Chest Pain Under Strain Get It Checked Out
In older white males, we know chest pain may be a sign of heart attack. But we havent gotten that same sort of education with women, Baechler says. Women fear breast cancer more than heart disease, but they are more likely to have heart disease. In fact, heart disease is the No.1 killer of women in America today, causing more deaths than all types of cancer combined.
If you lift something and have chest pain that youve never had before, get it checked out. You should also see your doctor about any new chest pain when you walk upstairs or exert yourself in some way. This is particularly important if the pain goes away after a short period of rest. Women are more likely than men to have atypical symptoms of a heart attack: shortness of breath, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, extreme fatigue, a cold sweat, or pain in the arms, back, neck, or stomach, Baechler says. Get these, and any of the more traditional symptoms, checked out.
What Is Kidney Failure
Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, occurs when the kidneys are no longer able to adequately remove waste from your blood and control the level of fluid in your body. Kidney failure can happen suddenly or gradually. People with kidney failure need dialysis or a kidney transplant to stay alive.
If you have kidney disease, it does not mean that you will develop kidney failure. One in ten Australians aged 18 and over has at least one sign of chronic kidney disease, and over 23,000 Australians receive dialysis or a kidney transplant for kidney failure.
You can lose up to 90 per cent of your kidney function before experiencing symptoms. In many cases, the signs of disease arent noticed until the kidneys are close to failure.
How Is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Diagnosed
Right now, theres no test to tell if someone has chronic fatigue syndrome. Doctors ask a lot of questions . They also will do a thorough physical exam.
Doctors also usually order blood, urine , or other tests to check for conditions that cause similar symptoms. They may send a person to see other specialists to help with the diagnosis.
A doctor may suggest meeting with a psychologist or a therapist who can see whether mental health disorders might contribute to or mask CFS.
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He Can Feel Breathless If He Tries To Do Something Too Quickly
Well when you feel breathless its like… walking up hill, and when I feel you know walking up, or running up and downstairs we’ll say, and I feel breathless, I don’t run up and down stairs but if that’s what it feels like I’ve run up and down stairs you know, up and down a few times you now puffing hard you know. You know you’re gasping for air a bit more. But it’s a lot better now that I’m on the medication, I don’t get so much breathlessness, only if I approach a bank or I do something rather quicker than I should have done like go upstairs faster than I should, then I might feel a little bit breathless you know. But other than that it hasn’t affected me too badly now. It did initially before I had the medication I felt I was, I was puffing walking on level ground you know I was out of breath then so that’s how it felt.
A Chest That Is Heavy & Tiredness With A Shortness Of Breath
With the advent of the Internet and ready access to medical information, both professional and lay, researching illnesses and their symptoms is just a few mouse clicks away. This easy availability of information sometimes makes for arm-chair doctors when the real thing is necessary. Its important to rationally review your symptoms and, if ever in doubt, seek medical advice.
If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.
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When To Call Your Doctor
Seek medical care if you experience the following symptoms:
- Increased water retention with swelling of the legs, face, or hands
- Sudden shortness of breath
- Sudden fatigue or marked changes in energy levels
- Easy bruising
- Persistent or recurrent dizziness and lightheadedness
While these symptoms can be caused by any number of medical conditions, none should be considered normal. It is important to have them checked out.
On the other hand, you should seek immediate emergency care if you experience any of the following:
- Changes in the level of consciousness, including extreme sleepiness, difficulty waking up, or fainting
- Chest pain
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The Rapid Heart Rate Of Atrial Fibrillation Causes Shortness Of Breath
The first reason for shortness of breath is the heart rate by itself. You can imagine people who have atrial fibrillation who are not well controlled, will likely have elevated heart rates. The heart rate may be controlled when they’re just sitting down, but with just a little bit of activity the heart rate may become very fast, such as, 120, 140 bpm, sometimes even faster than that. There are patients who have, even when they’re just sitting and resting, their heart rate at 100, 110 bpm. You can imagine that if your heart rate’s going very fast consistently, it’s like as if you’re running or exercising all the time. You can imagine when you’re exercising, your heart rate gets up, and you can feel short of breath, and for patients with atrial fibrillation, they may feel this way all the time. So sometimes just the heart rate by itself can make a person feel short of breath.
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High Or Persistent Fever
The big worries: Fever is your bodys way of fighting infection. But fever of 103 degrees and higher warrants a trip to the doctor period, says David Bronson, M.D., president of the American College of Physicians. It may indicate a urinary tract infection, pneumonia, endocarditis or meningitis, which may require antibiotics to clear up. A persistent low-grade fever for several weeks with no obvious cause is characteristic of some infections, including a sinus infection, and some cancers, like lymphoma and leukemia. Cancer is on the list of things we think about, but it is usually not the first thing, says Ronan Factora, M.D., a geriatrician at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
What else it might be: Fever can be triggered by a virus, which, depending on your health and other symptoms, may require hospitalization.
