You have everything to gain from making exercise a priority in your life as it benefits every single area of your health. But, lately, exercise has become more of an effort thanks to shortness of breath — and not the good kind that comes with an all-out sprint.
If you're struggling to catch your breath while you exercise, there are many possible culprits behind what is medically known as dyspnea. Since we focus on all things heart related here at Advanced Cardiovascular Specialists, the team highlights a few cardiovascular reasons why you may experience shortness of breath when you exercise.
Everyone can struggle to catch their breath if they exercise hard and really push themselves. In fact, many athletes like getting into that zone as they reach their peak heart rate. So, shortness of breath when you’re exerting yourself and trying to get in shape is par for the course and usually nothing to worry about, especially if your heart and breath rates settle down within a few minutes.
What we’re discussing here is dyspnea that isn’t normal for you and accompanies any exertion, from going for a walk to climbing stairs.
There’s a specific name for this symptom — shortness of breath on exertion — and there are many possible culprits that include everything from exercise-induced asthma to kidney disease. Your mental health can even lead to shortness of breath while exercising if you have anxiety or panic attack disorder.
If you believe that your lungs aren’t to blame for your struggles to catch your breath when you exercise, the next stop is typically your cardiovascular system, which is responsible for circulating oxygen throughout your body.
One of the most common symptoms of congestive heart failure, which affects nearly 6.7 million adults in the United States, is shortness of breath, especially when moving around.
When you have heart failure, your heart muscle is no longer able to pump oxygenated blood as effectively, and you develop what we call exercise intolerance. This can start out as losing your breath more when you exercise, but as the heart failure progresses, any exercise becomes impossible as your heart isn’t able to support the additional activity.
Another possible culprit behind your loss of breath when you exercise could be an arrhythmia, or irregular heart rhythm, that occurs when you exercise. Arrhythmias affect between 1.5% and 5% of the general population, and one of the possible side effects is shortness of breath. This occurs because your heart is pumping blood irregularly, which can lead to fluid buildup in your lungs and shortness of breath.
Outside of heart failure and arrhythmias, other cardiovascular-related conditions that might lead to shortness of breath on exertion include:
The best way to figure out what’s behind this new exercise challenge is to come to see us for a full evaluation. Even if we find that your shortness of breath when you exercise isn’t related to your heart health, at least you’ve narrowed the field of suspects. Not to mention, you have some peace of mind knowing your cardiovascular system is in good shape.
To get to the bottom of your exercise-related shortness of breath, please feel free to contact our office in Mountain View, California, to schedule a consultation with one of our heart health experts.
