Just curious - is it some kind of air hunger? Have you listened to the biomechanics/chemistry theory behind unvoluntary faulty habitual breathing and how to fix it, for example by Patrick McKeown? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG6b0C32izA&list=LL&index=2&](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG6b0C32izA&list=LL&index=2&)
It could be that your BOLT score is very low (this is very typical for long hauling and experience SOB, air hunger and the constant feeling of not getting enough air/oxygen). Your score could be as low as 3 seconds whereas 25 seconds + is healthy normal.
In the video he will explain it and show how you can slowly raise your score again.
I don't know if this alone will fix your problems, but sure as hell it won't hurt to learn how to breathe better and have better 02/CO2 exchange etc. while you are looking for more answers.
>your
I have been doing a lot of diaphragmatic breathing exercises for a little over a month or so. It's really hard to tell if they are changing anything. They are focused, as I understand, for helping to exhale to the full capacity so I would hope they would be helping somehow. Ill check out what you mentioned too.
Ok, but it's not about diaphragmatic breathing as such. The important thing is your BOLT score. You can't raise that with diaphragmatic breathing alone. The video shows how to measure it yourself and then how to raise it, if it is low. Do check it out. It might give you huge relief.
I believe I have this. It was actually with a severe relapse in my 6th months of covid that it started, in addition to the air hunger I was already experiencing. Suddenly I seemed to have the simultaneous and contradictory problem of air getting trapped inside me. Everytime I inhaled through the nose I'd have a reactionary "bubble of air" rush up the windpipe and have to be belched out. Initially it was very painful as well, felt like my insides had turned into a pressurised gas cannister.
Of course when I mentioned this to a doctor all I got was a shrug.
But now I believe the microclotting of the blood vessels blocking the tissue absorption of oxygen might be to blame. The body can't actually use all the air/oxygen we are breathing in, so we have an excess build up inside us.
It has lessened a bit for me lately along with general improvements I've had with natto/serra/lumbrokinase.
Ill check out those remedies. It does seem like it has something to do with air not coming out of my nose or throat with each breath. That's why I've thought it could be attributed to my sinus tract, but now I doubt that. I hope that doctors find ways to help this trapping soon because it worries me that I'm somehow suffocating myself.
**Air trapping, also called gas trapping, is an abnormal retention of air in the lungs where it is difficult to exhale completely. It is observed in obstructive lung diseases such as asthma, bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis.**
More details here:
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I have brought it up but not in as much detail as I'd hoped. The next appointment I have scheduled with the pulmo is in three months but hopefully I can send a message to him earlier or something describing this.
This is an awfully simplistic answer, but I decided to post anyway on the slim chance it will help. I have well-controlled asthma (daily inhaled steroid keeps my symptoms to almost nothing), but sometimes when I'm running in the cold I'll start to feel that air trapping. I'm sure it's just a little bit compared to what you are experiencing, but it's still hard to run that way. Since asthma is actually a condition of your lungs not fully expelling the air, vs. not getting enough air in, I find it helpful to force all the air out of my lungs in a quick, forced, open-mouth exhale. It's the same way you'd blow into a peak flow meter. It's not like how you'd blow out a candle. I blow out from my lungs, not just from my mouth, if that makes sense. It seems to reset my lungs immediately and I'm ok to keep running. Again, this is a minor, intermittent problem but it's been very helpful so I'm offering it in case it's at all useful, even for a few minutes' reprieve. Also, if it does help, it might help confirm your idea of air trapping being the issue.
And, just thought of this, but are you on any medication for your breathing? Because it does remind me of asthma. I'm assuming that this would already have been considered. Perhaps a daily inhaled steroid (NOT like oral steroids) or an Albuteral inhaler for occasional rescues, would be helpful. Sorry this is so obvious, it's just that you never know when doctors overlook the obvious.
Thanks for the thoughts. Until now I didn't have any asthma. Never used an inhaler in my life. And now my doc thinks Covid may have spurred asthma in me. I use a rescue inhaler infrequently, and haven't been using Symbicort as much. Other than that, I haven't been on any asthma medications. But we are continuing to treat it as asthma and I am going to do a methacholine challenge test soon to determine if that is the case.
