I'm not going to repeat the thread title and the poll question again here. Obviously, don't vote if you don't have ME/CFS. If the answer is "sometimes", please vote "yes". If "yes", please vote for two options - whichever best fits you out of 1 & 2, and whichever best fits you out of 3 & 4.
Not more than before ME. I think exertion is causing heavier breathing than when I was younger, but I'm not attributing that to ME.
Weirdly, I find myself breathing more slowly after exertion. I realised this might be an ME thing after I read about it on the forum.
I am both overweight and now have mild asthma following Covid. I would find it hard to attribute breathlessness to ME.
There are different issues that can cause breathlessness. My breathlessness was/is ME related. My ferritin and magnesium stores were below normal levels during the early years of ME. I feel breathless at times when I feel 'viral'.
I've heard of breathlessness referred to as 'air hunger' known as Dyspnea is the word healthcare providers use for feeling short of breath. Chest tightness or working harder to breathe usually heart and lungs issues.
Yes (ME triggered by Covid) - both physical and mental exertion leave me short of breath now. I'm not overweight, mid 40s and no other medical conditions.
Certainly feels more recent for me since severe although there were times when I was moderate and someone at work took me for a walk then told me I sounded breathless. Not 100% sure if I’ve had covid (was really ill having been in a busy hospital waiting room in feb and March 2020) and haven’t tested recently so whilst I stay out the way with ME I just haven’t had anything ‘of note’ illness-wise that made me test for it. problem is I have other conditions (including properly low ferritin but not anaemia) and it could be a combo of both , one could be caused by the ME or the other way around. I’m just ‘more ill’ and so now the stairs do it and I will sometimes just get a big sigh or a few moments of it. The more I try and work out what’s what that I have with everything the more I struggle to work out my symptoms and if anything is better, worse or due to what.
I haven't voted yet, because my answer is to a different question: Do you get breathless when in PEM? The answer to that is yes, noticeably so. The answer to Do you get breathless with ME? is no, because it's not all the time.
I know masks aren't supposed to affect your breathing, but I really think it does for me. I can walk around at home without getting breathless, but outside of home (ie masked) I'm breathless after walking a few metres.
I have answered yes to the top two choices. I have a heart valve condition which causes breathlessness as does ME especially in pem. The problem is that the cardiologists at the Brompton partly monitor my heart valve by amount of breathlessness as well as echos etc, but I can't tell what the cause is on a particular day. Quite stressful.
Sorry to be a pain, but what exactly is meant by breathless here? I have been getting very tight chested recently in association with worsening health. My sats are normal according to my oximeter but it is unpleasant and I don't remember this being part of original ME symptoms myself. Obviously I am trying to get this looked into in case it is something that needs attention. Problem is GPs, having no clear indication of what is causing it yet will at some point say, "but you have history of chronic fatigue (arghh, they can't even say syndrome and at least only halfway insult me...) so I fear that is making them take it less seriously than they might. I have had positive Covid a couple of years back, wondering if this could bring newer stuff to contend with. Sorry, bit of a rambling post.
I got diagnosed with mild asthma this year @Starrynight i have had tightness in my chest since I had Covid with bad sore throat and cough symptoms two years ago. My experience was that because I said tight chest and some wheeziness the Drs dealt with me promptly, I had a chest X-ray and blood tests also had to blow into the peak flow tester at home for two weeks morning and night then had an appointment with the practice nurse who deals with asthma. It is now well controlled with an inhaler.
I answered "Yes, it's part of my ME" in the poll but here's a bit more information. It's very mild, or maybe even gone, when not in PEM or crash. But when I'm in a crash I usually get a feeling of being short of breath just by walking around the house, slowly going from room to room. In a bad crash I can get that breathless feeling even when I'm resting in the recliner. In my case I can easily fill my lungs with air (easy to breathe in, no obstruction - no asthma or congestion) but that does not seem to do what it should to reduce my heart rate, make me feel restful, etc. So it feels a bit like I'm running or jogging, and wanting to take deep breaths, but I'm just sitting still.
