CABG x2 January 17th, this year.
Maybe documenting this will help someone else...has anyone experienced this?
About a month after surgery, I started having breathing problems. I just couldn't catch my breath. I would get winded walking from my desk to the kitchen. Going upstairs would end with heavy breathing for 2 or 3 minutes. The breathing felt like I was having a panic attack. I just couldn't bring in enough air.
This went on for about 2 1/2 months. Multiple visits to my PCP and cardiologist -- neither had a clue. Heart was working perfectly, lungs sounded clear.
My breathing problem prevented me from doing the exercise I needed during my recovery. I got very sad and discouraged. My emotional state was very bad.
My PCP requested a referral to a pulmonologist. This didn't happen because of the Virus. He also prescribed me an inhaler (once a day) on the off chance that I had COPD. I used it for 5 days with no effect, so I quit.
Then it happened...
I went upstairs to take a shower. Usual routine of having to stop at the top of the steps and recover for 2 or 3 minutes. I got naked and went into the bathroom -- still "panic breathing". I looked in the mirror and noticed something VERY weird.
As I gasped for breath, my stomach would expand and contract. I immediately realized that I was breathing almost exclusively with my diaphragm. It was an amazing moment. I immediately tasked my brain with focusing on breathing with my chest. Within 2 days my breathing problem completely disappeared.
Bottom line: I believe that my brain changed the way I was breathing because my chest hurt -- we all know how radical CABG is to the chest wall. In a way, it was "all in my head".
Sometimes self-diagnosis and self-awareness can do amazing things.------------------------------
Anthony Smith
Lake Elsinore CA
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