Shallow breathing vs. shortness of breath

[dreamintwilight]

So, I've noticed that sometimes while sitting on the couch or laying down to go to sleep I feel like I need to take deeper breaths because I don't feel like I'm getting enough oxygen - kind of like I'm shallow breathing. Is that different than having shortness of breath?

I know shortness of breath can be a symptom of pulmonary embolism (blood clots in lungs), so I didn't want to overthink things if shallow breathing was something completely different. But I also don't want to just shrug it off if I should be concerned.

I'm not sure if it has to do with my sinuses (partially stuffy nose) or that I may not be doing enough activity that raises my heart rate since I sit at home all day (no job and on a break from school).

I happen to have a visit with my PCP tomorrow so I plan on mentioning it, but was wondering what you all thought.

[Jeff D.]

I would consider shallow breathing different than having to take deep breaths. Shallow breathing to me is having to take a lot of very small breaths. I'm not quite sure what to tell you. Let us know what the doc says. I hope you can get this figured out.

[dreamintwilight]

I would agree with you too, Jeff. I'm not sure if what I have is either of the two. I've just never experienced it before all of this Crohn's business, so I wasn't sure if it was something to be concerned about or a result of my lack of activity. I took some of my prescription nose drops my allergist gave me earlier and it seemed to help. So, maybe it's seasonal allergies or something.

[Jeff D.]

I could definitely see it being due to allergies rather then Crohn's. I hope you feel better. I know what you mean about shortness of breath as I have that a bit as well, I've got a sinus infection though.

[dreamintwilight]

That's what happens when spring starts to approach, I guess.

I'm seeing my allergist this weekend too so I will mention it to her as well. I hadn't been taking my nose drops because I was on Entocort and didn't want to double up on steroids, even though the allergist said it would be fine to take both. Now that I'm done with Entocort I'm going to try and start using the nasal spray again and see if the difficulty in breathing lessens.

[dingbat]

i sometimes get something similar to this... at least if i'm reading your description right - i go through phases of not being able to take a deep, lung-filling, breath in, or yawn properly - it just kind of gets stuck, stops. i'm not sure what it is... gp has suggested either anxiety or a stomach/diaphragm issue.

is this like what you're having, Marissa?

[dreamintwilight]

No, I don't really have trouble taking a deep breath. I just find that I need to purposely take deep breaths for a while because I don't feel like I'm getting enough oxygen otherwise.

I read a lot online about what you are describing when I looked up shortness of breath. A lot of people described the need to yawn to get deep breaths. I don't think I'm actually having any noticeable outward difficulties breathing, just the sensation that I need more oxygen. So, I take deep breaths until the sensation goes away.

[dingbat]

ah ok, i understand better now.

maybe, if you're an allergy sufferer, it could be a kind of allergic asthma?

i hope you get some relief from it soon, whatever's causing it.

[dreamintwilight]

Yeah, I'm thinking it may be allergy-related too. Back to the nose drops! But I'll let my allergist know this weekend to when we go in for our shots. Maybe she can do an asthma test or something.

[Chap]

I didn't realize that I was getting "unsatisfying" breaths of air until I began doing yoga about 6 months ago. I'm not sure if I can correlate it to my Crohn's or not. I smoked until 5 years ago. But recently I have noticed that I've gained the ability to draw a deep, satisfying breath, and I can definitely attribute it to regular yoga practice.

[dreamintwilight]

Yah. I've been wanting to adapt a regular yoga routine to my lifestyle. I am the kind of person that stresses a lot over things. The benefits of yoga would be very useful for me, I think.

[InkyStinky]

Hey Marisa! Did your PCP have any ideas about what's going on? PE is "supposed" to have more symptoms (like suddenly feeling "weird", shortness of breath that gets worse the more you breathe, coughing, coughing up blood, etc http://www.preventdvt.org/questions/dvt-questions.aspx). Right before they found mine I felt like I was breathing cold air, and I had a high spiky fever. Anyway, just wondering if you got any answers today!

[dreamintwilight]

Hey! Thanks for thinking of me. My PCP said he thought it was probably allergy related and I have been dealing with a lot of stress too. So, it could be related to anxiety. Both of which I suspected more than PE. Better safe than sorry though. I'm taking my nasal spray again and seeing if that helps any. So, if he's not concerned, I'm not concerned.

[teeny5]

I had what you seem to be describing. It would happen to me at night. Turned out to be allergy related. I have the steroid nose drops and it has gone away.