Reasons You’re Short of Breath

Medically Reviewed by Gabriela Pichardo, MD on November 18, 2022

Your airways suddenly narrow and swell. You may struggle for air, cough up mucus, or hear whistling when you breathe.

It’s not clear why this happens to some people, but lots of things could trigger an attack, including pollen, dust, smoke, exercise, freezing air, a cold, and stress.

Your doctor can help you figure out what causes yours. They might prescribe medication for you to inhale during an attack to help you breathe more easily.

Pollen, dust, pet dander, and other things you breathe in can cause allergies.

Sometimes the allergic reaction causes asthma. But it’s not always something in the air. It could start with something you touch, or some food you eat.

Talk with your doctor about how best to manage your asthma and allergies. Make sure to check in when your symptoms change, too.

You may breathe harder when you’re scared or worried. It’s usually not a big deal, but it can be serious if you already have lung problems like COPD. Sudden stress, like a car accident, could trigger an attack if you have asthma.

Even if you’re otherwise healthy, anxiety might cause you to breathe fast enough to get lightheaded and pass out. 

It’s a colorless, odorless gas that can come from furnaces, fireplaces, water heaters, dryers, and car fumes. If it isn’t sent out the right way, it can build up in the air, and you could breathe too much of it. That makes it hard for your red blood cells to send oxygen through your body.

You may be short of breath, dizzy, confused, weak, and nauseated. Your vision could blur, and you could pass out. It could be life-threatening. 

It happens thanks to a virus that causes a runny nose, sneezing, and sometimes fever. It may irritate your lungs and airway, and bring a cough that can make it hard to breathe.

There’s no cure, but it usually gets better on its own in a week or so. See your doctor if you have a fever higher than 102 F, if you’re wheezing, or if it’s hard to catch your breath. 

This serious respiratory disease is caused by a type of virus called a coronavirus. Infected people spread it through tiny drops left behind when they cough, sneeze, or talk. The virus first attacks cells in your airways, but it can spread quickly to your lungs.

Along with shortness of breath, the most common warning signs are fever and a dry cough.

So far, there’s no cure for COVID-19. Most people have mild symptoms and can get better at home. But call your doctor’s office or 911 right away if you have real trouble breathing.

A blockage, or clot, often in your leg, breaks loose, and a piece goes to your lung and blocks blood flow. That can make it hard or painful to breathe. You could feel faint, and your heart might race. Some people cough up blood. You may have swelling, warmth, and soreness where the clot started.

If any of this happens to you, get to the hospital, as it can be life-threatening. Your doctor may use blood thinners, other drugs, or surgery.

It’s a condition when breathing stops repeatedly during sleep, so a person may not realize anything is happening. But you might be tired, groggy, and moody the next day. It could lead to high blood pressure and make you more likely to have heart disease and a stroke.

Extra weight is a risk. It may help to lose weight, but not all people with sleep apnea are overweight. 

A virus, bacteria, or fungus infects the air sacs inside your lungs. Then those sacs fill with fluid. This makes it harder to breathe. You also could have chills and fever, and you might cough up a thick, colored mucus. 

Check in regularly with your doctor. They might prescribe antibiotics if your pneumonia is caused by bacteria. Other types are harder to treat, but rest, fluids, and over-the-counter meds can make you feel better.

Some people call it “chronic bronchitis” or emphysema. Smoking causes it most often. It stretches out the air sacs in your lungs, making it hard for the lungs to move air. This makes it tougher to breathe. You might feel tightness in your chest and have a cough, sometimes with wheezing, that doesn’t go away.

Your doctor can help you manage this serious condition. If you smoke, the most important step you can take is to quit smoking.  

It doesn’t mean your heart has “failed,” just that it’s not as strong at pumping blood as it should be. That makes it harder to get oxygen where it needs to go. Blood backs up in your lungs. That can make you short of breath.

Simple things — when you climb stairs, walk a long way, or carry groceries — might tire you out.

Your doctor can help you manage your symptoms.

When your body doesn’t have enough healthy red blood cells, you can’t get enough oxygen to your tissues. That can make you weak and tired, and sometimes short of breath. It can also make you dizzy and pale, with cold hands and feet, and a fast heartbeat.

Lots of things cause it, so treatment depends on what’s causing yours. Talk to your doctor if you’re tired and can’t figure out why.

