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Chest tightness and shortness of breath

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Posted 3/22/2010 5:10 PM (GMT 0)

I was just wondering if anyone else experiences shortness of breath and chest tightness with your fibro.  I experience this and also extreme fatigue.  My doctor says that my heart is fine and it must be due to the fibro.  Does anyone else have this?  Thanks, have a great day!

Posted 3/22/2010 5:29 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, but anxiety does it to me too so don't know the cause with me. Anywhere there is a muscle in our body I guess it can tighten, spasm, hurt whatever it wants to do.

 

I had my heart checked out too last year to make sure it was okay.

 

luv and hugs

Marlee

Posted 3/22/2010 5:50 PM (GMT 0)
It is always good to get breathing problems checked.

I sometimes experiance the shortness of breath with the fatigue. Long ago my chiropractor
told me I was a shallow breather. He urged me to start breathing deeper from the
diaphram. It wasn't until almost a year ago that I started doing deep breathing exercises
to help with my stress and pain. I now do these exercised daily as part of a relaxation
therapy.

To do deep breathing....sit up straight...place your hands on your stomach, just above
your waist...take a slow deep breath through your nose, slowly pushing your hands out
on your stomach... hold your breath with your stomach out 2-5 seconds... slowly exhale
through your mouth.

I do this exercise when I start to feel stressed or having bad pain and it helps.

hugs, Robin

pain.
Posted 3/22/2010 7:23 PM (GMT 0)
I have this and it is caused by costochondritis.  There is a link about it in Fibro 101.  Sometimes it hurts to breathe.  I did have everything checked out first, though.

 

Sherrine

Posted 3/22/2010 7:28 PM (GMT 0)
I also do Robin's exercises at red lights, while waiting in line at the bank or the grocery store, while delivering my wedding cakes, during commercials... you name it, I BREATHE! It's one of the best things you can do for fibro and lowering your blood pressure.
Posted 3/27/2010 5:23 AM (GMT 0)
It must be a fibro thing, I have it so does my son and my mother. I do not worry about it. Aftrer going to the doctor and having it checked out I was told not to worry. my son 22 had the samew result, but my mother panics nothing anyone tells her makes a difference. It has gotten so bad she has been admitted to hospital several times. As we keep telling her sit still breathe deeply and try to forget about how bad it is and in no time you will be fine.

Kathy
Posted 3/27/2010 2:40 PM (GMT 0)
Our bodies are so weird. I've had a bug, cold or whatever this week and yesterday my chest was so tight I thought maybe I was getting pneumonia. I was coughing but it was an unproductive cough. Today my chest doesn't feel tight. I have been stressing cause I had a lot to do that didn't get done this week and don't have much time to get it all done now before next weekend. So now I'm not even sure the tightness in my chest had anything to do with being sick but more from stressing.

 

Kathy it does sound like your mother panics when she gets the shortness of breath.

 

luv and hugs

Marlee

Posted 3/27/2010 3:39 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, I've had my heart checked out several times and it's fine, too. Although sometimes I do get tachycardia (fast-beating heart.) That's kind of scary, but so far it's always gone away on its own. The chest pain is no fun. I am also a shallow breather....in choir my biggest problem is getting out of breath. So I'm trying to work on deeper breathing, but it's hard to remember after 55 years!
Posted 3/27/2010 10:38 PM (GMT 0)
I have had problems with pain in my chest since i was about 11 and continue to do so now... I have had my heart checked twice now(I am only 30) because heart problems run rampant in both sides of my family I also ocassionaly have problems breathing but was told that i have Asthma and have been treated for asthma but do not use anything for it on a regular basis...
Posted 3/28/2010 12:06 AM (GMT 0)
The pulmonary specialist told me that fibro can affect the tissues in the lung sacs, making them more difficult to expand.
Posted 3/28/2010 12:39 AM (GMT 0)
REALLY?? That's a depressing thought. I guess we'll have to be more vigilant than most about deep breathing and getting enough exercise!
Posted 2/23/2012 7:06 PM (GMT 0)
I have for the past 6 years known that I have Fibromyalgia, but a yaer and a half ago I had real breathing problems so bad that I drove my self to the hospital. I was given breathing treatments and sent home with an inhaler and scripts for prenezone as well as a Zpack antibiotics. I felt better fast and the next mont the same thing my breathing got shallow and I had to use my inhaler, again I was prescribed antibiotics and told to use my inhaler. This progressed tothe point I am now two months ago I went to a lung specialist and had testing done that listed me with slight COPD, I dont smoke or drink and have always been inshape until 6 years ago when I was in and auto accident and then another by a drunk driver amost 3 years ago so I dont know how the COPD happened. BUT now to the point while I am on antibiotics I have cut my pain meds by a third and no longer need my nebulizer and inhaler. This has been a blessing to find, but now I have yet to convince my Doctors even after taking my daily logs of when and how much medication that I need to take.... Maybe this can help someone else as I will continue to talk to and teach my doctors about what works for me, and what has Freed me to live with min. Fibromyalgia pain and the ability to breath without inhalers and nebulizers that restrict the way of life I would like to live...
Posted 2/23/2012 9:33 PM (GMT 0)
Smilencooley,

Hi, and welcome to the forum! We'd love to get to know you better. Why don't you start a new thread to introduce yourself? (More people will see it that way.)

This is a great place to vent and share both joys and hardships....we all understand what it's like to have fibro.

Debbie
Posted 2/24/2012 12:25 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,

I've been having breathing difficulties all my life. Inhalers never helped me. My breathing was getting so bad I would have to sit down at times I felt so short of breath.

In the mid-90's I went to see a holistic doctor one of my g/f's was seeing. He recommended that I stay away from dairy products. Dairy products produce extra phlegm and can cause one to feel as if they have asthma. Sure enough, going off of the dairy products helped. I'm able to function better but I do have to say I still have shallow breathing difficulties but not nearly as impairing as I use to.

I use soy milk on my cereal and if I want a grilled cheese I use veggie cheese.

Good luck to all.
Posted 2/26/2012 4:44 PM (GMT 0)
Hi all,

A couple of years ago I was a runner. Unfortunately the pain was so bad that I had to stop. As amazing as it felt to run, when I would get up in the middle of the night to go to bathroom, I'd just fall over from the pain. It broke my heart that I had to stop running, but I started to walk recently instead. I did notice that by the end of an hour walk, my chest got really tight, it kinda felt like asthma, which is weird because I have never suffered from asthma, and I have always been very fit. After reading this thread, I'm starting to wonder if the tightness is a just another fibro thing, separate from the costochondritis. I'm glad to hear it seems to be a normal thing and nothing to worry about. However, I have been avoiding exercise altogether lately, which sucks because then my anxiety and depression gets worse.

I just keep telling myself, deep breathe and take it one day at a time.
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