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What Should I Do Having Difficulty Breathing At Times Now?
Question: Dear Dr.
I'm 73 years old. As a child I had asthma and it tapered off when I became an adult. I'm having difficulty breathing at times now. I'm not having asthma but it's more like gas build up making it hard for me to breathe. When I walk around and belch a few times the feeling of increased work of breathing goes away and I go back to normal. The trouble is I'm up all night due to the discomfort of working hard to breathe. I belch and it gets better but I go back to bed and after a while I wake up again and have to walk around and I can't sleep very long. What should I do? Art Blum
I'm 73 years old. As a child I had asthma and it tapered off when I became an adult. I'm having difficulty breathing at times now. I'm not having asthma but it's more like gas build up making it hard for me to breathe. When I walk around and belch a few times the feeling of increased work of breathing goes away and I go back to normal. The trouble is I'm up all night due to the discomfort of working hard to breathe. I belch and it gets better but I go back to bed and after a while I wake up again and have to walk around and I can't sleep very long. What should I do? Art Blum
Brief Answer:
You need to rule out heart failure.
Detailed Answer:
Hello sir,
Your discomfort to breathe when you lie down is called as orthopnea. When you lie down all the blood is directed towards heart and if the heart is dysfunctional, congestion occurs due to pooling up of blood in lungs and causes shortness of breath. You also seem to have paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnoea which means after sleeping for 1 or 2 hours, you need to get up due to shortness of breath. Once you get up from lying position, there will be relief.
Both orthopnea and paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnoea are signs of heart failure.
I don't mean to apprehend you but please do consult a cardiologist and have your ECG and 2D echocardiography done to rule out heart failure.
Other possible causes of orthopnea include:
excess fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema)
severe pneumonia
obesity
fluid buildup around the lung (pleural effusion)
fluid buildup in the abdomen (ascites)
diaphragm paralysis
If you feel your symptoms are due to gastric irritation, you can use tab.pantop 40 mg once daily before food for 3 days and see for yourself if the shortness of breath goes away.
If it doesn't, please consult a physician or a cardiologist for clinical examination and few tests as mentioned above for a specific diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
Hope i have answered your question. Please let me know if you need any further assistance. Thank you.
Take care.
You need to rule out heart failure.
Detailed Answer:
Hello sir,
Your discomfort to breathe when you lie down is called as orthopnea. When you lie down all the blood is directed towards heart and if the heart is dysfunctional, congestion occurs due to pooling up of blood in lungs and causes shortness of breath. You also seem to have paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnoea which means after sleeping for 1 or 2 hours, you need to get up due to shortness of breath. Once you get up from lying position, there will be relief.
Both orthopnea and paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnoea are signs of heart failure.
I don't mean to apprehend you but please do consult a cardiologist and have your ECG and 2D echocardiography done to rule out heart failure.
Other possible causes of orthopnea include:
excess fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema)
severe pneumonia
obesity
fluid buildup around the lung (pleural effusion)
fluid buildup in the abdomen (ascites)
diaphragm paralysis
If you feel your symptoms are due to gastric irritation, you can use tab.pantop 40 mg once daily before food for 3 days and see for yourself if the shortness of breath goes away.
If it doesn't, please consult a physician or a cardiologist for clinical examination and few tests as mentioned above for a specific diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
Hope i have answered your question. Please let me know if you need any further assistance. Thank you.
Take care.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vaishalee Punj
Answered by
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