What Is The Cause Of Lightheadedness Or Shortness Of Breath

[futurehope]

Anyone have an answer to the above? I always thought I was imagining symptoms, or I couldn't understand them, so I ignored them, until.....I noticed other POTsy's suffer the above symptoms like I do. Anyone ask a doctor why this happens to us?

P.S. Sometimes I feel like a real old lady with all these weird symptoms.

[lieze]

I just think it probably has to due with the oxygen concentration in the blood dropping because talking interrupts your normal breathing pattern. I have noticed this some and found that if I slow down a bit with my talking it helps some. I don't notice it all the time.

lieze

[erikainorlando]

No real idea...but I get periods when I am real POTSY I just can't talk ...can't breathe well. I am sure it has to do with the lack of oxygen...before I was diagnosed when I felt very sick (apparently POTS but didn't know) my atrial blood gases registered 77. Later the same day after sitting and resting it was 95.

Just chiming in...again with lots of empathy but no real answers... Erika

[Broken_Shell]

I am the same way right now... I think it is because talking is like exercising - it stresses our bodies. Plus, when we are talking then aren't breathing like normal - add that to already insufficient blood perfussion and tachycardia and it can certainely produce our symptoms.

~ Broken_Shell

[potsgirl]

In the morning, if I try to even speak a sentence, I have to stop and take several deep breaths to continue. I'm pretty sure mine is related to my BP. It's really low in the morning (70/55 w/ HR of 125). It really bothers me, because this just started happening about 2 months ago. I feel like I'm getting worse.

[Rene S.]

It's pretty lousy, isn't it? Talking makes me feel like I've ran the marathon. Shortness of breath so bad that I have to stop and take a breather and my heart rate goes way up.

Jana, sweetie, I feel the same. I feel as if I'm getting progressively worse not better. This is all so frustrating.

Sorrry we are all going through this.

Rene

[potsgirl]

Rene,

Thanks for the empathy, and GREAT to see you back posting again.

[sue1234]

Same here. I don't know why we get short of breath. I do notice that when I am at my worst, I find I am "bracing" my chest. What I mean is, imagine you are playing football(I never have, but picturing...) and you are getting ready to get hit. You automatically tense up your body to help protect everything from the hit. Well, that's what I mean about my chest/shoulders. It happens everyday, almost all the time, at varying degrees. So, in a way it sometimes seems like a mechanical problem for me, not letting my lungs expand well. Anyone experience that external tightness? That has only been happening since I developed POTS.

Any, once the adrenaline starts to flow, you can forget it! It is automatically more short of breath!

[Broken_Shell]

Same here. I don't know why we get short of breath. I do notice that when I am at my worst, I find I am "bracing" my chest. What I mean is, imagine you are playing football(I never have, but picturing...) and you are getting ready to get hit. You automatically tense up your body to help protect everything from the hit. Well, that's what I mean about my chest/shoulders. It happens everyday, almost all the time, at varying degrees. So, in a way it sometimes seems like a mechanical problem for me, not letting my lungs expand well. Anyone experience that external tightness? That has only been happening since I developed POTS.

Any, once the adrenaline starts to flow, you can forget it! It is automatically more short of breath!

Odd that you mention that... I frequently tell my family that I feel "bracy" - exactly as you described, but I do it with my back, neck, legs, whole body I guess... It is accompanied by these wierd sensations like I am tipping sideways or the floor is shifting under me. Sound familiar to anyone else?

~ Broken_Shell

[Chaos]

Wish I knew the answer as to "why" it happens, but I have the same experience. Have checked my O2 sats when I feel like this and they're still in the 90's so it really doesn't make sense to me.

Would love to know if anyone else has an explanation.

[StacyRN]

I get this too! It's because having POTS is like running in place when you're just standing still. You get short of breath and dizzy, and heart races. It takes a lot of energy to talk when you're short of breath. That's why they say one of the things you should avoid when you have POTS is SINGING! I thought that was humorous at first, but have found it's true! POTS is like having congestive heart failure, or chronic lung disease, and it's hard to speak with those conditions also due to being short of breath...

[futurehope]

StacyRN,

Avoid singing???? I can't sing when I'm short of breath, even when I want to. Sorry, the word "avoid" struck me as funny, in light of the fact that I love to sing in church and cannot.

I do have occasions in which the talking and singing are fine, so whatever causes the problem is a mystery to me. Maybe it's a high heartrate, or I'm being orthostatically challenged, or I'm more tense or nervous than usual and it affects my breathlessness?? It's a mystery, and it's a pain.