Constant shortness of breath.....ideas?
Posted , 7 users are following.
So I have been diagnosed with Svt. Been in the hospital with all the tests done. I am healthy and so is my heart. Doctors can't figure out why i'm short of breath now that my heart rate is under control with beta blockers. Months ago I was getting shortness of breath upon standing, eating walking and then my heart went up. That has continued and I am stumped. Been on anxiety meds and that doesn't take it away. I still can't do anything and I'm short of breath...everyday I try but end up having to lie down. Although that doesn't really fix it..but moving makes it worse. Thought acid reflux but dr. Doesn't believe so. Going back to dr today to ask about cortisol levels. This has drastically changed my quality of life and I need answers......
1 like, 12 replies
ema38991 shelley_49119
Posted
I have the same as you have shortness of breath so they send me to the pulmonary doctor specialist and he said nothing wrong, I am still working on it, but I understand
how you feeling very tired, but recently I can tell you that I do not feel it anymore since I started eating healthy, my heart works better and I am under a beta blocker called Metroprolol, the only thing that I have sometimes my heart pounding so hard, I don't know if it is for the medication, but I feel it when I am resting at bed, the problem is that I am always attending what or how I am feeling, I wish this finished, I did an ablation three years ago, but it does not work and also my doctor said if you get older you will feel more the palpitations. Try to keep a good diet and you will feel a big difference.
XxaimxX shelley_49119
Posted
Hi,
Did you have the shortness of breathe before the SVT episode?
Maybe it's all the stress of dealing with SVT, I was like that at first. Or it could be the beta blockers as what they essentially do is slow you down. I'm sure your doctor has listened to your breathing and done a few tests, try not to worry as they may just need to tweak your beta blockers a little to suit you better. All the best for the future I hope to have the ablation soon this year x
henry55283 shelley_49119
Posted
I too was beginning to feel shortness of breath a couple of months prior to having my ablation, which was one month ago. This was one the main reasons I decided to have the ablation done after so many years. I used to think it was in my head, but it appears to have resolved itself after the ablation. Prior to that, I went for decades with SVT episodes and never really noticed a shortness of breath. I did notice some shortness during longer episodes, but figured it was due to anxiety during the event. Are you considering having an ablation to resolve your SVT?
shelley_49119 henry55283
Posted
Hi. The shortness of breath started before the svt. Of course when I got an episode my breathing was worse. I take a low dosage beta blocker...my bp is normally low so the beta blocker is working to keep heart rate normal and doesn't lower bp anymore. Specialist says an ablation won't get rid of this shortness of breath since I don't have a high heart rate anymore. He feels it's something else causing it. At this point the beta blockers work so I'm not going for ablation. I need to know what's causing this first.
ema38991 shelley_49119
Posted
Hi Shelley is me again Ema, after they do the tests and they know what's causing you the shortness of breath let us know, specially me I am very interested since I had that symptom sometimes.
shelley_49119 ema38991
Posted
I will definetly let you know. I went to dr. Today and she is stumped. It's not my Svt and it's not anxiety... (a little anxiety from all of this stress) but anxiety meds didn't fix this. I'm getting cortisol levels checked this week and seeing a naturopath. I also do cognitive therapy to help me with this stress and hopefully that helps . I'll keep going until I can stand and walk and breathe. Will keep in touch.
shelley_49119
Posted
Hi again. So after much research on mine and my husbands part...I have had 5 days of no shortness of breath. I have been using atIvan to relieve some of the anxiety. It was by accident that I discovered when I was taking an ativan before the shortness of breath even began in the morning...the rest of my day would be good. Which made us realize it was all anxiety (as much as I fought that diagnosis) because the physical symptoms were so real I was convinced it was something else. I believe dealing with this Svt problem for months..Not being able to stand up without having an episode caused me a lot of trauma. I would call it post traumatic stress disorder from this very traumatic medical problem. Once I realized what was going on in my body...it eased a lot of stress for me. I've stopped wondering what's wrong with me and I am seeing a cognitive therapist to help me through the anxiety aspect. I NEVER would have believed that these horrible symptoms could be caused by stress and my nerves and anxiety. For anyone else who has Svt. It can be extremely scary when you don't know what's wrong...it threw me into panic, hyperventilation when it happened and I am dealing with the after effects. But getting stronger everyday. I can stand up and breath normal. I am weaning off meds slowly and along with therapy I know I can have my quality of life back. I'm babystepping. I believe years of stress and anxiety led me to this....so it may take time to change how I think about things and to heal my body from the physical effects as well. I hope this helps someone as not knowing what's wrong and constantly looking for a medcall reason was exhausting . The feelings of desperation and constantly searching take its toll.
debbie17569 shelley_49119
Posted
Hi Shelley.
