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Mysterious shortness of breath: What has helped you?
I will try to make this as short as possible, but this has been going on for over 5 years, so it might be farily long.
Beginning in summer of 2012, I began having shortness of breath (SOB) with no other symptoms. I felt a constant need to yawn, and every few breaths wouldn't satisfy the SOB. I would take a deep breath, and felt like it would get "stuck" before satisfying the air hunger feeling. About every 3-5 deep breaths would satisfy it, only for it to return a minute later.
I got an endoscopy and other tests done, which revealed that I had some esophageal erosion due to acid reflux and a slight hiatal hernia and was diagnosed with GERD. I had always have bad heartburn, so I was prescribed with Prilosec, which I have been taking daily since them. I've tried stopping it a few times but the reflux always comes back a lot worse.
Lung tests and x-rays were normal. Heart tests normal. Blood test revealed a slight anemia but otherwise pretty normal.
I did some research reading forums where someone suggested taking vitamin B-12. Strangely, I took it and the SOB disappeared almost instantly. However, it only lasted a few days for it to return just as bad. I then started taking an iron supplement, which again made the SOB disappear quickly- same thing; symptom returned days later.
After further research, I came across a breathing exercise method called the Buteyko method. Essentially you do a lot of breath holding to build up CO2 and reduce breathing as the theory is that I had chronic hyperventilation causing too much CO2 to exit my body. After applying the method and reducing my breathing, the SOB disappeared after only 2 days and I felt completely normal. I continued the method a few more days then no longer felt the need to pursue the exercises. I was normal for a whole year when the SOB once again returned with some chest tightness. I applied the method again and the symptom went away, this time with a little more effort; after about 3 weeks. I included physical exercise which also helped with my breathing.
After that, I was normal for about 2 years. I mistakenly stopped or at least slowed down exercise and the SOB returned once again. I applied the method and began running for exercise but the SOB kept getting worse. It got so bad, I had multiple panic attacks and the feeling of completely empty lungs with the inability to satisfy it with deep breaths. I had to stop exercise altogether, apply the Buteyko method and do breathing exercises very carefully with very light and slow exercise. This helped, but it took many weeks for the SOB to improve. Then, it was almost normal when over a year ago as I was running, I couldn't get a deep breath to satisfy exercise-induced SOB. I have had SOB continuously since then (a year and a half).
I once again started doing breathing exercises and slowly building up physical exercise, but I can't do any prolonged cardio activity because the SOB gets to a point where deep breathing will not satisfy it. While the breathing exercises have helped, they have had very little effect compared to previous efforts. It seems that every time the symptom returned, greater effort yields few results.
I suspect there is something, some underlying cause that is causing the SOB that has alluded me this entire time.
So for the past few months to a year, the SOB is worse on some days, better on others, but never gone. There's no rhyme or reason or pattern for it. It's just there, sometimes affecting my sleep. I sometimes can't get a deep breath to satisfy it every now and then, but for the most part, a big gulp of air will satisfy it. But it returns seconds to minutes later. It's as though every breath doesn't deliver what it's supposed to, the SOB builds up, and then I have to take a big gulp of air to get rid of the feeling, pattern repeats. My breathing pattern is normal, however. I don't feel like anything physical is happening, but sometimes it feels like my airways and nostrils are slightly inflamed due to allergies, but when I don't feel inflammation the SOB is still there.
Recent lung function tests show normal- I don't have asthma, or any other problems with my lungs. Heart tests are normal though I did have about a two week bout of heart palpitations which came and went. Haven't had any for a while- it just mysteriously started happening then stopped. Blood tests are normal, though tests always show a slight elevation of biliruben which my doc thinks is Gilbert's disease.
I don't have sleep apnea (normal test), bloody oxygenation is normal, heart rate normal.
I recently saw local naturopath (since mainstream docs aren't able to help) who immediately suspected a liver problem when I described my SOB, possibly liver inflammation. He used an electrodermal testing machine to test his theory which did seem to show a problem with my liver and gallbladder. He gave me digestive enzymes and a gallbladder formula to help clear a bile duct clog, thus reducing liver inflammation. He also determined with the machine that I have an egg sensitivity so I've been avoiding eggs.
