SOB-Asthma vs. cardiac?

[pedimed]

Hi,

I am curious, for those of you with history of asthma and AVR who have had shortness of breath.. Are you able to differentiate between the two regarding a cause of the shortness of breath? Assuming an illness is not present to explain it.

I have no audible wheezing, no frequent coughing, not struggling to breath, but feel short of breath when lying down or talking.

So, just curious if others who have both respiratory illness (such as asthma) and have had AVR are able to identify which of these is a cause of shrotness of breath if you have expereinced this.

thanks in advance for sharing your experience/thoughts on this.

Best,
Leah

I have to apologize if this msg gets posted twice.. not sure what im doing aparently when it comes to posting properly..

 

[Ross]

Leah I have COPD, Emphysema, Pulmonary Hemosiderosis, a partially paralyzed raised left diaphragm, CHF and a whole host of goodies, but I can never tell what's causing the shortness of breath specifically, unless the Hemosiderosis is acting up, then I get pleurisy and usually pneumonia along with it. Short answer for me is No, I cannot.

 

[neil]

agree with ross,i have had asthma for 40 yrs and before my op couldnt tell if it was my asthma or my valve making me short of breath, even though i feel better now i can still get wheezing which could be due to my beta blockers or my asthma,but over all i feel great,

 

[Lily]

Leah I have COPD, Emphysema, Pulmonary Hemosiderosis, a partially paralyzed raised left diaphragm, CHF and a whole host of goodies, but I can never tell what's causing the shortness of breath specifically, unless the Hemosiderosis is acting up, then I get pleurisy and usually pneumonia along with it. Short answer for me is No, I cannot.

Ross, I was thinking about your COPD the other day. Recently I've been having some low o2 saturation rates at high altitudes. I also hadn't been exercising and just wasn't feeling well. So, I started exercising again and feel that everything, including lungs and heart, is strengthening.

Anyway, I have been wondering too about your situation, since you're not able to exercise. But, here's what I was thinking and wanted to ask you: might working with a spirometer help you possibly strengthen your lungs? Or might there be some other type of respiration therapy that could help you?

 

[Ross]

Ross, I was thinking about your COPD the other day. Recently I've been having some low o2 saturation rates at high altitudes. I also hadn't been exercising and just wasn't feeling well. So, I started exercising again and feel that everything, including lungs and heart, is strengthening.

Anyway, I have been wondering too about your situation, since you're not able to exercise. But, here's what I was thinking and wanted to ask you: might working with a spirometer help you possibly strengthen your lungs? Or might there be some other type of respiration therapy that could help you?

I asked the pulmonolgist this very question 2 weeks ago. He said between my partially paralyzed diaphragm and lung damage because of repeated bouts of pneumonia, about the only good a spirometer would do is help keep my lungs clear of junk. I wouldn't get the added capacity and strengthening that normal people do. They are just too badly damaged. He's got me on BiPAP now, which is at least allowing me to get some much needed sleep by forcing more air/oxygen into the lungs, since I can't get it any other way. I've now been put on high flow oxygen, running 5LPM during the day and 6LPM at night bled into the BiPAP machine.

 

[pedimed]

Thank you all for your thoughts on this...
Ross, Glad the BiPaP is helping you sleep. Hopefully this will bleed into your feeling stronger during the day as well.
Wish you all the best