I feel like I'm short of breath, but it's not asthma, what's happening to me?

As we saw in previous articles, in addition to the cough and wheezing, dyspnea, so frequent in asthma, is a common symptom of other respiratory and non-respiratory pathologies.

La dyspnoea The feeling of shortness of breath or drowning appears when the airways become obstructed and air has difficulty passing through them, making it difficult for oxygen to reach our blood so that it can be distributed throughout our body.

In a person with asthma, the permanent inflammation of their airways (bronchi) and the episodes of bronchospasm or closure that occur in them give rise to this very characteristic symptom.

This dyspnea will disappear or improve with the taking of rescue medication and by continuously taking the maintenance treatment prescribed by your doctor.

But as we have already mentioned, it can appear in other circumstances as we will list below.

In the case of the COVID-19 Dyspnea is also one of its characteristic symptoms. In this case, the important thing is to see if it is accompanied by fever, general fatigue, loss of smell or taste... If so, it could be due to this disease and a diagnostic test would have to be done to rule it out. Even after having had the disease, especially in severe cases, a certain degree of chronic dyspnea is being observed in post-COVID19 patients.

Dyspnea frequently appears in other respiratory diseases such as COPD, pneumonia, pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary embolism; in cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure; and in other conditions that affect our health such as obesity, pregnancy or lack of physical fitness, among others.

When we have anemia, that is, a low amount of red blood cells to transport oxygen to the different organs of our body, this feeling of suffocation can also appear, especially when making efforts.

El yeshyperventilation syndrome It occurs when a person feels that they are not getting enough air and therefore breathes more intensely, quickly and shallowly. The sensation of dyspnea that occurs can be so strong that it can be perceived as suffocation and accompanied by symptoms such as chest pain, a tingling sensation in the hands, feet and around the mouth, and even loss of consciousness.

Sometimes this syndrome also appears in asthmatics during an attack and they cannot differentiate the origin of the feeling of suffocation they experience.

In pictures of anxiety Dyspnea is also often present. Anxiety is a normal response of our body to a threat or a situation of psychological stress derived from our innate survival function.

But when it appears at inappropriate times, with a certain frequency and/or is of such intensity or duration that it interferes with people's normal lives, we are dealing with a disorder.

In these cases, the sensation of drowning will be accompanied by dizziness, increased pulse or heart rate, and tremors, mainly.

Sometimes when a person with asthma makes a physical effort it can trigger a dyspnea on exertion, but it does not occur only in asthmatics.

When we are not in adequate physical shape to perform a certain effort, we may feel short of breath and experience a sensation of dyspnea. In this case, the sensation will disappear as soon as the effort is over.

As we have seen throughout these contents, although asthma is the usual cause of different respiratory symptoms, not all people who cough, wheeze or are short of breath are asthmatic.

It is therefore essential to make a correct diagnosis in order to treat the cause appropriately. In most cases, if the cause is asthma, taking bronchodilator medication and/or corticosteroids will make these symptoms disappear, while if the cause is another, they will continue.

If you have any of these symptoms and you don't know what they are due to, visit your doctor or talk to our Happyair coaches by calling (+34) 91 822 78 74. If you prefer to make a video conference, write to us telling us your availability at  info@happyair.org and we will contact you as soon as possible, they will be able to advise you on what you have to do.

If you want to share experiences with other people who are in the same situation as you, in a safe and trustworthy environment, we invite you to join us. our community, a space to talk about respiratory health with specialists.

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