Breathing and "funny feeling"

[Crystalbowl]

I have permanent AF and moderate HF with crt-p implanted. I take Bisoprolol, Digoxin, Rivaroxaban, Furosemide, Spironolactone, Candesartan. I tend to struggle to breath on exertion a lot of the time and sometimes when I am out of breath I have a funny sensation a bit like a hot flush going through my body. It only lasts for a few moments and then passes but I wonder if anyone knows what this is and what causes it. I am no longer menopausal by the way!

[Joynjoy]

Hi, sorry you're feeling bad. Is the breathlessness something new? If it is I think you should see you Dr.

That funny feeling you describe sounds like something I feel when anxiety is taking me over, I think it's a burst of adrenaline or cortisone or something. Again if it's new, go chat to your Dr. My recourse is relaxation, mindfulness to calm my body down. It's worth thinking about.

Hope you feel better soon. Regards Joy

[Crystalbowl in reply to Joynjoy]

Thanks for your reply, Joy. No, neither the breathlessness or the feeling is new. I have just never thought about the ‘funny feeling’ when with a Doctor/Consultant as there always seems so much to talk about in the limited time one has with them. I am seeing the Cardiac GP next week so have made a note to mention it if I get to see him of course as don’t know what the Coronavirus situation will be by then. You could be right that it is an adrenaline rush but it only happens when my breathing gets compromised and not every time and doesn’t last long, just a few seconds.

[Joynjoy in reply to Crystalbowl]

I wonder if it has anything to do with oxygen levels, if it only happens when your breathing is bad? Maybe would be wise to sit or lie down?

I hope you get to your appointment, but it's a worry about keeping yourself safe. I'm trying not to let myself get frightened by this new threat, it wouldn't do my funny feelings any good😀

All the best. Joy

[JonathanPittsCrick]

I can think of one explanation but there are other possibilities.

Probably at rest your pacemaker is controling your heart and under exercise conditions it is likely that your AF overtakes the pacemaker. It sounds like the pacemaker is not speeding up enough with exertion, which is limiting your circulation and making you breathless, but the AF jumps the heart rate to a more effective level giving your circulation a boost. This suggests that with adjustment of your pacemaker settings to increase the rate response you would have more energy to undertake strenuous activity.

[Crystalbowl in reply to JonathanPittsCrick]

Thank you, Jonathan. I omitted to say the pacemaker was implanted on 31/10/19 and I was experiencing the ‘funny feeling’ before that. Joynjoy has suggested I might need to sit down or lie down when it happens and I do certainly have to stop to ‘recover’. It is fairly momentary but definitely something is happening which is abnormal for me in the scheme of things. I was having worse difficulties with my breathing last year but this seemed to be due to fluid retention and upping the diuretics seems to have sorted that. As I said in my reply to Joynjoy above, I have never thought to mention it to a doctor/consultant as I tend to forget about it once it has passed again and also there have been other health issues needing time. I have now made a note to ask the Cardiac GP when I see him next week if that goes ahead or it may be cancelled because of Coronavirus. I was asking on this forum as people are so knowledgeable about these conditions.