Shortness of breath and chest pain

[im4god2010]

I am wondering if anyone has ever had constant shortness of breath and chest pain....I am new to this and not sure what is going on but I have had two pulmonary function test and one came back abnormal and the other one I had a week later was ok so not sure what to think about that. I know that there is something going on just not sure what...so if anyone else has ever had this please help me out. Thanks

[statesof]

I'm had chest pain/ pressure that lasted weeks at a time, probably the longest going on 6-7 weeks, and it would fluctuate a bit daily but always be there and noticeable uncomfortable. I never had shortness of breath associated with it however. All my heart tests ended up being normal other than a PFO which would not have been a cause for my symptoms, and I'm on a daily cc blocker to control my chest pressure.

[SarahA33]

Hi, Im4God2010, Welcome to DINET.  What is your diagnosis?

I've never had a pulmonology test, but like Statesof mentioned, I've had heart tests (echo, bubble echo, stress test, MRA of the aorta) for occasional SOB and SOB upon exertion, which basically revealed the same as him, a PFO, and mild regurgitation & prolapse.

[im4god2010]

I appreciate all this valuable information. I do knwo that on the echo I just had they did see a little bit of an elevated pressure in the heart...so I am not sure. He put me on a Beta blocker not sure I like how it makes me feel seeing that I already have low blood pressure and they have been known to lower BP. So we shall see thanks for all the information.

[im4god2010]

On September 13, 2016 at 8:29 AM, SarahA33 said:

Hi, Im4God2010, Welcome to DINET.  What is your diagnosis?

I've never had a pulmonology test, but like Statesof mentioned, I've had heart tests (echo, bubble echo, stress test, MRA of the aorta) for occasional SOB and SOB upon exertion, which basically revealed the same as him, a PFO, and mild regurgitation & prolapse.

Well I have a diagnosis of POTs and I have lupus, fibromyalgia and chronic iron deficiency anemia and this chest pain and shortness of breath is really bothering me. I know now people are saying it's because of the pots and I never knew that I had two pulmonary function test done one was abnormal one was ok makes no sense to me as as you can't go from abnormal to normal on a week but this has been going on for a while and I can't get anyone to get me answers so I am glad I found the website here so I can get some opinions from others dealing with the same thing. So we will see thanks for your information 

[dkd]

I don't really have any answer, but I had the same thing happen to me.  I also have shortness of breath and chest pressure.  Had a PFT at my primary care's office and it "suggested neuromuscular disease due to air trapping". And the follow up PFT at a pulmonologist's office was normal!!  I have had cardio workups (stress tests) and they tell me my heart is fine.  So, I just live with it and have pretty much given up on doctors

[Guest alkria]

Can you increase your water or salt take anymore? 

I only had periodic of shortness of breath and I found mine coincided after eating large meals and sometimes in the mornings (after night of dehydration). All the blood goes to your digestion with eating. I just found increasing my water intake prior to meal and then after it. It now doesn't bother me anymore from now doing this, if it is there, it is only just noticeable, whereas before it was bad for hours. I can still have normal sized meals. I have also had chest pressure, but the way I would describe it, it is almost like a light feeling in my chest, where you would expect to feel some weight, I would imagine this again is just due to blood flow, which is again alleviated from drinking more.

Not looking at POTS, you said you have anemia, which you probably know is a cause of shortness of breath and likely the more chronic reason you have it, rather than periodical like me. There is less haemoglobin (oxygen carrying) in your blood, as you have less red blood cells carrying them. I have heard lupus can cause SOB as well.

Unfortunately it seems you have a lot of umbrella syndromes. Have you looked into diet, e.g. are you on a high sugar/carb diet? Have you been on antibiotics for a period?

I'm still finding the cause of my issues, but I did find I was having a high sugar / carb in-take for some years - along with going out a lot with late nights, probably caused stress to my body. From this, I have found candida to be an issue which was highlighted from a stool test. This was also confirmed from taking antifungals such as coconut oil or grapefruit seed extract, I was getting die-off symptoms, like itching, sneezing and flatulence. From tackling this for a few months, I have found a lot of my symptoms have gone. I originally had blood tests with flags such lowered red blood count, high IGE and Epstein-Barr coming up as re-emerged. I have been through the whole Lyme disease / lupus rig-moral and even taken antibiotics for a period, which really just enforced with issue more. I will do a post write-up of it when I find time and if I do ever fully alleviate my symptoms. The importance of gut bacteria is gradually being discovered. If your lupus is causing symptoms such as itching, flatulence, stomach noises etc. consider you might have a yeast overgrowth, which for long periods I wouldn't discount stressing adrenals and thus causing the POTS issue in some. I hope to confirm this one day. I would imagine you would of explored these somewhat, as with diagnosis' such as you have, you have probably tried everyday to find ways to be rid of them, but do remember fibromyalgia and lupus in themselves are hard to diagnose, with the blood test itself being inaccurate, so don't ever full accept one diagnosis. There is something causing your anemia etc. Doctors are just happy to give these syndromes a diagnosis with one particular cause, as they don't know what else is causing it.