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Mysterious shortness of breath: What has helped you?

Lung Health | Last Active: 4 days ago | Replies (3340)
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@greff

I'm new to this website and am pisting a teply a year from this post but because I can relate to many of these posts concerning breathing issues that are unexplainable, I thought I'd share that I too have significnat breathing issues that do not appear to be a result of my asthma. My pft indicated moderately severe obstruction but my co2 in the blood is fine. No issues with ct scans either. I have been researching this issue for quite some time. Through some additional tests, I found out that I have Baretts esophageal and this has been known to cause breathing issues. I also am checking to see if I have trachea stenosis due to having too many surgeries/procedures that I had to be intubated. You folks might want to ask your PCP about Barretts and possible Trachea issues. From my inderstanding, both can lead to debilitating issues. My breathing is so bad that I had to cut back to working 3/4 time at the age of 55. Not good. Hopefully my upcoming appointment with gastrointerology will shed some light on the issue. God bless.

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Replies to "I'm new to this website and am pisting a teply a year from this post but..."
Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Feb 11, 2020

@greff- Hello! Welcome to Mayo Connect. I am so glad that you decided to join us. Experiencing SOB is extremely upsetting and can really set you on a journey that seems to be going nowhere. And at other times can lead to finding problems that can be solved with changes in the way we live.
Yesterday I had an appointment with my Pulmonologist. I have lung cancer and my shortness of breath is due to loss of lung tissue.
After my exam and discussion of my most recent breathing test results, I asked him why there seem to be so many problems with SOB. He said that most people think that lung diseases and cancers or heart problems are the top causes of SOB but nowadays that's not true. It's obesity and lack of movement, being sedentary and eating more than you need. He said that Lifestyle changes are what's needed more than new meds. This, of course, is true if there aren't any real underlying physical causes.
I'm small, 5'1" and I weigh around 130 lbs. This for me is too much. My breathing is more labored and I don't feel up to par. I need to lose five pounds and workout more.
What lifestyle changes have you made to lessen the symptoms of SOB?

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