Been taking this and avoiding eggs for a couple of months, but there has been no noticeable improvement. Everything else is normal. Emotionally I'm normal- no anxiety, depression, etc. The SOB seems to be the only symptom of something, but always comes back worse, until a year and half ago when it came back and has remained since. I feel like I shouldn't have to do breath holding exercises every day just to maintain my breathing well enough to do every day things.
Does anyone have any idea of a possible underlying cause?
2021/2022 UPDATE:
Since my original post about 3-1/2 years ago, a lot has happened, so I’d like to update the post to share with others who come across this what I’ve done since then.
I have maintained a weekly Buteyko method breathing exercise regimen where I do a few of these breathing exercises 3-4 times a week in the morning. This, in combination with daily light to moderate exercise (specifically weight lifting, with 1 or 2 days a week of walking and light jogging), I feel has kept the air hunger symptoms tolerable and manageable. I have mostly good days with some not-so-good days, but doing a breathing exercise and knowing that it’ll get better again helps me get through those times.
I also have sinus inflammation which can exacerbate the symptoms, but I’ve also managed this, which in turn reduces the severity of the air hunger symptoms.
So, while I haven’t found a cure nor is the problem completely gone, I have been able to maintain normalcy in daily life and manage the symptoms through the strategies I described.
This discussion remains active, alive and well through the comments section where others who have similar symptoms have shared what has helped them as well as suggestions for possible solutions to explore.
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Have you had a full Thyroid workup?
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1 Reaction@mutter- Hello and good morning. I read with interest that you were told to take melatonin to maybe reduce stomach acid. Has that worked at all for you? Have you heard of exercise-induced asthma?
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/exercise-induced-asthma/symptoms-causes/syc-20372300
Interesting. Many people who have this issue also seem to have GERD issues. So yours started years ago?
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1 ReactionHi!
I dediced to post after reading almost the whole thread. English is not my first language so I hope I can find the correct words for everything.
My problems started in April this year, now 5 months ago. I was sitting in the sofa and suddenly could not take deep breaths. It felt like my ribcage was to tight or just not flexible enough for my lungs. I have felt this a maybe two times before, both times when I was our running, but it disappeared the same day.
Combined with the not being able to take deep breath issuse (or if its the same thing, im not sure from times to times) I can't finish a yawn. I have a hard time to get the last satisfying feeling when i yawn.
This kept on going for days and weeks with almost the same intensity every day, except for in the mornings, then I had no issues at all. After about 2 weeks I woke up one morning and the yawning/breathing issue was almost gone, instead I had a burning sensation in the middle of the chest, a mix of a pressure and burning. Almost like a bronchitis feeling. This feeling was gone the next day and back was the yawning/SOB issue.
And so it went on for weeks. I started getting palpations, maybe from anxiety of not knowing what my problems originated from.
I went to see my naprapath who couldnt really find anything unusual, maybe a bit of stiffness in my back. She said it might be costochondritis after hearing me telling about the chest pressure. I got a few excercises to do at home, but nothing really helped.
I booked a doctors appointment and she took all the blood tests possible and all results came back fine. My lungs souded fine and oxygenlevels were excellent. She ordinated a ECG (both short time and a longer one where I carried a monitor for 2 days). Everything looked great.
She prescibed me an inhalator, which I tried for two weeks without any improvement (maybe, maybe a little improvement but it might have been placebo). When nothing else was found at this point my doctor thougt it might be anxiety and stress and I agreed on trying medication for this. But it did not help.
I stopped seing the doctor after she went on a vacation, it felt more like she thought I was a hypocondric.
I found this lady doing a therapy called "Lotorpsmetoden", a mixed of massage where she massage (not sure of the english word) "trigger points" aorund the muscles of my ribcage and measured how much my ribcage was able to expand before the treatment and after. There was a pretty big difference of 5 cm. After two treatment sessions i started feeling better. I had some days that were worse but also some days that I did not have any symptoms att all.
