asthma or heart?

[Poshcards]

I have not long been discharged from Coronary care ward after 8 days on various drips , drugs ets for what they have called Afibrial Fibrulation, waiting to go back in to have my heart shocked all totally out of the blue! I also have what I consider to be controlled Asthma. My problem is after climbing stairs my heart is pounding, missing beats and so breathless, is this heart or Asthma, I am relatively new to asthma too, can anybody help me please x

[Patk1]

I think it's a question for Yr dr x

[sassy59]

Morning Poshcards, l agree with Patk1 best ask your doctor as we’re not medically qualified on here. I have atrial fibrillation but it seems quite well managed at the moment.

Let us know how things go.. xxxx

[sandylo]

I too have atrial fibrillation I'm on Bisoprolol tablets which seem to be doing the trick I used to get breathless before the hospital put me on them

[Izb1 in reply to sandylo]

I am on Bisopralol for high blood pressure and have been diagnosed now with overlap asthma. My friend told me she was taken of these as they are not to be used when you have asthma. I really hope they leave me on these as they work so well for my BP x

[Alberta56]

Heart and lung diseases often go together. Your doctor is the person to ask, but do try to take it easy while you recover from your hospital stay. Stairs are a nuisance, but at least they give our leg muscles a bit of exercise.

[Biker88]

It’s both, either can cause breathlessness and both together just makes it worse. Try and get on a pulmonary rehab course it you haven’t already, They will teach you alll about breathlessness and how to manage it

[Patk1]

Could u ring the ward x

[Izb1]

I would ask your gp as it could be both these conditions x

[peege]

Very sorry to hear this Poshcards. Unfortunately we're all lung patients on here (some with added heart conditions) so we can't answer your query. It's definitely something for your medics although you've definitely been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation so perhaps you could look it up on the NHS website to see how best to look after yourself going forward.

google.com/url?sa=t&source=...

You could also ring the helpline to talk to a professional about the heart/ asthma crossover on 0300 222 5800 09.15 to 17.00 Mon to Fri

[TObby75]

I’ve got heart failure, copd,& lung cancer & doctors can’t say which is causing my problems similar to yours I had to buy a stairlift last year because I live in an upstairs flat - not a lot of help I’m afraid but you’re not the only one ! Good luck

[Offcut]

Okay a complicated soul here. I was diagnosed with Asthma in 1980 something? Went through the inhalers etc. Like you do and found it very useful except I got the Ventolin twitches at night due to over use. (Even at that time it was often dealt with by some doctors with Valium as they thought it was nervous condition?)

Now move onto 1992 I was admitted to hospital with double pneumonia and was in there for 10 days, on admittance they stated they were not happy with my heart as it seems I had AF and they explained what it was doing. I shocked them a bit by stating I told my GP about these weird heart flutters Years ago I was getting and he told not to worry we all have them from time to time? So, I did not bother and put it down to my asthma for the struggling sometimes?

2002 I moved house and GP surgeries this is where it all got complicated. The surgery kept all my asthma care scripts but blamed most of my issues on my heart and from 2004 onwards I have had 9 CV and 3 Ablations sorry to say still in AF! (CV often works on new patience's it's me)

2012 Learnt I had worked with Brown asbestos for 10 years! Asked to be checked out had a Spirometry test at GP's and found RLD (Was in ICU for 32 days in 2008 with a lung failure/infection) This prompted them to me seeing a Lung Consultant at my local hospital They did further tests and found I had COPD and RLD! But they did not understand that at this I was struggling with mild exercise/excretions As I was always rested by the time they did see me. It took me being stubborn and emphasising that they are not getting my issues that further tests were done. It was the Pulmonary Rehab team refusing me as I was exercise intolerant! From there after a number of other tests they found I had possibly IPAH. I went to Sheffield specialist PH clinic and was found to have high IPAH

2014 My GP agreed and to Quote " Yes you were right your lungs are CRAP"

Firstly, sorry for the long reply. But it is important that you as well as your doctors' consultants etc. do not just look at you with Asthma and AF but you as a whole so many times the specialists will only look for their strengths not to what else could be causing the problem.

Be Well

[jackdup in reply to Offcut]

You have certainly experienced what most fear and that is the doctors either not taking you seriously when describing issues you are having, or thinking it isn’t anything serious and not following up with appropriate tests to confirm what they believe is the issue.

[Offcut in reply to jackdup]

My Previous GP Practice would give me an emergency pack for flairs. my new one would not they said "It would make me antibiotic neutral " I can see the reasoning to that but it could take so long to get an appointment my conditions were a lot worse by the time I saw them. I was once sent to have an emergency Xray when I called reception after a long wait, I was told "not to worry mild infection!" It got really bad after 2 days so booked an urgent appointment (yes, I could do that then) My GP said as soon as I walked in "Why had I not come in earlier as I have Pneumonia!" When I explained what the receptionist said to say you could see the anger moving up his face was an understatement

[Grammy80]

Hi, I hope I can offer some peace of mind. I'm 84 and was diagnosed with asthma at age 59; it took a few years to figure out my 'triggers' but now have total control with one puff of Trelegy in the morning. I used to take Breo each morning but Trelegy has an added medication.

Last fall, my primary care doctor, I'm in the States, sent me for blood work and tests on my heart, and surprise! I had atrial fibrillation. I wore a monitor for a week, and the irregular beats frequently occurred. It was decided to do a cardiac ablation. Wow! I didn't realize how restricted my breathing was, especially since I never felt a flutter. Yes, I had shortness of breath, but I had gained a considerable amount of weight due to steroids, GCA, and I just thought that was the reason. The ablation was painless and so effective. I know sometimes it can be controlled with meds.

Have you ever been tested for sleep apnea? That is a big contributor to Afib. I have it and LOVE my CPAP machine....I get up so rested. Though I won't be running any marathons soon, these three things have greatly impacted my energy level. I wish you the very best.💞

[Mavary]

Hi! I suffer with mild asthma although I have in the last few years had a couple of nasty asthma attacks. I also suffer with a rapid heartbeat and breathlessness. They have told me my left ventricular isn’t working properly but they don’t seem to worry much. I had a heart scan a few years ago and was supposed to have another one. But they’ve never ever called me in. With all we’ve had in the last few years it’s not surprising. I

Look at it as if they aren’t worried then nor am I.

[Homely2]

They first misdiagnosed my Asthma as a coronary condition.The issue is that my heart goes a bit wild when my Asthma is out of control, giving me a weird Ecg at times.

With my Asthma, and we are all different, it s hard to control, allergic and variable. So somedays I can bound up the stairs other days it is really hard work. I am breathless, missing heart beats etc.

I would keep a peak flow diary, morning and night, to monitor how your asthma is, and also record your symptoms. Then after a month or so discuss the results with your medics. For me, with my type of asthma, if I did this, it would show a correlation between peakflow and level of breathlessness.

You will also find a peakflow diary a really good way of seeing the patterns and therefore your asthma triggers. Today I am doing the laundry, my peakflows will fall, as I hate dust, and my asthma will be unhappy, climbing stairs will be an issue.

[Timberman]

Must say that sounds like your heart. But asthma is a strange affliction and can show up in some odd and frightening forms. I would seek some advice or even a second opinion from a specialist?