What's wrong with feeling hard to breathe these two days?

Dyspnea is one of the most common symptoms of heart failure. In the early stage of illness, many people will find it difficult to breathe after exercising or engaging in more intense activities. However, with the development of the disease, dyspnea symptoms will appear more and more frequently in patients' daily activities, such as climbing stairs, taking a bath or even taking a rest. Many people will suddenly be short of breath when lying flat, which will affect their sleep and even sometimes feel anxious and tired.

Like most other symptoms experienced by patients with heart failure, dyspnea is the result of the decrease in the efficiency of blood supply from the heart to the whole body over time. Especially with the change of heart structure or function, myocardium will be less and less able to meet the needs of blood entering and leaving the heart.

This may lead to "backflow" of blood from the lungs to the heart or deposition in blood vessels. If this happens, body fluids may leak into and accumulate in the lungs.

The lung is a very complex organ, which can export carbon dioxide and exchange it for oxygen. But if there is fluid in the lungs, the lungs will not work normally, so patients with heart failure will feel difficulty breathing.

Similarly, it may be more difficult for patients with heart failure to breathe when they lie down, because the accumulated fluid will spread to the surface of the lungs when they lie down (imagine the water flow when the upright bottle is flat).

So how do you deal with breathing difficulties? It's best to start by knowing your body. If you only feel difficulty breathing during exercise, you should learn to recognize the first symptoms and stop activities in time when these symptoms appear next time. As we all know, regular exercise helps to improve heart function, so it is best to find a tolerable amount of exercise and persevere.

Talk to the doctor and find a suitable activity or exercise. Generally speaking, "physical exercise" is far more beneficial to blood circulation than strength exercise: therefore, cycling, walking or swimming can usually be done; Weightlifting and push-ups may not be so effective.

If you find it difficult to breathe when you are engaged in daily activities such as climbing stairs or taking a bath, you should tell your doctor to see which exercises can help you breathe, or whether the treatment plan works. Besides, although it may not be easy, please seek help from nurses, friends or family, because doing daily activities can make you feel more capable of controlling your life.

If you have difficulty breathing during rest, you should discuss with your doctor or medical team how to deal with this situation, because you may need to adjust the current treatment plan.

If you find it difficult to breathe when you lie down, please support your body with as many pillows as possible so that your upper body can be slightly raised when you lie down.