RA and breathing troubles? | Arthritis Information

 

Hello all, I was just wondering if anyone has developed any new lung problems with RA. 
I have had asthma most of my life, but it is controlled with advair and occasional rescue meds. I actually missed work a few weeks ago ( 2 days!) with shortness of breath.  No infection or anything, just short of breath (different from asthma).  I have been developing a slight cough.  I was better the first part of last week but it cropped up again this weekend. 

I know anemia causes SOB but I have been anemic for almost 2 years and this is new.

Thanks all!
I get shortness of breath occasionally... it's almost like I forget to breathe, because my breathing rate is normal or slightly below normal.  I feel like I need to yawn.  It doesn't happen often, but once in a while it will happen for an entire day or so.  It's happened since I was in my teens.  Doctors say it's nothing to worry about (in my case anyway!).  I do notice it tends to happen when I'm either overstressed, or when I've been on an eating rampage and I'm overfull and bloated.  If I'm overstuffed, I think it limits my ability to breathe deeply.  If I'm stressed out, I just feel like I want to reach out and punch someone.  I also itch all over.  Weird!! It could also be walking pneumonia. I had it for 3 weeks and just felt a bit blah. When I finally realized I had no wind in my lungs, I went to the Dr. It was a severe case of walking pneumonia by then.  GrammaKathy39414.0001967593Wow guys...I haven't had any of these problems but I wanted to wish you well soon. I hope you are feeling better quickly. I would make an appointment with your PCP.

Mary, I think you should go get this checked out.  It's probably nothing serious, but you need to be sure!  Sometimes the first signs of cardiovascular disease or other heart issues is shortness of breath, so let's rule that out, please!!!

 

Mary, if this SOB is new and is not controlled with your inhalers, it is worthy
of being checked. You want to make sure you don't have something like
pneumonia or congestive heart failure or a metastatic process in your lungs.
Get it checked out ASAP. I don't think it is a RA related problem.

 

Yes, I agree with everyone here...it should be checked out.  Maybe you need to be referred to a Palmanolist or even a Cardiologist. 

Take care and take some time to take care of you!

Thanks all for the replies.  I will make an appt. today. 

I have been doing some research online and there are several lung related RA problems.  I have had pneumonia several times, I don't think this is pneumonia.  But the research says that RA can cause interstitial lung disease and pleural effusions.  MTX can also cause lung disease.  Yikes.  I will call my PCP when I get to work.   This is such a lovely disease

However, every time in the recent past when I started wheezing and/or getting short of breath, it turned out to be a sinus infection (curse of the DMARDs) that was otherwise remarkably symptomless.

What I'm noticing now is when I lie down in bed, for the first two minutes, my chest hurts and I can't breathe well, but then I'm fine.  That is the only time all day and night that anything is happening, so it's a little weird.

Anyway, Mary you should definitely get it checked out so you know.  Not feeling like you're getting enough air is not a good feeling!

maryblooms,

Altho I was warned about reporting changes in breathing and coughs, I waited until I was coughing non-stop and then went to urgent care. By then, I had lost the top 30% of my left lung. Especially if you are taking methotrexate, quickly report any changes in breathing and all new coughs to your healthcare specialist. I think that the lung disease associated with mtx is called pnuemonionitis, I can be way off. Pretty much a tell tale sign is a non-stop cough. This all happened to me back when I was smarter than my doctors.

LEV

Thanks Lev, I am worried about it.  I have had breathing problems (asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, sinus infections) most of my life but this is something new and different.  

maryblooms,

I would hurry. running on 5/6 of lung capacity is like a 6 cylinder car running on only 5 cylinders. So now I have what's called a bleb. They wanted to cut the bleb out, staple the good part and put me on the list for a lung transplant along with the taking of some lung drugs. I said no, no, and no. I quit smoking instead. All I have to watch out for is a leaky bleb, then I have big trouble. Oh well, I'm still here and doing very well. Go, go, go, maryblooms.

LEV

HI MARY,LEV IS RIGHT I HAD THE INFUSION IN MY LEFT LUNG FROM MTX THEY THEN HAD TO GLUE THE CHEST CAVITY WALL BACK TOGETHER NO FUN BUT HAVE YOUR DR.CHECK JUST TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE GOOD LUCK SANDY

Maryblooms,

Have we scared you enough? I'm not making a joke, it is scarey.

LEV

Yes, Mary please contact your doctor immediately.  MTX can cause lung blistering and scarring and there's a woman in my town is who awaiting a lung transplant due to pulmonary fibrosis brought on by the MTX she was taking for her arthritis.  I don't mean to scare you, I just want you to take this very seriously, especially with your history, and high-tail it to the doctor now.  Chances are it's nothing serious, but why take that chance?  Please keep us posted. Jesse8839414.5125115741Is your cough productive?  A non productive cough, increased heart rate and sob are all the signs I had of my sarcoidosis, which is yet another auto immune disease.  I would insist on at least a chest x-ray, very soon.  Keep us posted. Hello all,
I am back from the doctor.  I was having a non productive cough, increased heart  and breathing rate.  No wheezing like normal asthma.  I had a nebulizer treatment with a new med and that helped ALOT!  He doubled the strength of my advair and changed my rescue meds from albuteral to something I can't remember the name of right now. 

