Shortness of breath with PMS

[joy122003]

I'll make this short, but since the birth of my child...3 years ago, I have been getting shorth of breath about a week before I start my period. My GYN says he has never heard of this and he thinks it is all in my mind. Of course it isn't! Anyway, I am a healthy 34 year old. The only medical problem I have is hypothyroidism and I am taking medication for it. Thank you for your time.

[Jeannine47]

Hi!
I also suffer from shortness of breath shortly before and during my period.
This is my theory and how I help myself:
I am 47 years old, have Hashimoto thyroiditis and have been taking
high doses of medication for hypothyroid for 2,5 years now. Along with
the Hashimoto I developed estrogen dominance and treat this
with natural progesterone cream in the second half of my cycle. The natural progesterone also supports the absorption of my thyroid medication. I don't take progesterone because my doc recommends it. I did the research and helped myself. If you only rely on your doctor, you are lost!!!! The natural progesterone works magic. 2-3 days before my period is due I have to stop using the progesterone. This is when I am short of breath... my Gyno doesn't have a clue why... but I do. It is due to the sudden drop of estrogen and progesterone before, during and shortly after your period. But mainly it is due to the low progesterone. Estrogen is produced in several parts of the
body, progesterone only after you have ovulated. Low progesterone (or higher or unbalanced estrogen due to lack of progesterone) causes the red blood cells to transport less oxygen. Which makes you short of breath. If I feel this coming on during my period I use just a teeny amount of topical progesterone cream and it works wonders.I can breathe much easier. Progesterone is small doses is also recommended for PMS. I can only speak for myself but I would
be lost without my progesterone. I have a bottle at home, one in my work bag. If I need it, it's close by. No more mental fogginess, no bloating and my memory works much better when I use it. My vision is improved. My mood is great and I can be an  active person even through perimenopause... progesterone really makes me feel in control... and not like I'm losing it. After all, we women have enough on our plates with working, kids etc. and really don't need this aggrevation of not only not feeling well but also being misunderstood. A lot of OBGYNs need to absolutely look into this more and stop treating their patients like panicky, hysterical hypochondriacs. Natural progesterone as a cream (NOT to be confused with Progestin as in the pill) can be bought by many suppliers on the web. Good luck to all of you. But remember, it has to be Natural Progesterone which is bioidentical to the progesterone in your body.
I understand you. :-)

[tamara_m_99]

Thanks so much for this! Wondering what brand of cream you use?

[Jeannine47]

Bio identical progesterone from Biovea.

[LisOPBueck]

Hi, I am so happy that I’ve found others dealing with this symptom and not imagining this really disturbing feeling of not enough breath. I never used progesterone cream before but I definitely want to try and see if can manage this symptom cause it’s really hard to keep going with life once it comes. Any particular area you apply the cream?

[PinkFloridaFlower]

Why no one mentions IRON ? I have shortness of breath right before periods (like 10 days or so) and it is (as we found out!) due to low IRON levels. You need to take blood test to check your iron levels. Not hemoglobin, not red blood cell count or hematocryt (those came back normal for me!) but specific test for IRON. You maybe surprised to score low.  This is whats causing shortness of breath before period. You body uses a lot of 'material' meanaing blood to create lining in the womb and it needs a lot of iron during this time of month.
Iron deficiency takes years to develop and a long time to fix, at can be symptompless for many. Sometimes you may feel more fatigued, dizzy or light headed, out of energy when doing things, headaches and other strange symptoms that may not feel like something serious. My blood test showed that i do not have any other deficiencies in minerals mentioned here (magnesium, vit. D , calcium etc)  
Check your iron levels! As my iron levels got severely low my shortness of breath became horrible. I cannot even walk normally and wake up at night to catch with breathing and sometimes it will not even help. Scary!!! Check  your IRON, ladies, TODAY!

[cdbeebee]

This thread has been such a blessing. I have gone through what many of you have - with shortness of breath since I was about 38. It started after a bad cough and a few months on inhaled steroid -- maybe it threw my hormones off kilter? Maybe my age? I have also had any number of asthma tests, heart tests, CT scans, and throat exams and all the doctors came up with was GERD (and of course I had a few doctors blow it off as "anxiety," which it's NOT). I had shortness of breath all of the time, but after about a year it turned into just short of breath and a racing heart a few days before my period. I am now 43 and I still get that way before my period but much milder. I want to share what's worked -- I take Claritin daily. I avoid foods (primarily dairy and tomato sauce) that cause reflux. This has helped tremendously. But what has helped the most has been taking vitamin D supplements. I was tested and found my vitamin D was extremely low, and increasing it has made a huge difference for my breathing. Like I said, I still do feel short of breath with PMS but it's nowhere near as bad as it used to be, and it doesn't stop me from getting on with life as it had been.

[ahenslee]

I have experienced the same type of shortness of breath for over ten years now. It happens mid-cycle (during ovulation) and right before my period. This last episode pasted five days and was so frustrating. My doctors seem baffled and say they have never heard of this issue, which—clearly—is not limited to me and my hormones.

[urvi_sharma]

This is happens to me too! I think its because of the abdominal  bloating before periods,  which tends to restrict diaphragm movement, if you also feel tight in the stomach while inhaling then this is likely to be the cause.

[wifemomteacher]

My doctor JUST prescribed YAZ to me because I have tried everything !!!!!! I’m 33. I have had this for about 5 years now! My doctor now(after being told by over ten doctors no joke it was anxiety “and you’re fired” I finally found an amazing one who told me exactly what the problem was) he completely believes me he’s amazing and says hands down it’s hormonal imbalance. He believes it’s because the progesterone drops rapidly week before our periods. He put me on natural depository progesterone 200mg per pill twice a day,  when I start to get symptoms, and it worked for over an entire year!!! Soon as I would feel the symptoms coming mildly before the serious air hunger peeked that led to only yawning every minute for  satisfaction it for that whole week, within two days of taking the progesterone pills, bam it was gone by the third morning. It was awesome. But it stopped working so now he thinks I over progesterone myself and wants to put me on YAZ to see if I can just entirely balance out everything. I’m scared to take YAZ though. I will be back to update you all and hopefully everyone reading this. For those of you who have tried nothing. Please try compound progesterone depository 100mg a pill twice a day. This doctor said the reason cream or oral pill doesn’t work is because when our levels drop our blood stream needs to absorb it quickly and all of it. Hope this helps someone out!!!!!!

[IamMikan]

hello!I just wanna ask are you from the Philippines?