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Severe shortness of breath but all tests coming back clear

Posted , 4 users are following.

jaypb
jaypb

Hi everyone, have just joined the forum as I am worried for my dad. He is almost 70 and for a while now he has been getting really short breathed with the slightest bit of exercise, walking upstairs, a short walk, carrying something a little heavy or even bending over will usually make him very out of breath. A few times it has got so bad that he is really gasping and wheezy, he can barely breath in and then he wets himself.

He has been under a specialist for a while and has had various tests but they say everything is pretty normal and that it must be because he is overweight, which yes he is but he really isn't very big think he weighs about 15 stone, it really doesn't seem enough to cause the problem to be so severe as sometimes the slightest thing can bring it on.

He has another appointment with the specialist soon and am just wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation or has any tips on what he could ask them?

Thank you for any help

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • melissa55652
    melissa55652 jaypb

    Posted

    Tests are only as good as what they show up. They miss many things. Keep fighting till you find out what's causing it. It could be lots of stuff. Also write down any other unusual symptoms no matter how weird or small. Has he any accompanying symptoms at all? That would make it easier to figure out. He could have pneumonia but he'd probably feel really tired too like have few other symptoms. Could be his heart. Could be something completely unrelated to breathing but is coming out that way. That's why I'd write all symptoms when they started or what happened before they started etc

    • jaypb
      jaypb melissa55652

      Posted

      Thanks for your reply, he has had echo on his heart as well and also came back clear. He currently has an implant monitoring his heart because of an issue he had with passing out when having a bad chest infection a couple of years ago (it hasn't happened since) but they put it down to cough syncope which is apparently common and again they don't feel there is any underlying issue. He is tired a lot but always has been, he suffers from mild sleep apnoea. Also has a lot of long term issues such as slight disability in his neck as a result of a head injury about 25 years ago.

      Thanks again

  • karen_90444
    karen_90444 jaypb

    Posted

    Please get reassured as soon as you can that your dad does not have a pulmonary embolism. Our friend recently had the same symptoms as your dad and the hospital did not test for this thinking instead that he had got a chest infection.
    • jaypb
      jaypb karen_90444

      Posted

      Thanks I will get him to mention it, that is a blood clot isn't it. As I say he has had lots of tests in the past and this has been going on for at least a year probably a lot longer, would it be possible to have one for that long

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