I too have been suffering from shortness of breath. Have had a health scare which was fine but couldn't stop having bad panic attacks and anxiety which is not like me. Couldn't understand what was going in. I was put on anti depressants 10 weeks ago to help. However, the side effects were horrendous, two of them being chest pain and shortness of breath. Oh and heightened anxiety! Last week I went back to the doctor to ask about the shortness of breath and without even examining me, said I had emphysema! I now have to go and have tests next week. Of course my anxiety has gone back through the roof again. It was always there in the mornings but manageable, more of a nervy tummy feeling. She was obviously busy and just wanted me out of her office which doesn't help one bit. She gave me two inhalers and then told me that the blue one would make me more anxious! Wow, talk about kick you when you're down!!!
I just think it's still the anxiety causing my issues and need to learn how to stop overthinking stuff and calm down. I had cbt but it was a group session and everyone had all different problems so it was hard to see if anything related to me.
this is driving me nuts!!
hope you are still well and if you do read this, let me know how you managed to clam down enough for that damn shortness of breath to disappear!!
debbie x
shelley_49119 debbie17569
Posted
Hi debbie. I'm sorry to hear that your dr. Isn't much help . Before they hand you an inhaler did you do a lung capacity test or any test first? Unfortunately, everything has side affects and anxiety is usually one of them. You can take relaxation group exercises to retrain your breathing I am a shallow breather and once I developed svt it would throw me into hyperventilation mode and panic . I still have bad days with shortness of breath. I find talking makes it worse sometimes as well as any sort of exercise. If you can find a medication that is helpful but less side affects that may help but I really feel having a one on one cognitive therapist for at least 8 or 9 sessions would help you retrain your thinking. I've done so much research on how the brain works....it controls all these weird things that are happening in our body. ( once you have ruled out anything medical to ease your mind) meditation or yoga may help as well. When I am short of breath...I try hard to focus on Not trying to get that really big breath because it's exhausting. I just lie down, play a game on my phone and take small breaths and let my body try to go back to its regular breathing pattern our bodies know how to breathe naturally so we need to trust that. If I learn of more tricks I will pass them along. It's trial and error with me. I'll ttyl 😊
debbie17569 shelley_49119
Posted
Hi Shelley, thanks for your reply!
No, my doc certainly wasn't very helpful at all!! I will book to see a different one she. I have to go back for the results. No tests have been done at all, she didn't even listen to my chest. It literally was, you have emphysema, take these inhalers, go have a spirometry test and come back in two weeks! Walked out of there a bit stunned to be honest. For someone who has been suffering pretty horrific anxiety for the last two months, that really did not help! I know she has to check these things but it was the way in which she went about it. A little sympathy wouldn't have gone amiss. I wouldn't speak to my customers in that way!!
Yes, that keep on trying to take a deep breath! I've been told to just breath shorter breaths and do not take a deep breath, easier said than done! I also need to stop thinking about it because as soon as I do, off I go again. I will start practicing what you do, see if it helps. I have a 9 hour flight in April and really do not want this happening on the plane as I will panic for sure. Right now, I don't panic but I can get up and go do something. On a plane, I will feel an idiot! X
gene91169 shelley_49119
Posted
What a positive, encouraging report. Keep doing what's working so well. It was fun to read this, and I know you're inspiring people who are having experiences similar to yours. Take care.
ann82027 shelley_49119
Posted
I had an attack, pulse 197 beats and went to A&E i was put on bisoprolol 5 days ago, it is making me feel as if my lungs are fuzzy, they did say if i had asthma it would make it worse.