short of breath on exercise

Hi my name is anne i have had my pm for 4 years and i am very over weight i am trying to lose the weight but get so s.o.b and get this burning pain aross my chest and upper arms when walking, I have been to the doctor and there is nonthing wrong with my heart and pm. I get very tired after walking and working does anyone else have this problem i feel like the doctors dont believe me and i think maybe it is all in my head or am i just going mad please can someone help

5 Comments

SOB

by J.B. - 2009-08-08 09:08:06

Causes of shortness of breath: Heart attack, Myocardial infarct, Heart disease, Heart failure, Congestive heart failure, Angina, Arrhythmias, Pericardial effusion, Heart valve disease, Exercise Exertion, Poor physical condition, Obesity, Smoking, and Depression, lung disease, to name just a few.

Your SOB can be caused by any one of hundreds of things in addition to those listed above. The pain you describe doesn't have so many possibilities. Chest pain and SOB during exercise is more often than not due to the heart crying out for more oxygen. You see our heart is not very smart. It pumps oxygen carrying blood to all parts of our body, but it is so benevolent it will try to supply blood to other parts of the body that are calling out for more oxygen before it takes care of its own needs. This results in chest pain or angina. Before you conclude that your heart and pacemaker is not the problem you really should see a doctor about this and let them tell you why you hurt, before it is too late.

expressing yourself

by Tracey_E - 2009-08-08 09:08:20

First of all, congratulations on your efforts to lose weight and get in to shape! Please don't let this discourage you.

Are you gradually building up or maybe jumping in too fast and overdoing it? Getting out of breath while working out is normal and healthy. Too out of breath to speak and/or chest pain means you're pushing too hard and/or something is wrong.

I'll just toss out a few thoughts...

until you get a diagnosis, don't do anything that causes chest pain. If you get chest pain, go to the ER.

sometimes you have to be really specific with them to get their attention- "I was walking at a brisk pace for four minutes and felt chest pain that is a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10" gets their attention better than "I was working out and didn't feel well"

What did they do to determine your heart and pm are fine? Did they put you on a treadmill and watch what happens when you exert? Duplicating the problem in the office can be the simplest way to diagnose what's happening.

Just because your heart is healthy and your pm is working correctly does not necessarily mean the settings are optimal for you and will leave you asymptomatic. I've had mine tweaked many times as my needs while working out have changed. Common settings that can be adjusted to help with shortness of breath are raising the upper limit or adjusting the sensitivity on the rate response.

Your profile says tachy, did you have an ablation so that you're pm dependent now? If that's the case, you're probably depending on rate response to determine when your hr should go up and down, and it has a number of things that can be adjusted to better approximate what your heart would be doing on its own if it worked correctly. Example, if it's not sensitive enough, it may not pick up on the fact that you're exercising and may not raise your rate high enough to support the exercise.

Keep on them! You know your body best, and something is not right. If you can't get your doctor to pay attention, it might be time to get a second opinion.

Just Cuz

by rvrs7081 - 2009-08-08 10:08:40

a doctor says you are fine, does not mean it is so. My former doctor said I was fine right after he looked at my ekg. "go ahead and enjoy the 6 months trip" Ha!! i had only gone 122 miles when I had to return by ambulance. Insist on either that doctor listen to you or get another. You do know how you feel. Sadly, some have a tendancy to ignore us. Job burnout, I guess. Like was mentioned above, be specific, take notes of times and problems.
And like is said, if it hurts, don't do it until you get it checked out. COngratulations on trying to lose weight. It is a very hard task. But first of all, be happy with the person you are.
Best wishes on getting something done.
Ann

Everything Not Always Fine

by Bill-2 - 2009-08-08 11:08:32

I will be the last person to ever defend a doctor. So far as I know they are the only people that gets to bury their mistakes without fear of a manslaughter charge. But I learned a long time ago when I had a heart attach just a few days after I had a routine doctor visit where an EKG was done and I was given the OK to go for another year that it don't mean nothing. When I asked how could my heart attack happen so soon after getting a good report on my EKG and I was told that an EKG is only good for telling the doctor what has happened. It can not predict the future. So I now always take a report of good EKG results with a grain of salt.

Get a second opinion

by norm32 - 2012-07-23 03:07:50

You are entitled to a second opinion and having a burning sensation in your chest and pain in your arms may be angina because the heart is starved for more oxygen. Lower your exercise demands until you can be tested further. Your Dr. may want to give you Nitro to see if that will stop the chest pains when they occur. It opens the arteries.

You know you're wired when...

You have a little piece of high-tech in your chest.

Member Quotes

You'll come to peace with it in time.