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Shortness Of Breath, Dizziness, Pounding Heart, Out Of Breath After Walking.
Question: i am having shortness of breath for a few minutes, today I reached for XXXXXXX ethin g o the floor and lost my breath and got really dizzy. my head was pounding. lasted for about 5 minutes
The symtoms have just started in the past few days. I walk a short distance and I am out of breath, and what breath i have is short.Sometimes my head pounds.
The symtoms have just started in the past few days. I walk a short distance and I am out of breath, and what breath i have is short.Sometimes my head pounds.
Hello,
Thanks for posting your query.
Shortness of breath is called dyspnea is mainly due to cardiac or pulmonary causes. Given your history of diabetes mellitus, it is important to rule out any hypoglycemia causing shortness of breath and dizziness. Get your repeat blood sugar levels or HbA1c done and if there is any low blood sugar count then you may need to consult your endocrinologist and get your insulin dose altered.
Secondly given your age and your diabetic and cardiac history, any transient ischemic attack should be ruled out. A transient ischemic attack is caused by the temporary disturbance of blood supply to a restricted area of the brain; resulting in brief neurologic dysfunction that persists, by definition, for less than 1 hour; if symptoms persist then it is categorized as a stroke.
The most common cause of a TIA is an embolus (a small blood clot) that occludes an artery in the brain.
It can be diagnosed after physical examination, blood pressure monitoring, ECG, echocardiography and carotid Doppler. So consult your physician and get an echocardiography or carotid Doppler done. Lastly you should also get your hemoglobin levels done as anemia in females can also cause dizziness and shortness of breath.
Hope this answers your query. If you have additional questions or follow up queries then please do not hesitate in writing to us. I will be happy to answer your queries.
Thanks for posting your query.
Shortness of breath is called dyspnea is mainly due to cardiac or pulmonary causes. Given your history of diabetes mellitus, it is important to rule out any hypoglycemia causing shortness of breath and dizziness. Get your repeat blood sugar levels or HbA1c done and if there is any low blood sugar count then you may need to consult your endocrinologist and get your insulin dose altered.
Secondly given your age and your diabetic and cardiac history, any transient ischemic attack should be ruled out. A transient ischemic attack is caused by the temporary disturbance of blood supply to a restricted area of the brain; resulting in brief neurologic dysfunction that persists, by definition, for less than 1 hour; if symptoms persist then it is categorized as a stroke.
The most common cause of a TIA is an embolus (a small blood clot) that occludes an artery in the brain.
It can be diagnosed after physical examination, blood pressure monitoring, ECG, echocardiography and carotid Doppler. So consult your physician and get an echocardiography or carotid Doppler done. Lastly you should also get your hemoglobin levels done as anemia in females can also cause dizziness and shortness of breath.
Hope this answers your query. If you have additional questions or follow up queries then please do not hesitate in writing to us. I will be happy to answer your queries.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Radhika
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