Hey everyone hope you all having a nice stress free evening.I'm probably doing what most of us do and jumping to conclusions about symptoms being heart related, I get sooo breathless walking up the stairs and even lying down at night wake up so breathless, I also feel so exhausted I have told my cardiologist team and they have arranged MRI, stress test, and holter monitor in the next 6 months. I am eventually supposed to have valve replacement surgery, I am asthmatic aswell and have needed my blue inhaler (salbutamol) 3 times today just so breathless and wheezy. My question is what I'm describing does if sound heart or lung related?
Thanks for reading.
Probably worrying over nothing but I can't help but worry 😢
Written by
Yumz199725
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
In my honest opinion I would say that you’re describing symptoms that could be linked to both.
I also have asthma and have needed my inhalers in recent weeks even though it has been really well controlled for many years. However I had that silly illness that must not be named over Christmas and New Year so I think it’s a mixture of that and this recent cold spell.
Be kind to yourself, take things a bit more slowly if you need to, add an extra pillow (if it helps), try practicing mindfulness to help relax your mind and give your GP a call if you’re worried - at the very least it may help to alleviate your worries.
I was afraid you was gona say both my shortness of breathe has got worse as I've got older and I'm only 25!. I have to sleep very propped up bout 4 pillows. Yeah I take deep breathes seems to help for a bit and before I know it I'm back to where I started 😞. I have been to the GP literally most of this month and when last time I went about this particular issue they said to go to A&E and its not the best place to be at the minute 😳.
Thanks again mummasoap and have a good evening and take care.
Yeah I'm not sure what's happening just find myself getting so out of breathe so easily sometimes just from standing up. So I must admit getting worried don't know what's causing it heart or lungs or both.
I don't want to worry you but it's definitely better to get checked by a doctor urgently especially some of the symptoms you describe sound heart related (waking up breathless at night and needed to sleep propped up on lots of pillows). If you already know you will need heart valve surgery in the future it could be related to that but you can only find out if you get it checked. People over the Internet can't realistically rule out anything so please don't just rely on this site or others, get seen by a doctor as soon as you can
It could be either. I wouldn't be happy waiting for 6 months for tests though. Ask if they can refer you for an Echocardiogram. That will show if it's a valve issue and how quickly it needs sorting. I hope that you get some answers and start to feel better soon
Could be fluid around your heart and in your lungs. A course of simple meds. would help shift it. Itdid mine. I still take a very small dose of furosimide and Spironolactone daily to keep the fluid at bay.
Dear you
Whatever is going on is clearly not normal for you and because of the worry it is giving you it needs to be investigated.
Your symptoms can fit both lungs and heart { many can }but you are on the right path with your ongoing tests.
A good friend of mine is asthmatic and seems to be suffering more this year than any other hopefully someone else that is asthmatic may be able to answer if this is a bad year for your condition.
I've had a few symptoms with my asthma but compared to how bad was in 2020 this is nothing well regarding the asthma anyway. I had the worst asthma attack I'd ever had in my life I was in hospital for 2 weeks they said I had lower respiratory tract infection exhaberation of my asthma and when they admitted me they thought I had a virus in the lining of my heart. Anyway fast forward 3 years breathlessness is worse and I'm not sure it's asthma because I would be wheezy all the time and it comes and goes which is odd.
whilst I am waiting for heart diagnosis but already with autoimmune conditions which brought on asthma I am always breathless. My GP does a low dose of antibiotics so I do t get infections(autoimmune) then I use my inhalers more as also cold weather makes breathing harder so wrap up when you go out especially mouth and chest areas. Plus he upped my oral steroids too and a GTN spray. I get breathless from any activity and lying down and then chest pains too.
Just make sure you update them if things not quite right so they can adjust your meds if need be.
Thanks I definitely will. I have been definitely wrapping up warm and having my scarf round my mouth but can be hard to breathe like that for me so can't do it for long. I get breathless walking up the stairs up hills and after doing house work and sometimes more then should happen actually I get breathless just taking and putting the bedding on my bed it's awful. I have made my cardiologist aware of this and that's why I'm having the MRI and stress test and holter monitor soon. Maybe it is asthma related aswell I know my triggers and have an action plan peakflow and take my inhalers all the time sometimes more if I'm feeling unwell.
Yeah I was relieved by my inhaler but then still felt breathless I had to take it 3 times yesterday and I have noticed for a few days my feet are swollen which never happens to me. I don't know what's causing the breathlessness anymore 😩😞😢
Nobody can answer your question except your Cardiologist after conducting some tests. I had / have the same problem . I thought it was my asthma but ended up having a Widowmaker heart attack . I still am breathless and climbing stairs is extremely hard for me ( I also suffer from unstable angina )
As you know the symptoms of asthma problems and heart problems are very similar, hence your post . So it’s best to have an asthma check up , speak to your GP about your breathlessness etc and contact your Cardiologist imo . Not worth playing Russian Roulette with your health
I totally agree I have made my GP and cardiologist aware of my issues don't worry I just wanted some additional help on here because it's such a great support group. I have recently had an asthma check up and they said was fine. I know what triggers it and I always take my reliver inhaler when it gets bad but some times even taking that doesn't relive it but yesterday it did for while but then my verapamil completely relived it until about 2 in the morning when I felt short of breath.