Doctors sometimes call it pneumothorax. It happens when an injury or disease causes air to leak from your lungs to the space between your lungs and the wall of your chest. The air pushes on the lung, making it fold in on itself.

You could have chest pain and be short of breath. Your doctor may put a needle or small tube into the area to remove the air, or you may need surgery. But if it’s minor, it might get better on its own.

Kids between 6 months and 6 years of age can sometimes have moments when they stop breathing while crying or when they become startled.  This sometimes triggers a “cyanotic spell,” an uncontrolled response that makes them faint.

The child may turn blue and pass out for about a minute. They could seem groggy afterward. Though it can be scary at first, it’s nothing to worry about, and it might happen again and again.

It’s a “neuromuscular” disease that makes it harder for muscles and nerves to talk to each other. You might notice weakness when you move your arms and legs. It can also affect automatic movements like breathing. The disease could change the way you chew, swallow, blink, and smile. It’s usually worse if you exert yourself and better after you rest.

Your doctor can help you manage your symptoms. In some cases, people go into remission.

It’s a real thing. There’s even a name for it: broken heart syndrome. Sudden, intense emotion — a lost loved one or ended romance, for example — affects the heart, causing sharp chest pain and making it hard to breathe. The heart doesn’t pump as well for a while. Tests show changes in heartbeat rhythm and substances in the blood that mimic a heart attack.

Unlike a heart attack, however, broken heart syndrome doesn’t happen because your arteries are blocked. While it can lead to short-term heart muscle failure, most people get better within a few days or weeks.

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16. Unsplash / Gus Moretta

Sources:

American Heart Association: “Treatment Options for Heart Failure,” “Causes and Risks for Heart Failure,” “Warning Signs of Heart Failure,” “Is Broken Heart Syndrome Real?”

American Lung Association: “Pneumonia,” “Carbon Monoxide. ”

American Psychological Association: “Stress effects on the body.”

CDC: “Smoking and COPD,” “How Coronavirus Spreads,” “Symptoms of Coronavirus,” “What to Do if You Are Sick.”

Cleveland Clinic: “Pulmonary Embolism.”

Mayo Clinic: “Common cold,” “Pneumothorax,” “Anemia,” “Carbon monoxide poisoning,” “Allergies and asthma: They often occur together,” “Asthma.”

NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: “What is COPD?” “Venous Thromboembolism.”

NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke: “Myasthenia Gravis Fact Sheet.”

NIH National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disorders: “Health Risks of Being Overweight.”

Nemours Foundation: “About Breath-Holding Spells.”

National Health Service: “Breath-holding spells in children.”

PubMed Health: “Pulmonary Embolism.”

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Chest Cold Symptoms, Tips for Relief, & If It Gets Worse

Most people know how to recognize symptoms of a common cold, which usually includes a runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes, and nasal congestion. A chest cold, also called acute bronchitis, is different.

A chest cold involves inflammation and irritation in the airways, so symptoms can be worse than a common cold. It affects the bronchial tubes of the lungs, and often develops as a secondary infection following a head cold.

Here’s what you need to know about chest colds, including symptoms and how to distinguish it from other respiratory conditions.

The difference between a chest cold and a head cold doesn’t only involve the location of symptoms, but also the type of symptoms.

Common symptoms of a chest cold include:

• chest congestion
• persistent hacking cough
• coughing up yellowish or green phlegm (mucus)

Other symptoms that can accompany a chest cold include fatigue, sore throat, headache, and body aches, possibly triggered by coughing.

You’ll feel uncomfortable for a few days or a week, but chest colds typically get better on their own. Many people treat their symptoms with over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold medications.

Get relief

It also helps to get plenty of rest. This can strengthen your immune system. Drinking clear fluids and using a humidifier can also thin mucus in your chest and relieve coughing. Avoiding irritants such as fragrances and secondhand smoke may improve a cough, too.

Having a respiratory disease, such as asthma, lung cancer, emphysema, pulmonary fibrosis, or other lung problems, can worsen symptoms of a chest cold.

Since some of these conditions already cause breathing difficulties, a chest cold could trigger a flare-up or exacerbate symptoms. If so, you may have increased shortness of breath, mucus production, and cough. Wheezing or shortness of breath may occur with minimal activity.

Cold prevention tips

Increased breathing difficulty can damage lung tissue. So if you have a respiratory disease, take measures to avoid getting sick. Get an annual flu shot and pneumonia vaccination, avoid people who are sick, wash your hands, and don’t touch your eyes, nose, or mouth.

