Trouble taking breaths? Shortness of Breath?

[rachel4123]

Hi Everyone. I am still in limboland. I have had symptoms for about 5 years and they have started to get worse. Balance issues, dizziness, weakness in hands and legs, nausea. Neuro hasn't dx me since my MRI is non-specific, LP normal, other tests normal. Have had 5 MRI's over the years all with and without contrast - all remained the same, no changes, cervical was normal. Granted, I haven;t been back to the neuro in over 1 year, so I am not sure if maybe this has changed. My husband and I haven;t been trying to get pregnant and I have focused on that. We are havign trouble so we turned to IVF and we did a cycle in Sept but it resulted in a miscarriage at 4 weeks.

I sometimes wonder now if having a baby is a good idea since my symptoms are starting to get worse, but I have my good days and I forget about it. Plus I am still not 100% sure it is MS, but most of my symptoms lead there. The only thing diagnostically is that have non-specific white spots on my brain MRI, but doc said they are not classical for MS.

I wanted to ask you all on here about a strange symptom I have been getting lately and it's scary. I have trouble taking deep breaths and shortness of breath with activity. Almost like my diaphram won't open all the way?? I do moderate excercise - ellptical, stationary bike, and have noticed it is hard for me to take a deep breath. I don't overexert myself either. I have also noticed it is hard to take a deep yawn. sounds weird, I know, but it's really strange. I sometimes get this even when I am resting. I wonder if it is my heart or something. I get chest tightness and a cold feeling in the chest too. Wondering if this is the MS hug or something, but the trouble breathing thing is really scary. I have an appt with my primary doc next week to check things out. I am not overweight or anything like that. I used to run and workout a lot. I have cut back due to these balance issues, etc, but I don't consider myself out of shape.

Sorry for long post....but any feedback would be great!

Rachel

[MSJayhawk]

Prior to the shortness of breath can you sense a "hug"? I have shortness of breath when the hug presents. At night, if I do not elevate my head, I also will experience breaathing difficulties.

[rachel4123]

Originally Posted by MSJayhawk

Prior to the shortness of breath can you sense a "hug"? I have shortness of breath when the hug presents. At night, if I do not elevate my head, I also will experience breaathing difficulties.

The hug feeling doesn;t really come before or after. Sometimes it does, but most the time the breathing thing is by itself.

Thanks MSJAYHawk for responding...

[Positivethinkin]

Originally Posted by rachel4123

Hi Everyone. I am still in limboland. I have had symptoms for about 5 years and they have started to get worse. Balance issues, dizziness, weakness in hands and legs, nausea. Neuro hasn't dx me since my MRI is non-specific, LP normal, other tests normal. Have had 5 MRI's over the years all with and without contrast - all remained the same, no changes, cervical was normal. Granted, I haven;t been back to the neuro in over 1 year, so I am not sure if maybe this has changed. My husband and I haven;t been trying to get pregnant and I have focused on that. We are havign trouble so we turned to IVF and we did a cycle in Sept but it resulted in a miscarriage at 4 weeks.

I sometimes wonder now if having a baby is a good idea since my symptoms are starting to get worse, but I have my good days and I forget about it. Plus I am still not 100% sure it is MS, but most of my symptoms lead there. The only thing diagnostically is that have non-specific white spots on my brain MRI, but doc said they are not classical for MS.

I wanted to ask you all on here about a strange symptom I have been getting lately and it's scary. I have trouble taking deep breaths and shortness of breath with activity. Almost like my diaphram won't open all the way?? I do moderate excercise - ellptical, stationary bike, and have noticed it is hard for me to take a deep breath. I don't overexert myself either. I have also noticed it is hard to take a deep yawn. sounds weird, I know, but it's really strange. I sometimes get this even when I am resting. I wonder if it is my heart or something. I get chest tightness and a cold feeling in the chest too. Wondering if this is the MS hug or something, but the trouble breathing thing is really scary. I have an appt with my primary doc next week to check things out. I am not overweight or anything like that. I used to run and workout a lot. I have cut back due to these balance issues, etc, but I don't consider myself out of shape.

Sorry for long post....but any feedback would be great!

Rachel

Have you been checked for asthma? I know I get symptoms like you describe and I have asthma. Try not to get too anxious about your breathing trouble, I know it is easier said than done. Anxiety can cause breathing difficulties to worsen. I hope you are feeling better soon. Wishing you the best.

Positive Thinkin

[MSNik]

Hi. Of course I could be wrong, but to me, this doesnt sound at all like the hug....it doesnt even sound like a MS thing....Positive Thinking might be right that it is asthma related, Im guessing cardio related.
You said youre not doing strenuous exercise, but any eliptical or workout like you describe, does raise the heart rate and CAN cause deep breathing issues.

Of course, this is just a guess. I would defintaely talk to your doctor about it- possibly he will order a stress test for you, which you should ace, since its alot like a treadmill test. But, it will monitor your heart rate and your breathing capability and see if there is anything else going on.

Those of us with MS, and even those of us in limbo-land, tend to forget that not everything is MS related, and sometimes we assume its "nothing" when in reality its something...go get checked out. Probably its nothing, but just to be safe....
Hope it stops as quickly as it came on....
Nikki