Needing to take deep breaths during the day

[TiredTooLong]

My sleep test indicated that my O2 during the night got down to low 70's. Going into the sleep test it was 91%. During the day I find myself several times an hour having to take deep breaths. I don't have asthma, or any other breathing issues. I expect this might be because I'm trying to catch up on my O2 level. I get my machine today, finally. But has anyone else had this issue, and did they see a difference after using the CPAP machine?

[Kerr]

I occasionally, in particular during summer, seem to have issues with acid reflux. When it flares up, I sometimes feel like I can't get a full lungfull of air and have to take a deep breath.

[DavidCarolina]

We've talked about this in other threads. Im not a good source as far as reading sleep data, but ive been researching dyspnea (shortness of breath) for a couple years. Every sleep doc ive talked to swears that OSA cannot cause dyspnea during the day but I've long since learned to stop religiously believing specialists who have never experienced a SYMPTOM of what they are "EXPERTS" about.

I personally believe that OSA can cause an interruption in your central nervous system, various kinds of damage to your brains breathing mechanisms, and can lead to other conditions eventually if untreated that definitely cause dyspnea, for example MS, autoimmune diseases, etc.

Hopefully you'll get your machine, get those 02 levels up, get rid of apneas, and be much better within a few months. If not, look into these areas.

allergies (mold?, food?), immune diseases (caused by leaky gut), deficiencies (d3, magnesium?), adrenal fatigue/issues, neurology, pulmanology, brain chemistry (serotonin levels), nighttime oximetry and c02 levels, viruses, medications that cause dyspnea or combinations, and obviously iron and blood issues, etc etc. PM me for more info if youre interested. This can become a complicated area, and quite frankly, if your "tests" show up as normal then its very very difficult to find a doctor who can think out of the box other than in the holistic area.

[Sir NoddinOff]

I personally believe that OSA can cause an interruption in your central nervous system, various kinds of damage to your brains breathing mechanisms, and can lead to other conditions eventually if untreated that definitely cause dyspnea, for example MS, autoimmune diseases, etc.

In the past (pre-OSA) I'd sustained some minor central nervous system damage from a medical condition, the nature of which is too lengthy and personal to go into here. About once a month, only in the daytime, my diaphragm oscillates when it should be rhythmically rising and falling. This causes a weird feeling related to a shortness of breath that will only away if I take a dozen or so deep 'cleansing breaths'. It doesn't happen very often but it can be alarming. My doctor said unless it gets more frequent or the intensity worsens, forget about it. Don't know if this relates to the OP's problem, but thought it might be helpful to mention. Edit: Oh yeah, forgot to mention, XPAP didn't make it go away.

[greatunclebill]

if you haven't been to the pulmonologist or had the real breathing test lately, it might be a good idea. i never had lung problems or issues, ever. at age 60 i rather suddenly without reason other than former smoking was diagnosed with asthma. at age 62 it had developed into asthma and copd (both, asthmatic bronchitis and emphysema). shortness of breath brought me to the er. now i use auto cpap at night and inhalers during the day.

[dragonflybeach]

Concur, would definitely look further into this.

[jen4700]

Most commonly shortness of breath is related to acid reflux - yup, even if you don't feel like you have heartburn. Talk to your primary care doc. If it's not acid reflux then your primary may send you to a cardiac doc for a heart work up or pulmonary doc for lung work up. Either way, you should get it checked out. Let us know what happens.

[SleepyToo2]

TiredTooLong, before diagnosis I had noticed that in addition to almost falling asleep during the day I would occasionally notice the need to take several deep breaths. I never noticed whether I had any palpitations, but I don't think I did. During the work-up that led to a sleep study I had a full cardiac work-up, but nothing was found. I have never consciously noticed the need to take deep breaths during the day after starting CPAP. So, definitely get it checked out, but don't worry about it. You may find that by the time you get an appointment for further investigations the "problem" has disappeared.

[DreamStalker]

We've talked about this in other threads. Im not a good source as far as reading sleep data, but ive been researching dyspnea (shortness of breath) for a couple years. Every sleep doc ive talked to swears that OSA cannot cause dyspnea during the day but I've long since learned to stop religiously believing specialists who have never experienced a SYMPTOM of what they are "EXPERTS" about.

I personally believe that OSA can cause an interruption in your central nervous system, various kinds of damage to your brains breathing mechanisms, and can lead to other conditions eventually if untreated that definitely cause dyspnea, for example MS, autoimmune diseases, etc.

Hopefully you'll get your machine, get those 02 levels up, get rid of apneas, and be much better within a few months. If not, look into these areas.

allergies (mold?, food?), immune diseases (caused by leaky gut), deficiencies (d3, magnesium?), adrenal fatigue/issues, neurology, pulmanology, brain chemistry (serotonin levels), nighttime oximetry and c02 levels, viruses, medications that cause dyspnea or combinations, and obviously iron and blood issues, etc etc. PM me for more info if youre interested. This can become a complicated area, and quite frankly, if your "tests" show up as normal then its very very difficult to find a doctor who can think out of the box other than in the holistic area.

I like the way you think David

Indeed the problem with modern western medicine is that it has a myopic symptoms approach rather than a holistic systems approach and thus fails to see/understand the interconnectedness of the organism's subsystems. I've learned to look at the system from an evolutionary perspective. Our species (sapiens) has evolved over about 200,000 years but our lifestyles have undergone enormous change just in the last couple of hundred years. Our health is nothing more than the genetic expression of the cells that make up our organism in response to the environment (ie. lifestyle). To me, the obvious first approach is to adjust the immediate environment (ie. air, water, food, sleep/rest and stress) to allow the body to heal itself ... then pursue alternative and/or modern medical treatments to take care of residual issues.

[BasementDwellingGeek]

During the day I find myself several times an hour having to take deep breaths

When I am deep in concentration I sometimes forget to breath. I will suddenly realize a need for O2 and take a deep inhale. CPAP has not changed that.

[kenny121]

Wow! I thought I was only one with these breathing problems. I do sleep better since using my cpap, but sometimes during the day for some unknown reason, I seem to have difficulty catching my breath for a few seconds. I had complete heart work ups and everything checks out o.k. Doc's say I am in excellant health. Only thing they said was to take the easy way and us medication! No thanks, now trying herbal remedies, including Juicing. Saw the movie Fat, Sick,and Nearly dead and it is worth a try.

[BlackSpinner]

Assuming all the above mentioned health reasons are ruled out, take some good yoga classes. A good yoga class will teach you to breathe properly. In fact breathing the right way with the exercises is an essential part of yoga. Practice it daily until it becomes part of your normal habits.

Breathing is the gateway to many relaxation techniques, controlling your blood pressure, dealing with insomnia and anxiety and various kinds of pain control.