Sometimes, a chest cold (or acute bronchitis) can advance to chronic bronchitis. The following may indicate chronic bronchitis:

• Symptoms aren’t responding to OTC medication. Whereas a chest cold improves on its own with OTC medication, chronic bronchitis doesn’t always respond to medication and usually requires a doctor.
• It’s been longer than a week. The severity and duration of symptoms can help you distinguish between a chest cold and chronic bronchitis. Chest colds improve in about 7 to 10 days. Chronic bronchitis is a persistent hacking cough lasting at least 3 months. Other symptoms include chest soreness or tightness.
• Fever. Sometimes, bronchitis causes a low-grade fever.
• Symptoms are worse. You’ll also have worsening of chest cold symptoms with bronchitis. Coughing might keep you up at night, and you might have difficulty taking deep breaths. Mucus production can also worsen. Depending on the severity of bronchitis, you may have blood in your mucus.

Get relief

Using a humidifier, taking a hot shower, and drinking plenty of fluids can help relieve a cough and loosen mucus in your lungs.

Sleeping with your head elevated can also ease coughing. This, along with taking a cough suppressant, can make it easier to get rest.

See a doctor for bronchitis that doesn’t improve. Your doctor can prescribe a prescription cough suppressant or an antibiotic if they suspect a bacterial infection.

Some chest colds advance to pneumonia, which is an infection of one or both lungs.

Pneumonia develops when an infection in your airway travels to your lungs. Distinguishing pneumonia from bronchitis can be difficult. It can also cause a cough, difficulty breathing, and chest tightness.

However, pneumonia symptoms tend to be worse than bronchitis. For example, you may have shallow breathing or trouble breathing when at rest. Pneumonia can also cause a high fever, rapid heart rate, and brown or bloody mucus.

Other symptoms of pneumonia include:

• chest pain
• confusion
• sweating
• chills
• vomiting
• decrease in body temperature

Pneumonia can be mild or severe, and if left untreated, it can progress to sepsis. This is an extreme response to an infection in the body. Symptoms of sepsis include mental confusion, low blood pressure, fever, and fast heart rate.

Get relief

Getting plenty of rest can strengthen your immune system, and OTC medications can help relieve symptoms.

You’ll need an antibiotic for bacterial pneumonia. Antibiotics are ineffective for pneumonia caused by a viral infection.

If you’re able to manage symptoms of a chest cold with OTC medication, you probably don’t need to see a doctor. Your symptoms should improve within the next 7 to 10 days, although a cough may linger for about 3 weeks.

As a general rule of thumb, you should see a doctor for any cough that lasts longer than 3 weeks.

You should also see a doctor under the following conditions:

• you develop a fever over 103°F (39°F)
• you’re coughing up blood
• you’re having difficulty breathing
• your chest cold symptoms worsen or don’t improve

Also, see your pulmonary specialist if you have a respiratory disease and develop symptoms of a chest cold, bronchitis, or pneumonia.

Chest colds tend to follow a common cold or flu. But symptoms are often short-lived and improve in about a week, although a nagging cough can be irritating and keep you up at night.

If you have a weak immune system, a cough that doesn’t improve, or if you develop symptoms of bronchitis or pneumonia, see your doctor. Difficulty breathing, especially at rest, or coughing up brown, bloody mucus can indicate a serious problem that requires medication.

Where does shortness of breath come from and when is it dangerous

November 22, 2018

Likbez

Health

Call your doctor immediately if you experience shortness of breath.

An adult takes up to 20 breaths per minute, or about 30,000 per day. If you are healthy, calm, not overloaded with physical activities, this is enough for the body not to lack oxygen.

But sometimes there is not enough oxygen. And the first sign of this is shortness of breath.

How shortness of breath occurs

Lungs and heart are the first to fix the lack of oxygen. Realizing that it is becoming somehow stuffy, they transmit a signal to the brain with the help of the vagus nerve. That, in turn, activates the respiratory center, which accelerates respiratory contractions. Without realizing it, we begin to breathe faster.

When the level of oxygen in the blood reaches normal again, the lungs and heart calm down and stop beeping. The brain exhales, the respiratory center reduces activity, and we again breathe measuredly and easily.

In general, everything is clear with the mechanism of shortness of breath – this is an absolutely healthy phenomenon. But here another question arises: why can the oxygen content in the blood fall? The reasons can be divided into conditionally normal and really dangerous. Unfortunately, there are more of the latter.

