Suggest Treatment For Shortness Of Breath

Posted on Wed, 19 Aug 2015

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

Wed, 19 Aug 2015 Answered on

Tue, 8 Sep 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : Well for about 18 days now ive been experiencing a shortness of breath. I went to the ER last week to see what was going on. They took blood tests among various others. It seems i don't have any infections, my oxygen levels are great, blood pressure is great and the xray didn't show anything bad. They couldnt find anything wrong. I noticed that when im laying down i seem to breath just fine but when im sitting/walking around i cant take a full breath. I start to feel a resistance to breathing in about half way. I dont have any pain anywhere including my legs or chest. Any idea's what this could be?

Answered by Dr. Sandip Kabra (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Could be low stamina or early asthma.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome to health care magic,

Feeling shortness of breath on exertion can be due to variety of reasons like

Low stamina can make you feel this way.(considering your normal haemoglobin)

Or it could be either early asthma or seasonal asthma which can be diagnosed by various tests like

1) pulmonary functions tests to assess the condition of the lung.

2) Chest X ray (which you have already done earlier) and ECG will also be required if your treating doctor feels so .

3) In your case physical examination is very important to auscultate the chest which may give us a clue regarding the disease.

So,you should see a pulmonologist for complete medical history and thoroughly clinical examination with some relevant investigations .

Till avoid smoking and pollution.

Continue to take steroid inhaler whenever you will feel shortness of breath.

Deep breathing exercises and yoga will be very beneficial for increasing the lung compliance.

Hope this will help you.

Regards,

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T