.anemic so I m also taking iron pills but not on the same time of calcium magnesium tablet.magnesium is very important to deal with PMS .basically its nor shortness of breath we r only feeling lije that.it is actually water retention in abdomen.sone people call it bloating.and also drink 8 to ten glasses of water before ur period days.I did all this and my shortness of breath gone in one day .I m feeling healthy better.

[Kbzkids]

Thank you so much, I thought I was going crazy. My breast swell and the shortness of breath follows. I will for sure be trying the calcium/magnesium. At least I know I'm not alone in this.

[CathH58]

Again, to echo many voices here: thought it was just me... Found this article (someone may have posted it already??) about a study out of Norway linking asthma, hormones, mensturation etc. NOT in our heads.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/09/menstrual-cycle-and-asthma-hormones-respiratory-symptoms-study_n_2102529.html

[Jenbean2016]

I have been having shortness of breath since 2015 around November when I started taking progesterone pills to bring down my menses. I started taking it and developed all kind of allergies at around the same time now I am allergic to shellfish, certain foods I can not eat any more, my GERD has gotten worst and albuterol does not help. I will be seeing naturopathic Dr maybe they can help. Around 8 years ago I was diagnosed with hormonal imbalance and I have noticed that I have gained weight and harder to loose it. If I find out what it is I will post it.if anyone knows what the diagnosis is please post thank you

[blairae]

I have had the same breathing problem as you all have described for many, many years just before my period! It goes away once I start my period, but in between those days I feel that I am suffocating at times. As I was getting an adjustment one day, I asked my chiropractic to wait to adjust my neck because I had to catch my breath. He said, "that's not normal you know. I can fix that with acupuncture."  He inserted about 6 needles and within about 1 minute I could "catch" my breath and started breathing normally. I could not believe it! Once I get a treatment, I am good for about 1 - 1 1/2 YEARS. It has been a really simple fix for me. So glad I stumbled upon it!! If you have never had acupuncture, it doesn't hurt, you just need to relax and not tense up. Hope this helps some of you as much as it has me!!

[krisra]

I was also have the same experience, before, during and after my menstrual cycle, i experience difficulty of breathing. Im experiencing this 3 yrs ago and getting worst today. Im 29, i visited doctor asking what the cause of shortness or difficulty in breathing. I was tested CBC XRAY and ECG. But its all normal. The doctor reffered me to OB,and he discussed to me that it is PMS or hormonal imbalance. He prescribed me a pills for 6 months named YAZ. I just started to take the pills last night. Hope it will work to me

[Chayu26]

Have the same problem since a month before the first period after having my 2nd child was born. It was horrible when it first happened gradually having difficulty breathing that lasts for days like something is blocking my nose, accompanied with extreme headache. Got checked by a gp (tests lungs and heart, all ok) and said it was  just depression. It goes away for a while then the evil cycle starts again the next month, which is when i then had my first period after birth. It stays after period for a few days, goes away and start again before period. During worst days i experience difficulty breathing, dizziness, problem with sights, and itching. Wondering if it is happening since my hormones are still messed up (just gave birth 4 months ago, had a misscarriage before this one and is still breastfeeding, periods are also happen with minimal bleeding). I thought i was crazy at first, but then realize there's a cycle to it, so maybe i'm not.
The thing is i live abroad, which complicates things since my obgyn speaks very little english.
Have anybody found a decent relieve for this problem? Does it gradually gets better by time? Does taking birth control pills help? (been noticing some have issues after stop taking pills)

[Brearhlessinnj]

I don't know when I started having shortness of breath related to my period, but I know I started correlating it to my period when I was about 30. I am now 39 with many more monthly cycles under my belt and the profound shortness of breath is absolutely caused by the monthly menses cycle. For me it starts about 10 days before I bleed and gets steadily more profound as the days pass, with the hardest to breath days being the 5 preceding the day on which I bleed. Then the day I start to bleed, I breath better than I have the whole month     and stay that way for about 10 days before.  Terrific breath in for 10 days, so so breathing for another 10, and struggle to breath for the other 10. I am convinced that it due to a fluctuation in hormone that only females experience. I think it is progesterone. Anyway I have researched how one can reduce naturally occurring hormone in their body. It seems you can't. I have tried eating broccoli more because I think it is supposed to make you poop out hormone.  I don't know but that didn't work.  Nothing works it seems.  Not even resting or forfeiting a bra.  You can have a do nothing day which is relaxing and still be heaving for oxygen for those days before your period. If other women I see are encountering this then they are hiding it well. But truthfully I think some females hormonal fluctuation with menses is just more profound than other women's. I think all women experience it to degree though. If anyone cared to research it, they would surely figure it out. They already know that progesterone fluctuates in women but researchers are not interested so far in the physical impact of the effect of that fluctuation on a woman's body.  It is not anxiety ladies. Only a man or one of those lucky females whose biology handles the hormones differently than yours will tell that arrogant presumptuous nonsense.

