Question:
I find that when I walk down the long halls at the hospitals where I deliver
blood, I get a heaviness in my lungs. Its not being winded as if I have
exercised too much, but more of a 'not enough air' feeling. I was tested
for asthma 2 years ago (a breathing machine) and I would breath really hard
into a tube. The results showed a severe cutoff at the end of the spike (on
the chart that measured my lung capacity). does any of this make sense? My
Dr. said its not asthma. Does anyone else have this problem? some days I
just can't take a breath.
Answer:
In 1995 I suddenly started having trouble breathing deeply enough to
exert myself. I would start wheezing just walking up one flight of
stairs, when, the previous week, I had had no trouble breathing after
walking 4 miles. The doctors found I had a *slight* case of bronchitis
and some intestinal problems, then my intestines became paralyzed for a
little while (may I suggest, that if some supernatural power ever tells
you that one of your body parts must be paralyzed, but you get to choose
which one, do *not* choose the intestines!). All that cleared up
eventually, but, in a lessened form, the breathing problems remained. I'm doing better these last few months after starting physical therapy,
though. My PT said when I went in that my chest muscles did not move at
all when I took a deep breath, that I was totally a stomach-breather.
Now that the chest muscles are moving a bit, I have a lot more endurance.
Still don't feel up to walking 4 miles like I used to, but I can at
least walk 1 or 1.5 without intense chest pain.
