Breathing issues

[nspul26]

Hi all,

I'm 6 (nearly 7) weeks pp and am having horrible trouble with breathing but.. Wait for it.. Only really when I stand up. If I'm lying on my back or sitting down, especially hunched over, then I'm fine. Stand up and I feel like everything's being pulled down and there's no room in my chest or something for me to breathe in. I've had it since about 8 months pregnant at which point I assumed was just lo crushing my lungs. I got it checked out at the Dr's and was told as much. Fine.

Had ds (dear son) by caesarean and it never went away. I still feel like I'm being crushed when I stand up. Weirdly it eases a bit after I've eaten, so worse if I have an empty stomach. I've been to the Dr's about 4 times about this, cried more times than I care to have and even been to a specialist. I've had an xray, ct scan, spirometer and a heart echo. All normal. Blood oxygen level normal, blood pressure normal. I feel like I can't look after ds (dear son) as well as I should be able to. It's really getting me down.

Has anyone experienced this? I'm thinking I wonder if it's because I have diastasis recti and so my body and muscles are trying to work out how to hold me up differently and so I'm not using them the way I usually would or something to breathe. This is all very hard to explain.

I should mention everyone mentions anxiety but I'm very familiar with how that feels and why would that instantly go away with eating, sitting or lying? I'm sure it's not that. I've been referred to a respiratory physio for dysfunctional breathing but I can breathe fine sitting or lying down so I'm not convinced it's that.

I'm hoping someone has experienced this or at least knows what it could be.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far.

Anyone? 😔

I feel really alone in this. Someone else out there must have experienced something similar.. Please?

@nspul26

Your not alone! I had the same issue about a week after having a c-section, my chest was painful for me when lying down though, went to the doctors and my lungs etc are fine, they put it down to muscle damage. I was given some pain medication and it went after a fortnight.

It really hurt to breathe and I couldn't take deep breaths it was awful!

@c24680

Hi!

Thank you for your reply. That sounds awful for you! 😔
Sounds a bit different to mine. So, was it the pain that stopped you breathing in properly or did it feel like your chest was restricted? How was it when you were standing?

I spend most days afraid. I'm so fed up. It's been 8 weeks now...

It felt restricted for me it and it was fine when I was standing up. The more I stressed about it the more it began to hurt.

I couldn't breathe properly during theatre and had oxygen but ended up passing out because of the lack of oxygen and low blood pressure so had muscle damage hence the pain.

I have exactly this still at 18 weeks. I developed a hiatus hernia around the time of the section diagnosed by a gastroscopy. Omeprazole helps with the awful chest sensation. If it carries on that might be worth exploring. I had no other reflux/heartburn symptoms.

@Hoosey

Please can you decry describe the symptoms you have /had? Hiatus hernia did cross my mind. I'm on omeprazole already but doesn't seem to be helping.

What was your chest sensation? Was it worse standing up but fine lying down?

Ignore the "decry". Don't know where that came from lol

It doesn’t go away entirely for me when lying or sitting but is much less. It’s. A sensation almost like my lungs are restricted and I feel like I’m breathing around an obstruction. The omeprazole didn’t get rid of it but did lessen the sensation. Have they done a d-dimer to check for a PE?

Well I had an x ray first to make sure it wasn't an infection or anything. Then the d dimer came back slightly elevated so they sent me for a ct which showed nothing. I've had another d dimer done since and awaiting the results. Taking ages because I had to have it done again as my first sample clotted. But they did rule out PE after ct scan. Plus symptoms of a PE wouldn't go away when sitting or lying down surely?

Did your symptoms lessen after eating too???

Yes they did lessen after eating unless it was classic heartburn foods- then I did notice it sometimes got worse- particularly with onion. I only asked about the d-dimer as they checked me a gazillion times before the gastroscopy. If your GP would refer you and you’re happy to have it done it might be an idea to get one- it was over in less than a minute and gave me some answers.

When you say checked a gazillion times, how were you checked? What for? I did mention hiatus hernia to doc and he just brushed it off. I'm a bit scared of a gastroscopy but I'll do it if it solves this.

How are they treating your hernia?