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.

[krisra]

I was also have the same experience, before, during and after my menstrual cycle, i experience difficulty of breathing. Im experiencing this 3 yrs ago and getting worst today. Im 29, i visited doctor asking what the cause of shortness or difficulty in breathing. I was tested CBC XRAY and ECG. But its all normal. The doctor reffered me to OB,and he discussed to me that it is PMS or hormonal imbalance. He prescribed me a pills for 6 months named YAZ. I just started to take the pills last night. Hope it will work to me

[Chayu26]

Have the same problem since a month before the first period after having my 2nd child was born. It was horrible when it first happened gradually having difficulty breathing that lasts for days like something is blocking my nose, accompanied with extreme headache. Got checked by a gp (tests lungs and heart, all ok) and said it was  just depression. It goes away for a while then the evil cycle starts again the next month, which is when i then had my first period after birth. It stays after period for a few days, goes away and start again before period. During worst days i experience difficulty breathing, dizziness, problem with sights, and itching. Wondering if it is happening since my hormones are still messed up (just gave birth 4 months ago, had a misscarriage before this one and is still breastfeeding, periods are also happen with minimal bleeding). I thought i was crazy at first, but then realize there's a cycle to it, so maybe i'm not.
The thing is i live abroad, which complicates things since my obgyn speaks very little english.
Have anybody found a decent relieve for this problem? Does it gradually gets better by time? Does taking birth control pills help? (been noticing some have issues after stop taking pills)

[Brearhlessinnj]

I don't know when I started having shortness of breath related to my period, but I know I started correlating it to my period when I was about 30. I am now 39 with many more monthly cycles under my belt and the profound shortness of breath is absolutely caused by the monthly menses cycle. For me it starts about 10 days before I bleed and gets steadily more profound as the days pass, with the hardest to breath days being the 5 preceding the day on which I bleed. Then the day I start to bleed, I breath better than I have the whole month     and stay that way for about 10 days before.  Terrific breath in for 10 days, so so breathing for another 10, and struggle to breath for the other 10. I am convinced that it due to a fluctuation in hormone that only females experience. I think it is progesterone. Anyway I have researched how one can reduce naturally occurring hormone in their body. It seems you can't. I have tried eating broccoli more because I think it is supposed to make you poop out hormone.  I don't know but that didn't work.  Nothing works it seems.  Not even resting or forfeiting a bra.  You can have a do nothing day which is relaxing and still be heaving for oxygen for those days before your period. If other women I see are encountering this then they are hiding it well. But truthfully I think some females hormonal fluctuation with menses is just more profound than other women's. I think all women experience it to degree though. If anyone cared to research it, they would surely figure it out. They already know that progesterone fluctuates in women but researchers are not interested so far in the physical impact of the effect of that fluctuation on a woman's body.  It is not anxiety ladies. Only a man or one of those lucky females whose biology handles the hormones differently than yours will tell that arrogant presumptuous nonsense.

[ayyogurt]

Progesterone and serotonin both drop after birth and the few days before our period progesterone drops sharply, so likely low progesterone is at least a large piece of this puzzle.

[ayyogurt]

You're not crazy. No kids here, but I'm having this since going off birth control. Got better on progesterone cream, but then was having too long periods/bleeding so stopped for now. Some say it's from high estrogen, but I was on estrogen/progesterone birth control and didn't have problems, so I believe it's low progesterone. Consider natural ways to increase your progesterone (vitamin C and some others), or natural progesterone cream, or hormones if you're open to the pill. - Amanda

[Sussannalana]

I too have dealt with this.  I knew I was pregnant with my kids - not because of a pregnancy test -  but because I would get short of breath.  As soon as my body started to prepare for pregnancy I could not stop yawning to catch my breath.  It drove me crazy.  And now as I am close to menopause it is happening again.  I am a distance runner having run a marathon and consistently run half marathons. I also practice yoga several times a week. I feel very in tune with my body and can regulate my breathing even when I am fatigued.  This is definitely not an 'in your head" thing, it is hormonal and I will be thrilled when the medical community can recognize that women aren't prone to mental health issues like anxiety or depression...but we have hormones that signal that our bodies are changing.  I am thankful for everyone who has posted about this.  More awareness is a good thing!

[S34]

Check for GERD. Hormones can cause acid reflux. I was having shortness of breath and it would happen around my period. I had no other symptoms, maybe once or twice I would feel nauseous. After going to the doctor several times for the last year and a few ER visits with no relief. I started doing my own investigating. I had 2 dr. Tell me it was asthma and a lung dr.
I tried every inhaler again no relief. They did a CT scan everything was clear. I was then prescribed anxiety pills. I did not take these because I knew it wasn't anxiety. Half way thru the year we were in the process of trying  to get pregnant so I was then put on hormones which made the yawning and trying to catch my breath worse and all day. After We decided to take a break from fertility I then noticed  that my shortness of breath was after eating certain foods (if your hormones are out of Wack you may not be able to tell) and worse at night and really clear when I woke up. So I brought that up to my dr and she said yes that does sound like acid reflex, GERD or even a hiatus hernia. She put me on an acid blocker, 1 a day, it worked a little and then the next week she upped it to 2. With in 2 hours I could breath! It was such a relief. I am now in the process of cutting all the stuff I love out of my diet. I hope this helps you or someone reading this post. I researched this for the last year and I was so frustrated. A lot of dr's didn't have any idea because I didn't get the typical heart burn.

[Alibearc]

I too have been experiencing the same breathing problems for over two years.  I got checked for every heart, lung, and sinus thing they could and over and over, I was told by doctors that I looked fine on paper and it could be in my head.  FINALLY, I talked to my ob/gyn and told her it was cyclic and she BELIEVED me.  Then she researched a ob/gyn specializing in reproductive endocrinology and that doc BELIEVED me.   I'm scheduled to get tested for a progesterone allergy by doctors that are well known and research this disease (at Brigham's in Boston).  I guess we will see what happens, but I definitely know it is progesterone related.  Got the Mirena reinserted after having my first kid (was on it before I wanted to get preg) and within two months started experiencing shortness of breath and sinus swelling symptoms a week before my cycle started and it would end either during bleeding or right when it was over.  Took the Mirena out this summer to see if that was causing the problems and IMMEDIATELY had insane sinus problems that lasted the entire two weeks I was bleeding.  I never had sinus issues before this...ever in my life (I'm 36).  Since the removal, I have had more crazy hormonal symptoms (extreme fatigue, dry eyes, dry mouth, nausea) and things have been worse (itchy red rashes all over my body,etc.).  If the progesterone skin testing doesn't show a positive allergy, I will be surprised, but I won't give up.  If all else fails, the endo ob/gyn suggested 1 one month Lupron shot to test what menopause will be like for me.  I know that might be horrible too, but maybe it wouldn't debilitate me for two weeks out of the month.  This is a thing people...find a doctor who believes you and don't give up. Journal EVERYTHING.  You are your own advocate.  And to the doctors that have discarded you or told you it couldn't be hormonal (it has to be anxiety)...shame on them.  There is simply not enough research going on with hormone related problems and they of all people should know "never say never".  Good luck everyone.