Breathing trouble last night - and pain in knees - should I worry / see GP?

[MrsRossPoldark]

I am a fit, healthy 51-yr-old, but the arthritis symptoms in my knees are getting worse so I put it down to old age, take the occasional anti-inflammatory and carry on regardless. I run 3/4 times a week for anywhere between half and hour and an hour. I also cycle to work and walk the dog twice a day, so am a pretty active person.

However, last night I joined my usual roadrunners' club session for some hill reps. I'd warmed up on the track while my YS was training, then joined the runners. I had had a problem breathing whilst warming up and just couldn't catch my breath, but it didn't last long [talking 10 seconds tops] so I just thought I'd take it easy during the training session. The training session was 8x hills for the fast runners, 6 for the medium-paced runners and 4/5 for the slower ones [that's me!]. My knees were so sore on the downhill/recovery phase of my 3rd rep, that I had already decided enough was enough and was slowing to walk the rest and then go back to the car.

My breathing went again but this time for longer and I panicked a bit, causing a couple of fellow runners to come across to calm me down and they helped me back to the bench where I caught my breath. They stayed with me and made sure I was OK to get back to my car, by which time all had settled and I was fine, though very sore and stiff [I assume just down to being tense].

This morning I just feel tense and more than a little embarrassed about the incident, which I'm sure was just me having 'a little turn'. DH wants me to see the GP today but I don't see the point as I think it was just me overdoing it [my knees are getting worse anyway as I'm getting older and I know i have a bit of arthritis in my right knee as it was diagnosed several years ago, so the other knee is just catching up?]. I hadn't taken any painkillers before training which may not have helped matters.

Long story short - DH thinks 'heart attack', I'm thinking 'bit of a turn'.

Any advice? I will most likely see GP anyway - if it was DH having a little turn I'd insist, but then he's obese and very unfit, so I would!!

Do you have any chest pain or is your left arm sore? Any earache or jaw pain? I was fit and healthy and had a heart attack at 52, (from which I have thankfully fully recovered). I had no symptoms other than the left side ear ache. And I was a non-smoker, slim and had no known risk factors.

You know that I am going to say go and get checked out. Please do. I am sure it is nothing serious but you will be reassured.

gonegrey56: oddly, I did feel like my left arm was a bit sore when I woke up this morning? Hmmm

More common in woman to have silent myocardial infarcts....or certainly ones that do not feature the standard symptoms.
I also think you should see your GP ..to be safe.

id go to gp to, there is a blood test that looks for a stressed heart- i think it has to be done within 12 hrs of the event -(cardiac enzymes)

I say GP, too. A friend had a very similar event and turned out she had blocked coronary arteries and needed an urgen bypass. I'm sure this is NOT the case for you but still better not to ignore.

Any family history at all?

Got appt at 3.30. Will update you all after - thanks for advice so far!

Seems the breathing issue may have been down a bit of a panic attack due to the intense knee pain I experienced while running last night.

Diagnosis is "you're too old for it now & yer knees are knackered". [my words, not Dr's - she was much more diplomatic!]

X-ray tomorrow and ECG [just precautionary] next week. In the meantime - take anti-inflammatories [which don't really touch it anyway] and consider giving up running. I've been a regular runner since I was 18 so reluctant to give it up, so will try the 'painkiller / anti-inflams' treatment until I have a diagnosis. Or - maybe just give it a rest and take up yoga like my sisters have been telling me for ages!

Good, the only thing I would say is just keep aware of your symptoms . An ECG when you are on a treadmill (the so-called treadmill test ) is a very good diagnostic tool , better than just an ECG (my heart attack was diagnosed by blood tests , the ECG done by paramedics in an ambulance appeared normal, fortunately they were sure something was wrong and rushed me to A&E).
Anyway , take it easy for a while and I do hope all the tests are fine and that you feel better soon.

Been to see physio - my knees are misaligned - the right one is worse, so are scraping across the edge of my thigh-bone [nearest I can describe it!], instead of moving back and forth in the groove they are designed to.

www.orthoclinic.com.sg/tag/dislocation/

Physio happens to be a fellow runner in my club, so is still hopeful of getting me back running, but we need to get my knees realigned first, so lots of exercises to strengthen muscles - my right thigh has also atrophied and is not strong enough to pull the kneecap back into the right place. She's recommended painkillers to start with as I need to get pain under control and anti-inflam's as my knees are actually quite swollen [I can't tell as it's behind the kneecap - apart from the pain of course, esp when she was prodding them around a bit!!]

Seeing GP for x-ray results tomorrow so maybe a bit more to work on after that!

Saw Dr this morning - x-ray shows 'very good knees' - no arthritis, a teensy bit of calcification on lower edges of both knees but that's not causing the pain. He agreed with physio's diagnosis of knee cap being misaligned and got some exercises to do. Might have to do them for life but he concurs with physio that no reason why I can't get back running. Just need to get muscles on inner thighs stronger so that swelling and pain subsides and exercises are easy to do - I can do them whilst at my desk at work, so that helps!

They had a bit of a shock with ECG results though - as I'm very fit, my bp is very low, and so is my pulse! It was down to 47bpm during the ecg, so if they hadn't known I was a runner, I'd have been sent for a pacemaker!!