Thanks for your reply 😉
Hello yumz sorry to here that you are having problems. It is a worry when you have different issues from either asthma or heart. I must admit that the best test I had to pin point my problem was a ct scan of the lungs? Echo scan of the heart and mri. Mri shows in lot more detail. Admittedly I will always be breathless on exertion due to the congenital heart disease. However as long as you are going to have an mri then that will be good. I think we may have touched on this, in another post. But have you taken an o2 finger reading. See my wife has asthma and she can have an oxygen reading of 97%. Me on the other hand, lucky if I get 92% on a good day. But I don't have asthma just my problem with right ventrical. However the weather does not help. With here asthma on a peak flow she can get 400 on a good day. Myself I can get 650. But it is just a simple test that can help. But mri is a must and a ct scan of lungs unless you have already had a ct scan. Chest xray also helps. Take care.
Thanks so much for your reply Felly12 yeah I did get that finger oximeter and my oxygen level is 99 on a good day and 97 yesterday I know it's not low particularly but was for me 😅. Yeah congenital heart defects are tough I know exactly what that's like I mean breathless is a symptom of that I know but mine I feel has got worse I really hope this MRI can shed some light on the breathlessness. What congenital defect do you have? I have coarctation of the aorta, bicuspid aortic valve and Moderate to severe AR and AS. Operation is on the horizon in the future but all they keep saying is eventually you will need a valve replacement and when you do we will arrange this as quickly as possible. How did you get a CT of your lungs was it something that your doctor recommended or did you ask for one?.
Well my congenital heart defect is epsteins anomoly. Basically my tricuspid valve was put in wrong place at birth, too low, so my right ventrical is small in volume. But the right atrium has a larger volumes. But the tricuspid valve leaks backwards which is what causes less blood to get to lungs at every beat. Now my body has compensated because my hemoglobin is 185. Regarding the lack of oxygen there is a possible leak between right and left ventricle. But it is not obvious even on an mri but it must have a leak, to cause cyanosis. Or it is a combination of right ventrical as well. However I suppose I was lucky ( unlucky in some respects) that A and E done the ct scan because of my low oxygen stats of 82%, but thats what puzzled them, I was walking talking laughing chatting at 82%. Any way the real test that proved cyanosis was a stress test on a static bike, rigged up to a computer . When I phoned for test results she said you had done quite well, but your lips went blue. Oh I said first time I have known about it . That ends the science lesson for today. The rest as we know is history, a history I wish to forget. So your oxygen stats seem to be good.
I wonder if there could also be an element of sleep apnea there as you wake up breathless which is quite common in patients with sleep apnea. This can usually be ruled out by doing a sleep study where you sleep with a device on and it will measure how many times you stop and start breathing whilst asleep. This is related more to the chest/respiratory side of things as opposed to the heart. Just a thought.
That's a good point I did wonder whether I could be getting sleep apnea but sometimes I can sleep fine through the night until the morning where I feel exhausted and breathless and then other nights I wake up most of the night and I'm breathless it's annoying 😞.
Do you have any way of measuring your oxygen stats and BPM? I wear an Apple Watch all the time so it takes my blood oxygen levels and BPM consistently throughout the day and when I am asleep. If you don’t have one, a Fitbit or an Apple Watch can be a good investment.
I used to have one but was making me anxious so I had to get rid of it. I now have an app called Fibricheck and an oximeter that is really good checked if today and oxygen is 99 and BPM is 79 so fine today yesterday was about 101.
a lot of responses here and i have not read them all so forgive me if someone has suggested this
have you had an asthma review by the respiratory team recently? your medication might need updating
Just a point someone has raised. Get an asthma check up but make sure it is with the asthma clinic or nurse don't just fill in the online questionnaire that my wife does. She went from a brown inhaler to a pink coloured one ? Don't know what the difference is. A
Yeah I made an asthma appointment recently and I saw a doctor and she said that everything was fine so maybe it's the weather or just a slight decline in heart problem. I think pink inhaler is stronger then brown.
One piece of kit my wife uses is a volumatic spacer. So you pump the material into the vumatic spacer then you really breath deep . I don't if that would help?
I was on spirolactone but I was taken of it because I didnt need it anymore. I will mention it but I don't know if its significant as time of the month can cause this well apparently as I looked on Google. I've never known it to last this long though so I think I might mention it definitely keep an eye on it before jumping to it being heart related.
Hiya...so i have exactly the same issues with wheezing.i was being treated originally as having lung disease which wouldve been more likely as id given up smoking 2yrs previous to my symptoms and my family history of lung problems copd etc..but,another year as well as lockdown went by until a gp noticed a difference in wheezing... ....then a cardiologisti told that as i dont get chest pains etc that are typical signs of angina my symptoms are my wheeziness also that the difference between heart wheeze and lung wheeze is the area...i am an ex smoker and the wheeze i had when i was poorly was way below the area which i wheeze from now...i now have a wheeze which is nearer the throat/neck area and it is a different kind of wheeze for sure...ive had many chest xrays that have so far come back clear and the mri stress test just showed a small MI.as well as my blocked and re repaired lad artery...but also showed a mild LV dysfunction....{i googled and wished i hadnt so if anyone else can heads me up id be grateful}lol....im actually going for my first excercise stress test tomorrow just to yet again eliminate lung problems..so i learnt that just cos you wheeze well,it doesnt mean its your lungs that are defo broken....and just wait and see what other tests say.gl and tc x
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Breathlessness at night - Beta blocker or heart failure?
breathlessness 
breathlessness 
Breathlessness?
Sudden onset of breathlessness