When it’s OK to be short of breath

You’ve been physically active

This is the most common cause of shortness of breath. Actively working muscles require a mass of oxygen, literally sucking it out of the blood. As a result, the concentration of O2 falls, and the respiratory center accelerates the rate of respiration.

What to do

Slow down and let yourself catch your breath. Keep in mind that muscles continue to consume a lot of oxygen even after a workout, whether it’s fitness, strength training or jogging behind the bus. That is why after such a load it takes time to take a breath.

If dyspnea occurs too quickly on exertion, it may indicate insufficient fitness. Take care of yourself: get fit and walk more.

You are worried

Breathing becomes faster when you are worried or very afraid of something. Emotional turmoil is accompanied by an adrenaline rush. One of the side effects of this hormone is that it causes the muscle fibers of the lungs to contract more actively.

What to do

Try to calm down, reduce stress. As soon as adrenaline levels return to normal, shortness of breath will disappear.

You have a runny nose and cough

A virus causes a runny nose and cough. Nasal congestion and constant attempts to clear your throat means that with each breath you get less oxygen than usual. The body responds to this by breathing faster. And if during the illness you are also actively moving, then shortness of breath occurs faster than usual.

What to do

See a therapist, get tests that will confirm that you have nothing more serious than SARS, and allow yourself to recover without unnecessary stress.

You work a lot while sitting

It is unlikely that you keep your posture at your desk. Most likely, hunch over, propping up your head with your hand. At the same time, the lungs are squeezed, it is more difficult for them to accommodate the usual volume of oxygen. Therefore, breathing may become slightly faster, and shortness of breath occurs with the slightest physical exertion.

If you sit a lot for months or even years, your back muscles get used to it and seem to freeze. This means that it is difficult for the lungs to breathe already in any position.

What to do

Watch your posture. Regularly stretch the muscles of the back, shoulders, neck, and chest.

You are anemic

In simple terms, you lack iron. The less iron, the lower the level of hemoglobin, a pigment that colors the blood red and is simultaneously responsible for transporting oxygen to organs and tissues. When the level of hemoglobin drops so much that the body no longer has enough O2, the mechanism that triggers shortness of breath turns on: we begin to breathe more often.

What to do

Get a blood test to make sure it’s the hemoglobin. And then follow the recommendations of the therapist. Most likely, the doctor will suggest that you eat more foods rich in iron: liver, beef, chicken and turkey, mackerel, seaweed, buckwheat, oatmeal, peaches, pears, apples … Or prescribe medication.

You are overweight

Let’s start with the obvious: the more extra pounds you have, the harder it is for your muscles to move them. Accordingly, any movement becomes a serious physical activity, that is, the most popular cause of shortness of breath.

There is another perspective: excess weight can be not only an external but also an internal problem. Visceral fat envelops and compresses the internal organs, including the heart and lungs, and prevents you from breathing normally.

What to do

Get rid of excess: go in for sports, review the diet, excluding fast food and all fatty things from it and adding vegetables, fruits, lean meat. With this program, a month is enough for you.

The good news is that when losing weight, visceral fat disappears faster than subcutaneous fat, so you will get rid of the shortness of breath caused by it even before you start to like yourself in the mirror.

You are in a stuffy, poorly ventilated room

Everything is clear here: there is little oxygen in the surrounding air, and in order to reach the required level of O2 in the blood, the body begins to breathe heavily.

What to do

Ventilate the room more often or, if this is not possible, go outside several times a day for a portion of fresh air.

How to tell if shortness of breath is dangerous

Shortness of breath is a danger sign if:

• You feel like you are suffocating.
• You feel pain or tightness in your chest.
• With shortness of breath comes cold sweat and weakness.
• You don’t understand what could be causing your shortness of breath.
• Shortness of breath occurs more often than before. For example, you climb the stairs to the office every day. But lately you have noticed that the climb is getting harder and harder: you have to stop a couple of times to catch your breath.
• You cannot take a deep breath.
• Shortness of breath appears on the background of elevated temperature.

