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What Causes Breathing Difficulty While Lying Down?

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Posted on Mon, 20 Jun 2016
Question: My father is 87 and is having problems with breathing when he is lying down of a night. He believes it is the cold air despite having heating on. He was fine sitting up before going to bed but every night seems the same as soon as he puts his head on the pillow. His doctors are saying it is his heart and have given him more medication but it hasn't made any difference. My father believes it is his lungs not heart. He has a bad cough with this at night only when lying down. He is a diabetic type 2. He has progressively got worse with being able to walk very far before getting puffed out. I'm concerned the doctors maybe treating the wrong thing or perhaps overlooking other issues like Diabetic Ketoacidosis. Your thoughts.
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Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (44 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
please provide more information

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

It would be very helpful if you shared some more information with me. For example how did the doctors conclude that it's the heart. Did they order any tests? And also does he have any signs of pulmonary disease like wheezing, a long history of smoking, history of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) or did he get an infection (fever, cough, sputum)?

Can you tell me anything about his vital signs (blood pressure, heart rate, number of breaths per minute, temperature and perhaps also oxygen saturation)?

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis

Internal Medicine Specialist

Practicing since :1999

Answered : 3819 Questions

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What Causes Breathing Difficulty While Lying Down?

Brief Answer: please provide more information Detailed Answer: Hello, It would be very helpful if you shared some more information with me. For example how did the doctors conclude that it's the heart. Did they order any tests? And also does he have any signs of pulmonary disease like wheezing, a long history of smoking, history of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) or did he get an infection (fever, cough, sputum)? Can you tell me anything about his vital signs (blood pressure, heart rate, number of breaths per minute, temperature and perhaps also oxygen saturation)?