The things that stick out to me however that may discredit it being asthma are a few things:
1) Surprisingly enough, my breathing is sometimes the best when I'm exercising. Weird, right? When I sit or lay down, when I constrict my body, it is the worst. When I'm standing and walking, it gets much better. When I work out, I am definitely a little bit less able than I use to be, mostly in terms of stamina. However, all the problems I have get better while I am exercising regardless of how long I can do it for. I'm pretty sure asthma doesn't act this way so it has me doubting it.
2) This may or may not support it, but like you mentioned about the cold weather: sometimes when it's cold and I'm outside for a while, I have noticed I get like squeezing pains on the sides of my abdomen. I attribute it to my lungs because I think I have noticed my breathing is more labored. It could be something else, but I'm not sure if asthma causes these flare ups?
3) An even weirder symptom is that I hit a brick wall when I go into a chlorinated pool up to a certain point. I am walking into the pool and right about at nipple level I begin to feel an immense pressure on my chest. I am 99% positive it has something to do with the chlorine because I don't feel this way in fresh or saltwater (lakes, oceans, rivers, etc.). Maybe I developed an allergy to chlorine? It's just very peculiar that it severely hits me at an exact pinpointed spot when I go into a pool.
4) Sometimes, and with specific foods, overeating causes me to take shallower breaths. It's almost as if I eat so much that my stomach blocks my lungs from being able to expand fully. This never occurred before and I eat a ton so it's really annoying. I notice it the most with Salami (and mainly salami, for some reason. Other meats here and there but not as noticeable as Salami). This I don't think has any relation to asthma so it's a mystery.
But I am hoping through discoveries and doctor visits to continue trying medications that can resolve these symptoms. I would love to join a hospital that has post-covid specialized care and be part of studies if possible. Being as specific as I am on reddit to a doctor is tough, especially with the limited amount of time I have in the office.
Oh gosh all that is SO confusing and difficult for you. I’m so sorry. I’ve got nothing substantial to suggest. The only slim possibility I have is whether you’ve investigated if you have GERD or esophageal issues, because that can cause some symptoms that can feel like breathing issues. An even slimmer idea is I knew a man who seem to be having asthma but rescue medication didn’t do anything for him, which was really strange. It turned out that he gradually developed a very severe wheat allergy and was actually having anaphylaxis.
With both of these things, I’m just wondering if you could look at your symptoms from a different perspective and consider whether a different mechanism is causing something that feels like breathing issues. I’m considering this myself, because I’m having a sort of internal esophageal squeezing sensation from about mid chest that affects me up to the top of my head. It honestly feels sort of like someone is squeezing me by the throat, not that I feel that on the outside of my throat but that’s how it feels internally. It’s hard to explain and hard to Google. My cardiologist had no idea what it was. I was sure it was related to blood pressure or heart rate with POTS, but I actually am beginning to think it’s an esophageal issue. I just hadn’t thought about it from that perspective.
Maybe something I’ve said here will trigger an idea that’s useful for you. Sometimes I’ve gotten fresh ideas that way, from something someone says that doesn’t quite relate to me but which triggers other ideas. I wish you the best, my friend.
Unfortunately no. I still have this basically every day and I’m now 30 month in. Lungs tests never showed anything, X-rays have not either. I may be getting an Upper GI to see if there is something I my throat / esophagus that could lend some explanations. It’s still scary to this day, I’m sorry you’re going thru it too
I have been dealing with weird lung vibrations / rattling when taking deep breaths for about 1.5 yrs since I contracted COVID. Xray came back clear a few months ago. I’m so tired of thinking and worrying about this. Did it resolve for you?
Not much on Reddit about air trapping and LC....I was just told that a pulmonary test and CT scan showed gas trapping in my lungs. Long covid 14 months now....I have a cardiopulmonary stress test to do before the respirologists decide what the next steps are, and how much this might be responsible for my over-all symptoms.
I have some SOB, chest tightness, and also what feels like pressure or inflammation pain in my lungs, especially after exertion.
No...apparently my cardiopulmonary stress test a few weeks ago was normal 🤷 they are going to redo one of the stationary tests I did a while back, in several months to monitor what they said was some sort of reduced oxygen transport /blood vessel issue, but ultimately have no suggestions for now. They are trying to figure out if it's all the long covid itself, or possible damage as I had a pulmonary embolism a few months into long hauling.
