What Causes Breathlessness?

Posted on Sun, 15 Jan 2017

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

Sun, 15 Jan 2017 Answered on

Wed, 8 Feb 2017 Last reviewed on

Question : What would cause shortness of breath especially in a prone position?

Answered by Dr. Dr Sameer Maheshwari (6 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Please see detailed answer

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
This is Dr Sameer, cardiologist.
Breathlessness has a lot of causes, considering few that will answer your query
1) Respiratory causes - Lung disorders especially in chronic smokers causes breathing trouble. This trouble is equal on lying & standing. We can hear a noice in breathing called wheez.
2) Cardiac causes - Patients with a weak heart heart has trouble in breathing due to fluid overload in body. This trouble increases after exertion & lying down & decreases after rest.
3) Anxiety - Anxiety can cause breathing difficulty despite all normal tests. It occurs both on lying & standing & associated with anxiety.

So considering your case it looks like cardiac origin, but as you are saying that you did not have breathlessness earlier but started having it after your asked you about it, it looks like you have become concious about it.
So still you should get certain tests to rule out any abnormality like
1) Chest X Ray
2) 2 D Echo
3) Stress Echo
Thanks
Dr Sameer Maheshwari

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D