Air hunger

[AllyJames12]

As the title says, I've been experiencing air hunger for the past couple of weeks, but what worries me is that I feel it at rest and sometimes it's slightly worse when lying down. I have severe HA therefore worrying about heart failure!
Recent bloods showed anemia, Hb 10 and ferritin on 15. GP thinks its the low ferritin so I've started on ferrous fumerate but since taking it for 2 weeks, I haven't noticed a huge difference yet. Cause of anemia is heavy periods and GP thinks I haven't recovered from blood loss during giving birth 4 years ago.
My bp has always been low but at the mo, it seems a bit lower at 105/58.
Please talk me down and tell me this isn't heart failure. I'm 42, slim, relatively active, no major health issues. Waiting on an ECG but panicking in meantime.
Has anyone with low ferritin/low hb experienced air hunger and feeling worse (sometimes) when lying down?

@Nannyfannybanny thanks for this but I haven't had covid so I don't know what's making me breathless with low bp? Could it be anemia? I don't think low vit D can cause both these symptoms

It was low ferritin with me. Only sorted with an infusion.

Your ferritin level was low, did the GP suggest a retest after treatment? Ideally have a good amount of vitamin c containing food drink, not tea or coffee with the iron it stops absorption.

@MyDeepZebra @Nannyfannybanny so did your low ferritin cause you to have low bp?

It is hard to say as my BP is always low (about 83/48) but I've also had low ferritin on and off for 12 plus years.

Low ferritin can cause low BP but your GP should rule out other causes (Addisons, POTS, underlying infections etc).

Although 97/51 wouldn't be classed as low these days by the NHS. They don't seem to take much interest unless its less than 90.

I have Hashimotos and get air hunger when it is untreated or when it flares up again. This also causes low ferritin sometimes, but you said you were fairly slim so may not be this. Have you been experiencing fatigue, weight gain and depression?

@MyDeepZebra do you know what the cause of your low bp was? My bp is a bit like yours, the top number is alway OK but the bottom always below 60. Were they never concerned about your diastolic bp?

Interesting to know that low ferritin can cause low bp, I didn't know that. But I will get this looked into further.

@LordBummenbachsMagnificentBalls that's interesting to hear. I will look into this although I'm slim and always have been. I have been tired but that could be due to low Hb. Can't say I feel depressed either

Both of mine are clinically low so not quite the same as yours really. Regularly as low as 73/40 accompanied by black-outs and tachycardia for the past 26 years.

They've never got to the bottom of it, but have suggest POTS/Dysautonomia.

I was going to ask you if you felt tired.. I've never had low ferritin or HB . Apart from the iron prescribed, don't waste money on supplements until you have repeat bloods. Try some mindful meditation apps, for the anxiety.

Still can't shake my HA! Please be patient with me.

Still waiting on ECG and worrying about heart failure and other illnesses.

I've noticed that my air hunger is not everyday. For example yesterday and today I haven't noticed it so much, but I did early on on the week. I did a long brisk walk yesterday and felt fine. But I can tell that the breathless is still lingering. And my bp is still low at 100/55 which scares me. I don't understand why it's not it's normal 115/70

I'm going to be brutal - if you had heart failure you'd have air hunger constantly.

Your health anxiety is making things worse as you are constantly monitoring yourself. Low blood pressure can be hereditary and your GP has said why they think you have low ferritin. You need to give the treatment time to get into your system, get some proper treatment for your anxiety and live your life - you only get one!

I used to have low ferritin from time to time when doing a lot of running and (apart from tiredness) this was the main symptom. Not really while exercising, but at other times I would feel like I really wanted to take a nice deep breath, but couldn't get enough into my lungs for it to be satisfying, they never felt full. It became such an obvious symptom for me that I'd always know when I needed to start iron supplements again even before getting the blood test.

Hi OP, I am no stranger to HA as my Dh has it.
When you say that you don't think it is anxiety related, how does that work if you have health anxiety? Health anxiety IS anxiety, and it is a devious, pervasive and convincing problem. It rarely allows us to look at statistics and how things really add up.

You mention Anaemia and previous blood loss, which is much more likely, along with anxiety, to cause symptoms such as this. If you have been suffering from stress for some time, both of these things will have a cumulative effect that kicks in later, which will include fatigue, breathlessness and chest tension.

Heart failure at 42 would either be congenital (born with it, so you'd already know) or extremely unlucky. It is very, very unlikely, even if you had high (or very low) blood pressure.
Even with a first degree relative who was diagnosed with heart disease below the age of 55, you would still be highly unlikely to have it at your age.

I am 50, and my dad was diagnosed with angina at my age.
It bothers me only when I have a 'symptom'.
If you are a regular at your gp's, take heart and try to relax a little, at least mentally.

I am sending you all the best, and I hope that you can find a level ground with your fears.

Iron b12 and folic acid (folate) may all need supplemented.

I felt like I was dying for sure. So much better now.

I added in magnesium for sleep and vitamin d3 as we all need it in winter as no sunshine.

Hi,

I haven't read responses but have read op posts. Might it be chronic hyperventilation? That causes air hunger when people are anxious and would usually also show about 99/100 on the finger oximeter. It's not dangerous at all, and is just a response to anxiety.

You could read about it online. The test for Chronic hyperventilation is to spend one minute thinking about something mega stressful and see if your breathing gets faster like hyperventilation. If it does then it is likely that your baseline breathing is already too fast and you are in a chronic hyperventilation state.

The solution is to calm right down and start breathing with the diaphragm instead of the chest. You can read more about it online.

I also get low blood pressure sometimes. I think that might be to do with low B12, but I'm not sure.

Good luck there.

Also, MN might not be the best place if you have HA.
I would never post on here if I had anxiety about health. This is because it is a mixed forum, and many people will react predictably (which is normal!) and tell you to go to the GP.
Whilst this is very good advice, I am presuming you have already done so.

I can recommend an excellent site for HA, called 'No More Panic'. Silly name but very good archive of HA fears and solutions, where the people are sensitive to those with the condition so make sure not to scare them.

Sadly, MN is not a dedicated anxiety forum, so most of the replies will either terrify you or make you start thinking of diseases you hadn't even considered before.

I say this with affection and care. Always get things checked, but seek advice via dedicated avenues. Google will not be your friend.

I don't think it's been mentioned yet but a common and benign cause of 'air hunger' is good old fashioned dehydration. It can also cause havoc with your blood pressure, which then can also cause you to feel breathless. Double whammy.

I was just about to say the same thing.

My dad died of heart failure. In the last few weeks when he was having daily visits from district nurses his blood pressure was very low. Like 70/50 low. The nurses would get him to drink some water and then take it again and it always increased to a level where he did not need to be taken to A&E.

Try upping your fluid intake and see if that improves your blood pressure.

I mentioned upping fluid intake right at the beginning,I used to get low BP,was always a nightmare getting blood out for testing,drank a pint (or metric equivalent) beforehand.