[ayyogurt]

Progesterone and serotonin both drop after birth and the few days before our period progesterone drops sharply, so likely low progesterone is at least a large piece of this puzzle.

[ayyogurt]

You're not crazy. No kids here, but I'm having this since going off birth control. Got better on progesterone cream, but then was having too long periods/bleeding so stopped for now. Some say it's from high estrogen, but I was on estrogen/progesterone birth control and didn't have problems, so I believe it's low progesterone. Consider natural ways to increase your progesterone (vitamin C and some others), or natural progesterone cream, or hormones if you're open to the pill. - Amanda

[Sussannalana]

I too have dealt with this.  I knew I was pregnant with my kids - not because of a pregnancy test -  but because I would get short of breath.  As soon as my body started to prepare for pregnancy I could not stop yawning to catch my breath.  It drove me crazy.  And now as I am close to menopause it is happening again.  I am a distance runner having run a marathon and consistently run half marathons. I also practice yoga several times a week. I feel very in tune with my body and can regulate my breathing even when I am fatigued.  This is definitely not an 'in your head" thing, it is hormonal and I will be thrilled when the medical community can recognize that women aren't prone to mental health issues like anxiety or depression...but we have hormones that signal that our bodies are changing.  I am thankful for everyone who has posted about this.  More awareness is a good thing!

[S34]

Check for GERD. Hormones can cause acid reflux. I was having shortness of breath and it would happen around my period. I had no other symptoms, maybe once or twice I would feel nauseous. After going to the doctor several times for the last year and a few ER visits with no relief. I started doing my own investigating. I had 2 dr. Tell me it was asthma and a lung dr.
I tried every inhaler again no relief. They did a CT scan everything was clear. I was then prescribed anxiety pills. I did not take these because I knew it wasn't anxiety. Half way thru the year we were in the process of trying  to get pregnant so I was then put on hormones which made the yawning and trying to catch my breath worse and all day. After We decided to take a break from fertility I then noticed  that my shortness of breath was after eating certain foods (if your hormones are out of Wack you may not be able to tell) and worse at night and really clear when I woke up. So I brought that up to my dr and she said yes that does sound like acid reflex, GERD or even a hiatus hernia. She put me on an acid blocker, 1 a day, it worked a little and then the next week she upped it to 2. With in 2 hours I could breath! It was such a relief. I am now in the process of cutting all the stuff I love out of my diet. I hope this helps you or someone reading this post. I researched this for the last year and I was so frustrated. A lot of dr's didn't have any idea because I didn't get the typical heart burn.

[Alibearc]

I too have been experiencing the same breathing problems for over two years.  I got checked for every heart, lung, and sinus thing they could and over and over, I was told by doctors that I looked fine on paper and it could be in my head.  FINALLY, I talked to my ob/gyn and told her it was cyclic and she BELIEVED me.  Then she researched a ob/gyn specializing in reproductive endocrinology and that doc BELIEVED me.   I'm scheduled to get tested for a progesterone allergy by doctors that are well known and research this disease (at Brigham's in Boston).  I guess we will see what happens, but I definitely know it is progesterone related.  Got the Mirena reinserted after having my first kid (was on it before I wanted to get preg) and within two months started experiencing shortness of breath and sinus swelling symptoms a week before my cycle started and it would end either during bleeding or right when it was over.  Took the Mirena out this summer to see if that was causing the problems and IMMEDIATELY had insane sinus problems that lasted the entire two weeks I was bleeding.  I never had sinus issues before this...ever in my life (I'm 36).  Since the removal, I have had more crazy hormonal symptoms (extreme fatigue, dry eyes, dry mouth, nausea) and things have been worse (itchy red rashes all over my body,etc.).  If the progesterone skin testing doesn't show a positive allergy, I will be surprised, but I won't give up.  If all else fails, the endo ob/gyn suggested 1 one month Lupron shot to test what menopause will be like for me.  I know that might be horrible too, but maybe it wouldn't debilitate me for two weeks out of the month.  This is a thing people...find a doctor who believes you and don't give up. Journal EVERYTHING.  You are your own advocate.  And to the doctors that have discarded you or told you it couldn't be hormonal (it has to be anxiety)...shame on them.  There is simply not enough research going on with hormone related problems and they of all people should know "never say never".  Good luck everyone.