Suggest Treatment For Persistent Back Pain And Shortness Of Breath

Posted on Mon, 4 Jan 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 4 Jan 2016 Answered on

Mon, 1 Feb 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : MY HUSBAND HAS HAD PERSISTENT BACK PAIN FOR MONTHS. NOW THE PAIN IS ALSO IN HIS LEGS AND HE HAS A HARD TIME WALKING. HE NOW HAS SHORTNESS OF BREATH AND HAS TO TAKE FREQUENT BREAKS WITH ACTIVITY. HE IS 50 YEARS OLD. ANY THOUGHTS?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Naveen Kumar Sharma (39 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
I think there is disease in spine and Heart both

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
I have studied your case and I think that there is two problems in your husband's case.
1.Spine - There is compression of nerves in the spine. It is causing pain during walking on prolonged standing or walking. I would recommend you get MRI of the spine to confirm the diagnosis and assessment of canal diameter. If there is critical shortening of diameter then he may need surgery. Otherwise medicines are sufficient in early stages. Pregabalin M tablet is given in night.
2 Breathlessness on walking is more serious issue and it is related to heart. I would recommend you to get blood pressure and ECG and 2D echo examination. it will tell us why is the condition of heart. He should take salt restricted diet and he may need diuretics.
I hope this answer will be useful for you. Let me know if there is any other followup questions.
thanks

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