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What Causes Shortness Of Breath, Increased Heartbeats And Excessive Sweating In An Obese Patient?
Question: I am 5'4" and 175 lbs.( Overweight and gained 50 lbs over the last years Always weighed 125 I used to be a runner and always exercised. Lately i have been under a lot of stress and have not done any physical activity for months I find now I am short of breath , heart beats fast and perspire after walking up one flight of steps. Recently I had a physical and EKG and complete blood work and all was good Very scared but could I just be severely out of shape. Also notice the excess weight is causing back pain
Brief Answer:
Yes, likely cause for shortness of breath is your sedentary lifestyle.
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
The likely cause for shortness of breath is unaccustomed activities and sedentary lifestyle. But, we need to rule out diastolic heart failure in such cases. Obesity and increasing age may cause disturbances in heart relaxation called diastolic dysfunction, which can cause shortness of breath. This is not a serious and worrisome condition but you'll get relief in your symptoms with diuretics. So get an echo done to look for this and also heart function.
Other causes include low hemoglobin which I guess is normal, lung problem for which you can get a chest x-ray done if some abnormalities are detected on examination or if echo is normal. Get thyroid test done if not had recently. Also, a healthy lifestyle like low fat, oily, calorie diet. Daily exercise like walking or brisk walking according to your capacity will help.
Hope this helps you.
Regards,
Dr. Sagar Makode, Cardiologist
Yes, likely cause for shortness of breath is your sedentary lifestyle.
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
The likely cause for shortness of breath is unaccustomed activities and sedentary lifestyle. But, we need to rule out diastolic heart failure in such cases. Obesity and increasing age may cause disturbances in heart relaxation called diastolic dysfunction, which can cause shortness of breath. This is not a serious and worrisome condition but you'll get relief in your symptoms with diuretics. So get an echo done to look for this and also heart function.
Other causes include low hemoglobin which I guess is normal, lung problem for which you can get a chest x-ray done if some abnormalities are detected on examination or if echo is normal. Get thyroid test done if not had recently. Also, a healthy lifestyle like low fat, oily, calorie diet. Daily exercise like walking or brisk walking according to your capacity will help.
Hope this helps you.
Regards,
Dr. Sagar Makode, Cardiologist
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
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