BREATHING PROBLEM

Get it checked out!

by ePaul2018 - 2018-03-29 13:16:54

Hello there.

X rays don't show heart blockages... that's just your lungs. Heart blockages can/will also cause shortness of breath in many circumstances.

I will say that the thing you mentioned about trouble tying your shoes was also something I had a problem with, among many other things, and I am just 57. I had spent 7 days in the hospital early in 2017 with a nasty heart attack, and came home with 4 more stents.

Just 8 months or so later, I was feeling like you describe. I denied that it could be another blockage because I had those taken care of some months earlier.... it eventually got worse, and I tried my NITRO.  Good news bad news, the NITRO helped with the problem temporarily, which was great, but it really told me that the problem was indeed cardiac related again, which I will say scared the heck out of me.

I waited too long to go get it checked out. I had gone through a falling out with my medical support people. I kind of hit the wall and finally went in. They put me in the hospital and found that the second largest artery in my heart was 90% blocked. Another new stent and a couple days later they sent me home. Recovery was fast, I could not beleive how good I felt.

The moral of the story is, I apparently almost totally plugged up in about 8 months, yet kept telling myself it couldn't possibly be my heart again..... but I was wrong, almost dead wrong.

They gave me a two week break to get used to the new "normal" after the recent stent job, and I was back out walking each day at least some, maybe 4-6 blocks which was huge for me.  They did a pacemaker/defib. two wire combo here 9 days ago and I am recovering quickly.

If you don't feel well, go get it checked out. If you have a history of heart problems, go right to your cardiologist. If they tell you your provider is on vacation or booked out for weeks or months, tell them you are HAVING A PROBLEM and they will magically Wisk you to the front of the line, hopefully, like they did for me, and get you in front of someone in the same office that would have access to your records that can help.

Be well!

SOB...

by The real Patch - 2018-03-29 15:44:06

Welcome to the club. your description is my everyday life with Congestive Heart Failure, but for the past two weeks it's been significantly worse and I just went for x-rays yesterday.

So the bad news, there's a lot of conditions that can cause the symptoms you are describing. The good news, most of those problems are diagnosed with x-rays. Since you've had an x-ray and all was good you can pretty much rule those out.

That leaves;

anxiety

being out of condition

Flu

anemia

Asthma

Congestive Heart Failure

Bottom line it's a guessing game with the information you provided and you really need to see a medical doctor to determine what is going on. I wouldn't wait were I you, if it's worst case CHF, that's nasty and needs to be treated right away to minimize the impact long term. Good luck, hope you get answers quickly

Shortness of breath

by Rosalie - 2018-03-30 18:28:14

I agree with the two comments above. Shortness of breath is a symptom that could be related to right sided heart failure or CHF. I would choose a cardiologist over the EP doctor. I have learned that the EP doctors are so specialized that they do not look at the whole patient. They look at the printout, the EKG, xrays. Yes, an xray will indicate if there is congestion in the lungs and it will also reveal whether the pacemaker lead is placed correctly. A cardiac catherization would reveal whether there is a stenosis in a coronary artery.

SOB

by Gotrhythm - 2018-04-01 15:29:59

SOB can have many causes--many different haert condions cause it as well as lung problems and even some stomach problems.

It's good to know that the x-ray is fine, but an x-ray can't be used to diagnose many of the conditions that could cause SOB. You need to be seen by a cardologist. If the doctor who ordered the x-ray is your cardiologist, you mignt need to have better comunication or you need to see a different cardiologist.