Shortness of breath at rest. Is this a side effect of Statin or something else?

[TasteLessFood4Life]

I have been experiencing episodes of shortness of breath mainly during rest. The feeling is not overwhelming, but rather a slight feeling of discomfort.

Not sure what is causing this, but if I exert it doesnt seem to be there or bother me anymore. Dont think there are any other symptoms,

My guess is - it is either related to a medication side effect or linked to hyperventilation. I have noticed that my breathing frequency is a bit on the high side, so if I control my breathing it does make it better.

As I have CVD, how can you rule out it is not heart related? It has been there on/off for over 6m, since my anxiety attack. I have already had a battery of tests (echo/holter/ctca), apart from the stenosis in LAD, nothing else was discovered.

Any thoughts?

[bluemoon572]

shortness of breath at rest but not during physical exertion is characteristic of anxiety or stress. Focussing too much on your breathing is.often associated. Our breathing is an automatic function. I hope you'll be reassured that your symptom is not caused by heart or lung pathology.

[CyclingTime]

Not heard of it for Statins before and I am on the max dose. Worth checking with your doctor though as you don't want it getting worse

[ChoochSiesta]

Asthma?

[pete109]

I get that as well, I’m on 50mg Losartan, 40 mg Atorvastatin, I’ve had 4 stents to LAD, LCx as a result of loads of tests and scans to try and find the cause for my BP spiking for no reason, hasn't solved my BP problem but probably stopped me having a heart attack / stroke, I’ve noticed that the slight breathing discomfort appears about an hour after taking the meds then it goes away, I have no ongoing structural heart problems and I don’t have any breathing problems running up and down the stairs so I reckon it must be the meds, reading the inserts in the packets it’s one of the many, many possible side effects. I think part of the problem is that when you know there’s something medically wrong, every little twinge especially in the chest tends to make you think the worse.

[cateblanchett]

Pollen (grass and trees) is extremely high right now. Perhaps it’s having an impact on you?

[JAVA12]

Catching up with old emails so you may have sorted this now but in my husband's case, we think it was a side effect of Ticagrelor. He was taken off it and put on Clopidogrel and it has improved. Shortness of breath at rest is a common side effect with Ticagrelor.