Deep breath

[twist330]

Hi everyone, I haven't posted for a long time, I tried posting this on the respiratory disorders forum but then noticed it does not seem to be that active, I am hoping someone can help me. I suffer from asthma and sleep apnea along with undiagnosed neurological problems I take Pregabablin 600mg a day, Tiznadine 8mg a day, 20mg fluoxetine, 10mg nortriptilyne. I take symbicort & ventolin for asthma. I use a CPAP machine at night.

But I have a problem that is really annoying me. I suddenly take a deep breath, it sounds like I'm sighing. It is completely involuntary and sounds very rude in certain situations. I don't know it's going to happen and only realise after it has happened.

Should I be concerned? If not what can I do to stop it happening?
Thank you

Twist

[twist330]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to respond to my question. JJ that is an amazing answer and exactly what I have experienced. I will bring it up with my GP.

It just bugs me that people think I'm sighing, when actually it is a gasp for air.
Thank you again.

Twist

[karryon55]

I have had similar problems for many years and have seen both a Respiritory physician and a Cardiologist as I also have asthma and tachycardia but neither of these conditions were apparently the cause of my need to suck in air suddenly or the breathlessness I was describing. It was suggested at some stage that it could be caused from the MS because of a brain stem lesion that is located in an area where respiration and heart rate is controlled. I have never followed up on this further as it doesn't impact on my life greatly & has not progressed since it first began.

I also have my speech affected, hiccups every time I wake up lol and I have some mild swallowing issues. My swallowing has been much worse than it is now during a previous relapse so I am grateful for this little mercy. I also have periods of weeks or months with inflammation in my intercostal muscles which can cause pain in my central chest both back and front. I also have RA so this can cause some problems.

I have tried to find information on the subject of breathing issues and MS previously and I know there are people out there experiencing the issues but I am yet to see much on the MS Society pages about this. I guess just knowing your not alone is of some comfort sometimes.

I would recommend that you ensure your CPAP is working at the correct level for your needs right now as sleep apnea can cause breathing issues if not well controlled.

Take Care,

Karry.

[supermum_ms]

Hey twist,

I also actually think it's definitely an MS issue, i asked a similar question after my big bang of 09, i've been intermittently experiencing this ever since.....it's an out of the blue sudden big gulping in of air, then another smaller gulp straight after but there's nothing preceding or afterwards to make sense of it, it just is.

What makes it senseless to me is the missing breathlessness, heart palpitation, light-headedness, large expelling of the air taken in etc everything you expect when some ones not breathing right, this is like oops you forgot how to breath here's some air SUCK suck now carry on...

I sometimes do the big out of the blue, one off sigh too but I think the gulping has become more common for me after so many years. Just to note a lot of the MS sites don't really acknowledge respirator issues as anything more than 'rare' because breathing is an autonomic function but there is some research that suggests it might be cortcospinal cord or brain stem related.

"Thus, our data demonstrate true dysfunction of the respiratory muscles, which may be due to pathology in the corticospinal cord or to pathology in the brain stem, with interruption of the motor pathway to respiratory nerves..........

In the present study, the expiratory muscle weakness appeared to be more pronounced than that of the inspiratory muscles. SMELTZER and co-workers [22, 24] made the same observation, and explained that paralysis in dvanced MS tends to ascend slowly from lower extremities to upper extremities. As
a result, the first respiratory muscles to be affected are the abdominal muscles followed by the intercostal muscles. The diaphragm, which is innervated by the phrenic nerve may be expected to be the last to be affected."  http://www.ersj.org.uk/content/10/1/139.full.pdf

"What Do Respiratory Problems in MS Feel Like?

MS-related respiratory problems can take several forms, including:
Shortness of breath
Difficulty breathing deeply
Hiccups
Cough
Frequent sighing
Not enough air"
http://ms.about.com/od/signssymptoms/a/respiratory_gen.htm

I've had intercostal muscle issues for years, definitely well before the breathing thing started, though there's been recent changes to my breathing thing.....i've recently been doing a weird little cough after suddenly not being able to take in normal breaths, it's only a few minutes at a time but again it's out of the blue, i'm not usually doing anything physical though i am usually talking hmmmm i don't have asthma or sleep apnea but i do have speech issue so this change maybe interrelated at a guess.

Cheers...............JJ

  

[jensequitur]

I disagree - it's definitely an MS problem. I've had that for many years. I'll be breathing in and out pretty normallly, and then something shudders and it sounds like I'm sobbing. Or instead of taking a normal lungful of air, I take in so much air so quickly it sounds like a gasp.

My theory is that I have a tremor of the diaphragm. I've never been able to document this when a doctor is around, because it comes and goes.

If you can get a consistent symptom that you can demonstrate for your doctor, go for it. Maybe he can explain what's going on.

[HVAC]

I would talk to my doctor about it too.

Alex

[kwarendorf]

Hi twist -

What you describe does not sound particularly MSish. I would certanly mention it to the doc that is helping manage your asthma.

Kyle