What these symptoms may indicate

Diseases can be different:

• Asthma.
• Anaphylactic shock.
• Heart attack.
• Blood clot in the lungs (pulmonary embolism).
• Choking due to inhalation of a foreign object.
• Injury to the lung (pneumothorax), caused by a variety of causes – from chest trauma to diseases that lead to the destruction of lung tissue.
• Disorders in the work of the heart.
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
• High blood pressure in the lungs (pulmonary hypertension).
• Diabetes mellitus.
• Pneumonia.
• Thyroid and other hormonal disorders.
• Cancer of the lungs and respiratory tract.

In some cases, the sudden onset of shortness of breath is the only sign of an asymptomatic myocardial infarction.

What to do if shortness of breath is dangerous

Given the variety of causes and the severity of the possible consequences, shortness of breath that seems dangerous should by no means be ignored. Seek medical attention as soon as possible or call an ambulance if the situation looks threatening (there is at least one of the symptoms listed above).

The doctor will listen to your lungs and heart and order various tests, from complete blood counts to X-rays, chest CT scans and electrocardiograms. According to the results, you will be offered treatment.

Perhaps everything will work out and the doctor will only advise you to save money on iron-rich foods, go in for sports and lose weight. But on the other hand, you will be sure: shortness of breath does not threaten health and life. This is the case when it is better to overdo it.

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• The main thing about asthma: how to treat it and when to call an ambulance
• How to lower blood pressure: 4 quick ways that will surely work
• Signs of diabetes: what to look for in order not to fall into a coma
• 8 signs of myocardial infarction, when you need to call an ambulance Symptoms

  Anxiety disorder – hyperventilation
  Signs: Situation-specific shortness of breath is often accompanied by agitation and tingling or numbness in the fingers and/or around the mouth. Normal results of examinations of the heart and lungs.

  Asthma
  Signs: Wheezing wheezing that starts spontaneously or after exposure to specific stimuli (pollen or other allergen, upper respiratory tract infection, cold air, or exercise). Usually a history of asthma.

  Foreign body
  Signs: Cough or high-pitched wheezing that comes on suddenly in people (usually infants or young children) without any symptoms of an upper respiratory infection or other illness.

  Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial ischemia
  Signs: Pressure deep in the chest, which may or may not be accompanied by radiating pain to the arm or jaw, especially in people with risk factors for coronary heart disease.

  Heart failure
  Signs: Often swelling of the legs. Shortness of breath that worsens when lying on your back (orthopnea) or that appears 1 to 2 hours after falling asleep (paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea). Noises in the lungs, auscultated through a stethoscope, indicating the possible presence of fluid in the lungs. Foamy, pink sputum, sometimes streaked with blood.

  Pneumothorax (collapse of the lung)
  Signs: Sharp chest pain and rapid breathing that started suddenly. May develop after injury or occur spontaneously, especially in tall, thin people and people with COPD.

  Pulmonary embolism (sudden blockage of an artery in the lungs)
  Signs: Sudden onset of chest pain, which usually worsens with inspiration. Rapid heartbeat and rapid breathing. Risk factors for pulmonary embolism include cancer, weakness (as a result of being bedridden due to illness), blood clots in the legs, pregnancy, use of birth control pills, recent surgery or hospitalization, and a family history of such a disease.

  Angina pectoris or ischemic heart disease
  Signs: Pressure deep in the chest, which may or may not be accompanied by radiating pain to the arm or jaw, often caused by exercise. Often in people with risk factors for coronary heart disease.

  Exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
  Signs: Often cough, which may or may not be accompanied by sputum production. Wheezing and breath through pursed lips. In people who already have COPD.

  Pneumonia
  Signs: Increased body temperature, feeling sick and coughing. Sudden onset of sharp pain in the chest when taking a deep breath. Some unusual breathing sounds heard through a stethoscope.

  Anemia
  Signs: Shortness of breath on exertion, progressing to shortness of breath at rest. Normal lung exam results and normal blood oxygen levels. Interstitial lung disease. Abnormal sounds in the lungs, the so-called moist rales, which are heard through a stethoscope.

  Obstructive pulmonary disease
  Signs: A history of heavy smoking, an emphysematous chest, and difficulty moving air in and out of the lungs. Usually in people who already have COPD. Deterioration of physical condition. Shortness of breath only on exertion. In older people with a sedentary lifestyle.

  Pleural effusion (fluid in chest cavity)
  Signs: Sometimes a history of cancer, heart failure, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, or acute pneumonia.

  Pulmonary hypertension
  Signs: Gradually increasing shortness of breath and fatigue, sometimes with a cough. Normal lung exam results. Sometimes swelling of the legs.