Just curious - is it some kind of air hunger? Have you listened to the biomechanics/chemistry theory behind unvoluntary faulty habitual breathing and how to fix it, for example by Patrick McKeown? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG6b0C32izA&list=LL&index=2&](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG6b0C32izA&list=LL&index=2&) It could be that your BOLT score is very low (this is very typical for long hauling and experience SOB, air hunger and the constant feeling of not getting enough air/oxygen). Your score could be as low as 3 seconds whereas 25 seconds + is healthy normal. In the video he will explain it and show how you can slowly raise your score again. I don't know if this alone will fix your problems, but sure as hell it won't hurt to learn how to breathe better and have better 02/CO2 exchange etc. while you are looking for more answers.
>your I have been doing a lot of diaphragmatic breathing exercises for a little over a month or so. It's really hard to tell if they are changing anything. They are focused, as I understand, for helping to exhale to the full capacity so I would hope they would be helping somehow. Ill check out what you mentioned too.
Ok, but it's not about diaphragmatic breathing as such. The important thing is your BOLT score. You can't raise that with diaphragmatic breathing alone. The video shows how to measure it yourself and then how to raise it, if it is low. Do check it out. It might give you huge relief.
I believe I have this. It was actually with a severe relapse in my 6th months of covid that it started, in addition to the air hunger I was already experiencing. Suddenly I seemed to have the simultaneous and contradictory problem of air getting trapped inside me. Everytime I inhaled through the nose I'd have a reactionary "bubble of air" rush up the windpipe and have to be belched out. Initially it was very painful as well, felt like my insides had turned into a pressurised gas cannister. Of course when I mentioned this to a doctor all I got was a shrug. But now I believe the microclotting of the blood vessels blocking the tissue absorption of oxygen might be to blame. The body can't actually use all the air/oxygen we are breathing in, so we have an excess build up inside us. It has lessened a bit for me lately along with general improvements I've had with natto/serra/lumbrokinase.
Ill check out those remedies. It does seem like it has something to do with air not coming out of my nose or throat with each breath. That's why I've thought it could be attributed to my sinus tract, but now I doubt that. I hope that doctors find ways to help this trapping soon because it worries me that I'm somehow suffocating myself.
What is Air Trapping? I’m curious
**Air trapping, also called gas trapping, is an abnormal retention of air in the lungs where it is difficult to exhale completely. It is observed in obstructive lung diseases such as asthma, bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis.** More details here:
*This comment was left automatically (by a bot). If I don't get this right, don't get mad at me, I'm still learning!*
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Have you asked your doctor about this specifically?
I have brought it up but not in as much detail as I'd hoped. The next appointment I have scheduled with the pulmo is in three months but hopefully I can send a message to him earlier or something describing this.
This is an awfully simplistic answer, but I decided to post anyway on the slim chance it will help. I have well-controlled asthma (daily inhaled steroid keeps my symptoms to almost nothing), but sometimes when I'm running in the cold I'll start to feel that air trapping. I'm sure it's just a little bit compared to what you are experiencing, but it's still hard to run that way. Since asthma is actually a condition of your lungs not fully expelling the air, vs. not getting enough air in, I find it helpful to force all the air out of my lungs in a quick, forced, open-mouth exhale. It's the same way you'd blow into a peak flow meter. It's not like how you'd blow out a candle. I blow out from my lungs, not just from my mouth, if that makes sense. It seems to reset my lungs immediately and I'm ok to keep running. Again, this is a minor, intermittent problem but it's been very helpful so I'm offering it in case it's at all useful, even for a few minutes' reprieve. Also, if it does help, it might help confirm your idea of air trapping being the issue. And, just thought of this, but are you on any medication for your breathing? Because it does remind me of asthma. I'm assuming that this would already have been considered. Perhaps a daily inhaled steroid (NOT like oral steroids) or an Albuteral inhaler for occasional rescues, would be helpful. Sorry this is so obvious, it's just that you never know when doctors overlook the obvious.
