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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Original poster

breathlessness - a symptom of pregnancy or something more serious?!?

17 replies

janek · 28/04/2008 21:15

i am 14 wks pg and for ages now have been suffering from breathlessness. especially when i stand and pick up dd i feel like i'm really exerting myself, but even sitting i don't always seem to get enough oxygen. obviously it's not due to the size of the baby and it is not a 'tight' feeling like asthma. i mentioned it to my mw, who suggested i see the doctor 'so they can listen to my chest', but that just seems like a waste of an appointment to me. she said it was not due to high blood pressure (in fact my bp is 100/60, which i think is quite low) and my iron level is also high enough apparently.

so, do i need to see the doc, or is it just an unpleasant symptom of pregnancy and to be put up with?

all personal experience welcome!

OP posts:
EffiePerine · 28/04/2008 21:16

Get it checked out, might be a chest infection or something.

EffiePerine · 28/04/2008 21:17

btw I got breathless towards the end of my pg cos of lungs being squashed, but not at 14 weeks.

Original poster
janek · 28/04/2008 21:20

i'm not ill though, and i haven't been ill. having said that, i would feel like a fool if i had been suffering all this time when i could be breathing like a normal person...

OP posts:
whomovedmychocolate · 28/04/2008 21:23

I get that but then I have a ventrical septal defect (hole in my heart). This affects about 10% of the population and in women often the first time they find out is pregnancy - because your blood volume doubles and so your heart works much, much harder to keep it going round. That's why your midwife is suggesting going to see the GP.

It's probably nothing to do with your lungs.

BTW having a VSD is very unscary and trivial - I have quite a large one - and have had it since birth, though we assumed it had healed up, it just means the valves between the chambers leak a little bit so the pressure is uneven.

Even without a VSD your heart works much harder in pregnancy and that may be what is causing the breathlessness. You just need to slow down a bit and see if it stops.

With me it's much worse at certain times as well - which key into when I've been working too hard or stressed.

Beauregard · 28/04/2008 21:24

Anemia can make you breathless

chunkychips · 28/04/2008 21:25

I think I read it's something to do with hormones. I had it. Quite normal. Happens towards the end as well when baby is big and taking up too much room.

chunkychips · 28/04/2008 21:26

www.pampers.co.uk/en_GB/pcd/tp0600256.htm

just googled it

Original poster
janek · 28/04/2008 21:29

thanks, that's kind of what i thought. i wanted the mw to say 'yes, completely normal, get over it' but she didn't. obviously she didn't want it on her conscience if i dropped down dead!!!

OP posts:
whomovedmychocolate · 28/04/2008 21:30

Janek - it's very unlikely you would drop down dead in any case, you'd turn blue first and people tend to notice any smurflike tendencies - especially in pregnant women

RainyWednesday · 28/04/2008 21:38

I had this a few weeks ago (I'm 20 weeks today) - felt as though my lungs were filling up with something other than oxygen and making it hard for me to catch my breath, then I got my weekly email from babycentre and it turned out this was exactly what was happening! www.babycentre.co.uk/pregnancy/antenatalhealth/physicalhealth/breathlessness/

Thankyouandgoodnight · 28/04/2008 21:47

I've got this too and have had it from very early on - 2nd PG and was fine with #1. Most curious and most annoying!

Original poster
janek · 30/04/2008 17:01

thanks, i thought it was probably normal, but like you TYAGN i didn't suffer like this last time, which was probably a good thing as i was working full time and it would have been rubbish. the other thing is my nostrils aren't working at full capacity, so i have to breathe through my mouth which just doesn't seem very efficient. perhaps my mouth is substandard too!!! basically i feel like a croc. have felt like a croc for the past 14 weeks and still have another 6 months to go. d'oh.

OP posts:
Essie3 · 30/04/2008 17:15

I'm breathless now - 34 weeks. And I sympathise with you for feeling like a croc - I'm really not convinced that I'm suited to pregnancy!!

3littlefrogs · 30/04/2008 17:17

Breathlessness in pregnancy should always be checked out. Please take the advice of your midwife and see your doctor asap.

Tinkerisdead · 01/05/2008 11:05

Im nearly 13 weeks and ive had breathlessness which panicked me. In my lesley regan pregnancy book. its says this is normal in first trimester as your body prepares for the additional blood and oxygen needed in your uterus. Apparently you need 15-20% more oxygen as half is used for uterus, placenta and baby. The other half is used for the extra work on your kidneys and heart etc. your lungs work harder to get this additional oxygen needed (tidal volume of air) this increases through progesterone effectively allowing your lungs to hyperventilate resulting in breathlessness.

might be a lot of crap but after i experienced this a lot in last three weeks, it reassured me! HTH x

minouminou · 01/05/2008 11:40

i was really breathless early on, and it is due to al the things in the above post, and also because the placenta and cord are growing at an astonishing rate....very expensive energy and oxygen-wise

ViolentFemme · 01/05/2008 11:55

Definitely get it checked out just in case. I too was very breathless early on in pregnancy, but it did pass (I don't remember how long it lasted for though).

I also had bleeding gums and loads of nosebleeds, that I really wasn't expecting.

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