I have had 2 months with almost no yawning or breathing issues but it started again 2 weeks ago, not as bad as before but still, its back. One day i started feeling sick, I had headaches, shivered, cough and the same chest pressure I had in the beginning. The next day, this was gone. Now I have had 2 days where the yawning issue had been quite annoying and I went to see my naprapath again today. She recommended me to get an X-ray of my neck and back to see if I might have disc herniation in my neck. She had other patients with similar symptoms like my yawning and chest tighness that actually was problems caused by disc herniations in the neck. So lets see, im going to try the new excercises she gave me and see if it gets any better.
And about me. Im a 36 year old woman with no other medical conditions (not now or in the past, that I know of). I have never smoked, I dont have asthma, I dont use medication or drugs. Im not obese or overweight. Im in pretty good shape and I run (despite sob and yawning issues) 4 times a week. I dont have a very stressful life at all. I never have had problems with real anxiety or something like that.
Im not so anxious anymore about this could be anything severe. And somehow I think this all could have started as a reaction from a riding accident I had in March where I fell of and hurt my ribs. I didnt break anything but it hurted like h*ell for a week. So maybe, I somehow started breathing differently or wrong after that, combined with anxiety of covid-19 and working from home and sitting in bad positions. The only thing that really sound like this and fits almost all of my symptoms is Dysfunctional Breathing. So if thats it...I just need to find a way to breathe right again.
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1 ReactionHi Everyone,
It's been a long time I haven't visited this forum. Although my SOB improved a lot lately, my coughs got worse (and very annoying that everyone thought I had covid...), so I visited another pulmonologist, who actually took me seriously. First, he thought it was a virus infection caused asthma, but as asthma treatment didn't work as expected, he made me tested for two rare bacteria: chlamydia pneumoniae and mycoplasma pneumoniae. The results obviously showed that I got the latter.
Mycoplasma can cause atypical (or walking) pneumonia, meaning that you don't necessarily have a temperature or fever, nothing will be heard when the doc listens to your chest, and it's possible that x-ray comes back normal, too, just in my case. It builds up slowly, and at some point, you just realize that you had a feeling of chest congestion and unable to take a deep breath. It can last for months or even years. Most people don't even notice it and recover by themselves without any antibiotics and symptoms, or with just a sensation of a mild cold. I've been having it for more than seven months now.
And the "best" part is that it can behave like a herpes virus: it comes back from time to time, so maybe more rounds of antibiotics are needed.
I'm taking antibiotics now (doxycycline), it's the second day, and I already coughed up more mucus than in the last two months altogether. And with each productive cough, I feel relief.
If you have similar symptoms, I encourage you to get tested for these two bacteria's IgA, IgM, and IgG, because it can be treated by the proper antibiotics in the proper dosage.
Hope it helps someone else, too.
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2 ReactionsHello I looked up the igA, igM, igG and looks like these are antibodies so you tested for these three antibodies
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1 Reaction@lidiaboglarka- Welcome back Lidia! It's so good to hear that you are finally feeling relief. I have a tough time with doxycycline if I don't eat first. Have you had that problem? You were having relief also with breathing exercises. Are you still doing them?
@alexis08- Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. You do very well in writing English! Oh, I use to ride! Have you seen a GI doctor for GERD? This is also a very common causing problem. You do not have to be overweight to have this. I would also suggest that you have breathing tests to figure out if t his might be exercise-induced asthma.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/exercise-induced-asthma/symptoms-causes/syc-20372300
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1 ReactionSorry that I didn't express myself clearly. Yes, I was tested for these antibodies corresponding to the two bacteria, mycoplasma and chlamydia pneumoniae.
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1 ReactionThanks, Merry! I also had a similar, very unpleasant experience with another type of antibiotics, so I'm only taking doxycycline with food. Otherwise, I'm sure it'd upset my stomach. Oh, and of course, probiotics - these are magical.
Well, I'm still aware of my breathing and do control it, but I'm not paying special attention. Sport is a miracle when it comes to breathing, cycling really helps me to regulate it. But I'm not doing anything else other than that. Everything I tried before is now a habit.
Probably breathing exercises and sport also helped me to use my lungs' capacity better, also reducing stress, which helped my immune system to fight against the infection. So I felt better, won some fights, but never truly won the battle.
I know that there's still a long way to recovery, but now I'm patient, and for the first time, I feel that my doctor knows what he's doing.
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