He suspects that my continuing decreasing of my prednisone (down to 5mg) has triggered this new problem in my lungs.  He didn't want to just increase the pred, so he increased the advair which has a steroid in it. 

I had the chart notes sent to my RD and will see her on Monday. 

Thanks for all the replies!  My husband suggested I go see the doctor, but I didn't listen

I upped my pred 5mg and now i have a horrible caugh.  I have bacterial vaginosis too that i was told is caused due to my immune being shut off etc. so i don't know what is causing mine.

But 6 months ago i went to the allergist, got on advair, nasonex and mucinex cuz he said i had brochitis and asthma that were perminant.

Then my rhummy said it wasn't and she was right.  The more i took the asthma meds the worse i got.

I hate my body, doctors ignore my symptoms if they don't make sense to them.  I bet a million bucks i die and they say "oops".

Mary. Are you having any swelling to your ankles/feet/legs....water weight?
Just wondering if your breathing could be cardiac related?

 

 I was wondering the same thing Mary, about the swelling in feet and legs. A good friend of mine starterd that, dry coughing, SOB, them extreme swelling...she finally went to a cardiologist and had viral Cardiomyopathy. My daughter did the coughing thing for months, was on an antibiotic 3 times, 2 chest xrays, nothing showed til finally some other test and blood work showed walking pneumonia. Took a long time to clear up.

Whatever it is I hope they find the exact cause soon and you get the right treatment. Good luck hon.

Hi lorster!  No water weight gain or swelling.  Since starting enbrel the worst swelling in my fingers and feet have all but disappeared.  No changes in weight except that pound I gained over thanksgiving Also Mary, a dry cough can also be a symptom of heart valve problems. Not
meaning to scare you...just some possibilities out there. Thanks Lorster, I will see if I can move up my cardiologist appointment.  Next week is finals week and then 3 weeks OFF!  I love winter break.

Mary I'm glad you took care of this so quickly.  It sounded really scary and had me worried.  It seems that you and the doctor have a handle on it and I'm glad you're seeing the cardiologist soon.  You have a good, pro-active attitude.  Atta girl!

I went back to my PCP today and I am going to stop my provigil.  Rats!  I guess that there has been some breathing problems associated with it.  We are not sure that is the cause, but since new information on breathing problems is out, we are eliminating it. 

I hope someone will nudge me during church, and work and dinner and every other place I will be following asleep. Mary, I'm glad it was med related and not something really serious. heaven
knows we don't need anything else to go with the Ra. Anyway, hope you are
feeling better and breathing better real soon. Bummer about the Provigil.  Maybe you can start it back up at a lower dose? Well saw the RD today and she said stop the MTX NOW! 

She said Methotrexate can sometimes cause serious lung damage. My cough and shortness of breath could be signs. 

My anemia is getting worse and MTX could be responsible for that.  Of course anemia causes shortness of breath.  If my anemia/SOB is not better in a few weeks I will have to go to a pulmonologist. 

Sigh.  Good news is that for the 2nd month in a row my ESR was normal!  The enbrel is working wonders.  I hope that eliminating the MTX will not stop the progress I have made.  I am also tapering off the pred over the next 6 weeks.

Thanks for all the help all! 

 

 What won't kill us will cure us. [QUOTE=moana]

 

 What won't kill us will cure us.

Oops!  I always warn my medical terminology students about abbreviations as they can be misunderstood maryblooms39419.7315856482 Thats's cute Mary...I knew the SOB but never would have guessed the HIW. [QUOTE=maryblooms]Oops!  I always warn my medical terminology about abbreviations as they can be misunderstood [/QUOTE]

LOL - "SOB" always causes me to giggle. It's the phrase my grandfather always used when describing politicians.One more question for all.  If I am not taking MTX, do I need to keep taking folic acid? and the breathing saga continues.... gasp! 

I went back to PCP today as still SOB and now have a headache, earache and sore throat.  My PCP looks at my most recent lab from my Rhuemie visit (yesterday)  bloodwork.  She is very concerned about the anemia (getting much worse), my low potassium and elevated liver test.  My RD never even mentioned the potassium and elevated liver test. 

So I went home with 5, yes 5 new prescriptions!!! OK, this has been a strange week.  I went to a massage therapist since my RA is better, but my shoulder (had surgery on it about 18 months ago) is tightening up a lot.

Still having breathing problems and a sinus infection but when the therapist was working on my neck and shoulder I suddenly had my sinuses clear up a lot.

Is this strange?  Anyone having a massage feel their head clear up?
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