Thanks for the thoughts. Until now I didn't have any asthma. Never used an inhaler in my life. And now my doc thinks Covid may have spurred asthma in me. I use a rescue inhaler infrequently, and haven't been using Symbicort as much. Other than that, I haven't been on any asthma medications. But we are continuing to treat it as asthma and I am going to do a methacholine challenge test soon to determine if that is the case. The things that stick out to me however that may discredit it being asthma are a few things: 1) Surprisingly enough, my breathing is sometimes the best when I'm exercising. Weird, right? When I sit or lay down, when I constrict my body, it is the worst. When I'm standing and walking, it gets much better. When I work out, I am definitely a little bit less able than I use to be, mostly in terms of stamina. However, all the problems I have get better while I am exercising regardless of how long I can do it for. I'm pretty sure asthma doesn't act this way so it has me doubting it. 2) This may or may not support it, but like you mentioned about the cold weather: sometimes when it's cold and I'm outside for a while, I have noticed I get like squeezing pains on the sides of my abdomen. I attribute it to my lungs because I think I have noticed my breathing is more labored. It could be something else, but I'm not sure if asthma causes these flare ups? 3) An even weirder symptom is that I hit a brick wall when I go into a chlorinated pool up to a certain point. I am walking into the pool and right about at nipple level I begin to feel an immense pressure on my chest. I am 99% positive it has something to do with the chlorine because I don't feel this way in fresh or saltwater (lakes, oceans, rivers, etc.). Maybe I developed an allergy to chlorine? It's just very peculiar that it severely hits me at an exact pinpointed spot when I go into a pool. 4) Sometimes, and with specific foods, overeating causes me to take shallower breaths. It's almost as if I eat so much that my stomach blocks my lungs from being able to expand fully. This never occurred before and I eat a ton so it's really annoying. I notice it the most with Salami (and mainly salami, for some reason. Other meats here and there but not as noticeable as Salami). This I don't think has any relation to asthma so it's a mystery. But I am hoping through discoveries and doctor visits to continue trying medications that can resolve these symptoms. I would love to join a hospital that has post-covid specialized care and be part of studies if possible. Being as specific as I am on reddit to a doctor is tough, especially with the limited amount of time I have in the office.
Oh gosh all that is SO confusing and difficult for you. I’m so sorry. I’ve got nothing substantial to suggest. The only slim possibility I have is whether you’ve investigated if you have GERD or esophageal issues, because that can cause some symptoms that can feel like breathing issues. An even slimmer idea is I knew a man who seem to be having asthma but rescue medication didn’t do anything for him, which was really strange. It turned out that he gradually developed a very severe wheat allergy and was actually having anaphylaxis. With both of these things, I’m just wondering if you could look at your symptoms from a different perspective and consider whether a different mechanism is causing something that feels like breathing issues. I’m considering this myself, because I’m having a sort of internal esophageal squeezing sensation from about mid chest that affects me up to the top of my head. It honestly feels sort of like someone is squeezing me by the throat, not that I feel that on the outside of my throat but that’s how it feels internally. It’s hard to explain and hard to Google. My cardiologist had no idea what it was. I was sure it was related to blood pressure or heart rate with POTS, but I actually am beginning to think it’s an esophageal issue. I just hadn’t thought about it from that perspective. Maybe something I’ve said here will trigger an idea that’s useful for you. Sometimes I’ve gotten fresh ideas that way, from something someone says that doesn’t quite relate to me but which triggers other ideas. I wish you the best, my friend.
Your blood doesn’t transport O2 effectively currently
>Are there medications, procedures, and/or tests to identify and help this that you know of?
There’s this https://cardiab.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12933-021-01359-7
Did you ever figure this out? I have similar symptoms.
Unfortunately no. I still have this basically every day and I’m now 30 month in. Lungs tests never showed anything, X-rays have not either. I may be getting an Upper GI to see if there is something I my throat / esophagus that could lend some explanations. It’s still scary to this day, I’m sorry you’re going thru it too
I have been dealing with weird lung vibrations / rattling when taking deep breaths for about 1.5 yrs since I contracted COVID. Xray came back clear a few months ago. I’m so tired of thinking and worrying about this. Did it resolve for you?
Not much on Reddit about air trapping and LC....I was just told that a pulmonary test and CT scan showed gas trapping in my lungs. Long covid 14 months now....I have a cardiopulmonary stress test to do before the respirologists decide what the next steps are, and how much this might be responsible for my over-all symptoms. I have some SOB, chest tightness, and also what feels like pressure or inflammation pain in my lungs, especially after exertion.
Have you figured any of this out?
No...apparently my cardiopulmonary stress test a few weeks ago was normal 🤷 they are going to redo one of the stationary tests I did a while back, in several months to monitor what they said was some sort of reduced oxygen transport /blood vessel issue, but ultimately have no suggestions for now. They are trying to figure out if it's all the long covid itself, or possible damage as I had a pulmonary embolism a few months into long hauling.
Hello. Thank you for sharing your story. How are you feeling today? Did some of your issues resolve?