What Treatment Can Improve Shortness Of Breath Due To Atrial Fibrillation
If you are consistently in atrial fibrillation and it is causing shortness of breath, what are the ways in which it can be managed? Probably the most straightforward treatment is to get out of atrial fibrillation. There are many ways to get out of atrial fibrillation, either with medications, or with procedures, such as a cardioversion, which is an electrical shock to your heart to get out of atrial fibrillation. Another procedure option is a catheter ablation procedure, where your doctor goes through your groin to try to make strategic burn or freeze marks in your atria to try and get a person out of atrial fibrillation.
Unfortunately, not everybody is a candidate to have these types of procedures done. Not everybody is able to get out of atrial fibrillation and in some people who attempt these types of procedures they end up back in atrial fibrillation. So what about people who don’t really have an option to get out of atrial fibrillation, are there ways to help control their shortness of breath?
The first option would be to control the heart rate with a rate controlling medication such as a beta-blocker. The second option would be to control the pressures inside of the heart and that usually involves a diuretic medication, for example, fluid medications such as Lasix or other types of diuretics which could certainly help with the shortness of breath and elevated pressures.
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Pots: A Little Known Cause Of Extreme Fatigue
Everyone knows what being tired feels like at the end of a long day. But some people experience fatigue so severe and so seemingly random that its hard to describe. If that sounds familiar, there could be more going on than daily stress.
While there are many causes of fatigue, one of them is frequently missed and misdiagnosed: postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome . Physical medicine and neuromuscular specialist Tae Chung, M.D., answers questions about POTS and extreme fatigue as one of its symptoms.
Sudden Or Severe Abdominal Pain
The big worries: Sudden abdominal pain could signal that an aortic aneurysm a bulge that develops in the aorta, frequently in the abdominal area has ruptured. “If the aneurysm ruptures, the pain tends to be sudden and severe and typically centralized around the belly button,” says Richard Desi, M.D., a gastroenterologist with Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore. Alternatively, sudden pain can indicate a perforated viscus , often due to an ulcer. Intestinal ischemia, which happens when blood flow to the intestines slows or stops, starving tissues of oxygen, can be a culprit, too. “It’s more common in older, sicker patients who have heart failure or atrial fibrillation,” says Brian Putka, M.D., a gastroenterologist with the Cleveland Clinic. Each of these conditions is life threatening, requiring emergency surgery.
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Warning Signs Of A Heart Attack
Not all heart attacks are alike
Did you know that you can have a heart attack without feeling any chest pain? Heart failure and heart disease dont show the same signs for everyone, especially women.
The heart is a muscle that contracts to pump blood throughout the body. A heart attack occurs when the heart muscle doesnt get enough blood. Blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle. When there isnt enough blood flowing to your heart muscle, the affected part can get damaged or die. This is dangerous and sometimes deadly.
Heart attacks happen suddenly, but they normally result from long-standing heart disease. Typically, a waxy plaque builds up on the walls inside your blood vessels that feed the heart muscle. Sometimes a chunk of the plaque, called a blood clot, breaks off and prevents blood from passing through the vessel to your heart muscle, resulting in a heart attack.
Less commonly, something like stress, physical exertion, or cold weather causes the blood vessel to contract or spasm, which decreases the amount of blood that can get to your heart muscle.
There are many risk factors that contribute to having a heart attack, including:
A heart attack is a medical emergency. Its really important to listen to what your body is telling you if you think you might be having one. Its better to seek emergency medical treatment and be wrong than to not get help when youre having a heart attack.
Theres Definitely Hope For Some Breathing Troubles
If youre short of breath for any of those reasons, easy relief is possible. Its safe, cheap, and almost fun to experiment with self-massage for trigger points. Results are hardly guaranteed, but its a sensible thing to try.
Changing bad habits is always tricky, but its a more likely path to relief, and increasing your respiratory strength is possible with a little oomph456 and its a worthwhile fitness goal in any case.
Anxiety is the toughest problem to beat, but anyone can benefit from trying.
These three issues may all get tangled up, each one complicating the others, but progress with one is also likely to help the others. Some simple and interesting ideas for self-treatment are suggested in this short article, plus links to much more information for those who want to delve.
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Demographics Of Cohort 1
Gender and ages were not significantly different between the CFS and HC groups within each cohort after Bonferroni corrections . Cohort 1 was younger than Cohort 2. Shortness of breath was present in 56% of CFS and 12% of HC in Cohort 1. The queries accounted for 0.63 of the expected variance in the MRC Score. CFS had significantly higher MRC Scores than HC . The frequency distribution for MRC Scores showed that over 80% of HC had scores of zero. The 95th percentile was 2 on the 5 point scale. MRC Scores were zero for 35% of CFS subjects, then between 10% and 20% for each score of 1 and higher. The Cohort 1 receiver operator curve indicated high specificities but low sensitivities for all scores. Optimum sensitivity and specificity were found with a MRC Score of 1 . When the 95th percentile for the HC group was used, a score of 2 gave sensitivity of 54% and specificity of 97%. Positive MRC Scores were defined as 2 and greater.
