amy777 Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 So I have been having trouble breathing and my doc says since I failed the peak flow meter I might have asthma. I am going for a cat scan of my lungs tomorrow. She gave me an albuteral inhaler for when I need it but I am also on a beta blocker. She told me not to worry about it but I am.I didn't think you could mix the 2 meds?? Also, what is it with this dizziness?? Is there anything I can do for it. I am wearing an event monitor and so far all that has shown up is some PVC's but nothing serious. My doc says my dizziness may be caused by the beta blocker but I don't think so I have been on it for over 2 months. One more thing.....sometimes like this morning I can't get out of bed. I am just exhausted!!!!!!! anyone else have advice on any of this??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnA Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 Hi Amy, I am on both albuterol and a beta blocker. The pharmacy has not mentioned anything to me. I starting having asthma problems the same time I came sown with POTS. I have problems with dizziness when my blood volume is low. Mornings are hard for all of us, it takes a long time for me to get acustomed to being upright. Also if you have low blood pressure you will be tired. Many people take midodrine before they get out of bed in the morning..also caffeine might help. The midodrine does not help me I take florinef, which helps tthe body to maintain electrolytes. It keeps my blood volume up. I hope this helps some. dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gena Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 Sorry to hear you're so dizzy. When my BP was super low, I was very dizzy and tired. At one point a tried a calcium channel blocker (kind of like a beta blocker) but it lowered my BP too much. I felt like you do, couldn't even get out of bed, very exhausted. I finally had to go off of it. You may want to ask the doc about lowering your dose a smidge to see if that helps. Dawn had great suggestions too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnA Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 Good suggestion on lowering the beta blocker. A few years back I was overmedicated on a beta- blocker and was unable to get out of bed. This went on for months. Then my beta-blocker was changed and the dose lowered. This helped a lot. Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eillyre Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 Sorry to hear about your trouble, Amy! I'm not on a beta blocker (doctors are worried it will drop my already very low HR), but I also have asthma. It's never really a problem unless I get a cold or some other respiratory problem -- Albuterol & Flovent to the rescue! Nowadays, the times that I have trouble breathing are when my heart is racing madly or beating so slow I have to breathe very purposefully (otherwise I feel like I'm going to stop breathing altogether). When that happens, my whole body aches and feels like lead -- I can barely get out of bed sometimes. My younger brother had a good laugh one evening I had that trouble. We were sitting on the couch waiting to watch a movie. My heart had become extremely sluggish and my arms felt like they belonged to some huge Rodin bronze sculpture -- I couldn't move them enough to pick up my spoon to eat my cereal. I was feeling so very hungry, but all I could do was stare at my bowl, almost trying to will the spoon to my mouth! Of course, my 17-year-old brother settled himself back more comfortably in his cushion, and, with a little smile, proceeded to watch me eye the bowl as if he were studying some poor little white mouse in a maze, trying to find a way around a dead-end (he's a very sweet kid, by the way -- just likes to tease me!). There are times I wish I was like Elizabeth Montgomery from Bewitched and could do whatever I wanted with just a twitch of the nose! Mornings are usually a bad time for me and I frequently am so exhausted that getting up is a major battle. Those days, I'll usually force myself out of bed, only to collapse (pjs, slippers, messy hair, and all) on the living room couch -- every once in a while, I'll treat myself and just stay tucked in. Sorry I'm not much help -- I'm still trying to find meds that help, too. Midodrine made me worse than ever, and Florinef worked well initially but has no effect now. Hope you find some answers soon. Angela Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calypso Posted December 8, 2004 Report Share Posted December 8, 2004 I don't know your history -- how long have you been having POTS symptoms? Did the shortness of breath come on with it? Is it constant or just sometimes?For me, my shortness of breath came on with POTS. I don't have asthma, but I did fail my pulmonary tests that said I had asthma. But I don't. The shortness of breath seems to be some sort of bizarre complicated lung/heart dysfunction but both organs appear normal. I haven't found anything that works to correct it, so I just deal with it.I was just curious ... because when I did try an albuterol inhaler, I got very jittery and it didn't even help. I am also taking a beta blocker, so the two are OK to take together. Beta blockers may worsen asthma because they change pressure in the pulmonary artery & vein -- although I don't remember exactly how, but this is what my cardiologist told me.Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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