Saturday, October 08, 2005

where's my air?

The past few days I've noticed a slight out-of-breath feeling when I sit at the computer for a while, or when I'm lounging in front of the TV. It's weird.

I have no trouble at all during the day (that I've noticed so far), when I'm active. I swim and get out of breath, of course, but that's because I'm really exerting myself, and I am able to catch my breath just fine if I pause for a few minutes.

In yoga class, I don't have any problems with the controlled breathing we do as we move from pose to pose. Have I mentioned how fantastic the yoga instructor is? She continues to amaze me, tailoring the class to the varying abilities of the students, and always challenging us with new poses. I come out feeling relaxed and taller (heh). There's a good sense of earned fatigue, too: I'm tired but it's OK to be tired because I just worked hard.

Today I did not much until about 1-ish, when I finally got off my butt and did all my housework, then took a quick shower. Did the school pickup and then took the kiddos to B&N, it's closer and Border's cafe won't be open until tomorrow (well, later today, now.) Read to DD and DS2 for at least half an hour, letting them choose books in turn: Corduroy, Spongebob, Curious George, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... can you guess which child chose which books? DS1 read Captain Underpants and I have to admit, those books are pretty funny if you're 9 years old. I guess it's a good thing that I can still appreciate humor targeted at 3rd graders.

So I did some stuff today, but it wasn't all that much, and why can't I just feel decent, huh? I want my air back. I don't know whether to feel better or worse about the most likely cause of this feeling: panic attacks. I don't feel like I'm freaking out, but I'm not sure that's relevant. I certainly have no other symptoms of the typical causes of shortness of breath, including heart failure, chronic pulmonary obstructive disease, arhythmias, or any of that crap. I have low blood pressure, an excellent lipid profile last time I checked, and I'm scrawny. Plus I've been working out regularly for 5 weeks now, and have definitely developed increased aerobic capacity and stamina over that time.

Ha! A thought just popped into my head, and what do you know? Hyperthyroidism can produce breathlessness. Since I'm in a permanent state of TSH-suppression (that is, I'm literally always hyper), this is most likely just the latest lovely side effect of my thyca treatment.

This trip to Houston can not come soon enough.

1 comment:

nina said...

And isn't it possible that panic fuels what may be a low-grade breathlessness? There were years where I had this idea that I could not catch my breath. The more I thought about it, the worse it felt. There was probably some organic cause (though like you, I have no obvious indicator and am fit as anything), but there was also me, thinking about it.

You have so much going on that you're sifting through. I would not be surprised if it all sort of overwhelmed you every now and then. Especially when you are sitting still.

Of course, I have ten medical degrees and I specialize in pulmonary disorders and that's on top of my degree in psychiatry so I can sound off.