About Chronic Kidney Disease
Chronic kidney disease is a long-term condition where the kidneys do not work effectively.
CKD does not usually cause symptoms until it reaches an advanced stage. It is usually detected at earlier stages by blood and urine tests. Main symptoms of advanced kidney disease include:
- tiredness
- swollen ankles, feet or hands
- shortness of breath
Read more about the symptoms of chronic kidney disease
Chronic kidney disease is most frequently diagnosed through blood and urine tests.
If you are at a high risk of developing CKD, you may be screened annually. Screening may be recommended if you have:
Read more about diagnosing chronic kidney disease
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Why Should You Care
Even survivors with mild initial symptoms can have persistent symptoms that last for a month or more after infection with COVID-19.
Top 5 Symptoms of ‘Long COVID’
If you are experiencing lingering symptoms after being infected with COVID, or you feel worse or develop any new symptoms, you should contact your healthcare provider. The American Lung Association has also launched a Long COVID online community to offer additional support.
Causes Of Fatigue Shortness Of Breath And Dizziness
The combination of fatigue, shortness of breath and dizziness usually points to a problem involving the cardiovascular system, meaning the heart and circulatory system. In collaboration with the lungs, this system supplies the body tissues with oxygen as well as nutrients. It also enables removal of metabolic waste products. A significant problem in one or more components of the cardiovascular system can lead to fatigue, shortness of breath and dizziness usually due to reduced oxygen delivery to the brain and other body organs and tissues.
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Indirect Consequences Of Stress And Anxiety
The way we breathe is a powerful aspect of self-expression. Anxiety, emotional constipation, and other habits of mind and dysfunctional and self-limiting behavioural patterns might be associated with strong breathing patterns, especially shallow breathing.
Shallow breath is what we do when we literally hide . It is also what we do when we feel like we want to hide! Deep breathing is one of the main practical suggestions for fighting anxiety. Its a feedback loop.
Habitually breathing shallowly can be so subtle for so long that we dont even realize theres a problem until all the contributing factors and bad habits and vicious cycles are too deeply entrenched to break free a classic boiling frog kind of problem.
All of this is a rather complicated mess to try to sort out, but Im not going to leave you hanging. Here are several relevant, practical self-help articles. They all focus on what you can do about these issues:
Shortness Of Breath And Fatigue: Symptoms Or Side Effects
September 26, 2009 By E. Sizemore
Shortness of breath and fatigue are often symptoms of conditions like respiratory disease, but could also be side effects associated with certain medications. Below is a list of diseases and conditions associated with symptoms like shortness of breath and fatigue, as well as a list of medications related to similar side effects. We are not medical professionals, and these may not be comprehensive lists. Please contact your doctor if you are experiencing any of the following symptoms or side effects, or similar health issues.
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Is It Possible That I Have Pots And Was Incorrectly Diagnosed
This is entirely possible. Given how common POTS symptoms are and how unfamiliar many doctors are with this condition, diagnostic mishaps happen. POTS is frequently misidentified as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain syndrome, anxiety disorder, ADHD, irritable bowel syndrome, myositis, etc. It is also possible that you have both POTS and one of these conditions, which may complicate the diagnosis. Sometimes people with POTS are told that its all in your head, implying that the cause of their symptoms is psychological. If you feel like something is physically wrong, dont hesitate to seek a second, and even a third or fourth opinion.
COVID-19 and POTS: Is There a Link?
Although many people recover quickly from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, others who recover may continue to experience symptoms for months. Researchers are still determining the cause of these extended symptoms, but some COVID-19 “long-haulers” may actually be dealing with POTS.
Microvascular Angina: Why Women Shouldnt Ignore Chest Pain And Fatigue
A sharp twinge, a sense of heaviness weve all felt chest pain from time to time. Sometimes its indigestion or a panic attack. But other times, its more serious.
Microvascular angina is an especially worrisome source of cardiac chest pain, and its often misdiagnosed because it doesnt show up as a blockage in the larger heart arteries during testing. This fact can cause doctors to miss the underlying cause.
Its concerning because the problem can be missed. It doesnt show up on a traditional angiogram, which can lead to delayed diagnosis if physicians dismiss the chest pain as nothing, says Erin Michos, M.D., associate director of preventive cardiology at the Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease.
This chest pain in one of the hearts arteries is more common in women than in men, says Michos.
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