treatment for breathlessness/lightheadedness with exertion?

Hi Moxiel,
My husband had lung cancer and had severe breathlessness. He used inhalers and they worked good. You should probably see your doctor to get the right prescription for them instead of buying one over the counter. He also used a nebulizer which is a small machine that you put medication in and inhale the medication while the machine runs. Those things and an oxygen machine helped a lot.
PML

Thank you for sharing that @pml .
I'm glad your husband found something that helped him. I will look into it.

COVID clinic in Drogheda ,
Ireland put me on
enerzair breezhaler worked for me ... Couldn't breathe couldn't walk far . Now I can walk a good distance.. if put any pressure on lungs breathing goes ... Still have other problems but getting there

Thank you @david1970 I am glad that inhaler has worked for you and enabled you to walk a good distance. I will look into it and see if that can help me.

I found that Benadryl several times a day made a huge difference in breathlessness for me. However, if you are an older male, you should be aware that long term use of Benadryl can exacerbate prostate issues.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S155541552100547X

I am currently going through pulmonary rehabilitation and it is a life changer. It helps me learn to get a better quality of life and learn to make the most of having long Covid.

Thanks for sharing that @jamesdoublenelson , and I'm glad it is working. What exactly is 'pulmonary rehabilitation'? I'm sorry to be ignorant.

Thank you @trevors . I am an older adult and concerned about the connection between benadryl and the increased risk of dementia, but I'm glad to hear that it has made such a big difference for you. Breathing now is important, too!

Is it possible that your lungs and body (they go together) simply need to be trained to increase your aerobic capacity? Like slowly building up. A quarter of mile for a week. Then a half mile the second week, etc.? Or is it that there is severe, irreversible damage to the lungs or something else with the same predicament? I think a doctor would know or have some idea. On the other hand I believe some of the effects of Covid was, and is, still a medical mystery.

I have been walking an hour a day for many years. When I stopped once for a number of months getting back into it was hard and very painful. My lungs burned. But within several weeks. I was even better than ever. I can walk "forever" now and at a fast pace. In fact today I did two solid hours of walking. I had some motivation as I ran out of my Irish tea and the nearest store that sells it is 1 hour walk away!

Great question, and I love your story of building stamina. I have issues with heat intolerance and breathlessness. If I exert myself when it is over 70 degrees out, my body freaks out - the higher the temps, the greater the freak out. When that happens, I get drenched with sweat and out of breath and have to lay down, wherever I am and work to get my breathing under control. The higher the temp, the more dramatic the response, and it is paired with a GI response, too. It's enough to change me from an active outdoorswoman to very a/c dependent. In contrast to all that mess, I have built up my tolerance so that I can now swim a mile of rigorous laps, in a cool water pool, and have only mild breathlessness, no sweats and no GI problems. I thought that I might be able to hike a small mountain during a gentle snow fall, given that my body has grown strong and it was in my preferred temperature range, but the breathing problem kicked in before reaching the top and I had to turn back. It is very frustrating and hard to understand. I have had both cardiac and pulmonary work ups and there are no issues, and will have autonomic testing in a few weeks. It is such a weird virus, and, though my symptoms are unusual, it all started with Covid.
Thanks for asking, and continue with those lovely long walks!