First OB appt and progesterone nightmare! LONG :/
Since I had a suspected chemical pregnancy a few months back, the fert doc decided to have me start on progesterone suppositories after my BFP for this pregnancy as 'added insurance' (she didn't first test my blood to SEE if I had low progesterone, but just automatically put me on it with an "It couldn't hurt" attitude)
All had been well until about 3 days ago when I started having really terrible shortness of breath. I have asthma, but this was not asthma. I had no wheezing, my pulse-oxegenation was 100%, and my asthma treatments weren't TOUCHING it-- I still felt like I had just sprinted a mile and couldn't catch my breath.... terrifying! Of course, this started on Sunday, I called my OB's on-call line and they said go to E.D. in case it's a pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lung)... I guess preg women are more suceptible to them and those on progesterone are also more suceptible, so I was kind of a double-whammy, risk-wise.
So I went to E.D. and eventually agreed to a VQ scan of my lungs (like a cat-scan but a VERY low dose of radiation b/c I'm pregnant)-- I was so hesitant to do it at all because I hate the idea of ANY radiation during this early stage of pregnancy, but pulmonary embolisms are literally drop-dead serious medical emergencies and, as the E.D. doc said, "You can't be pregnant at all if you're dead"-- yikes.
So I got the scan and, luckily, it was not a P.E., the doctors didn't really have a good explanation, so it was diagnosed as 'suspected atypical asthma' (I have had asthma since age 8 and it felt like no other asthma I'd ever experienced.) and I was sent home on a low-dose steroid.
I contacted my fert doc (the one who prescribed my progesterone suppositories) on Monday and they had me come in to the office that morning. By this point, I had figured out that if I reclined/sat still for a period of time, my breathing didn't feel as out-of-control...So I tried to sit very still in fert doc's waiting room, trying to catch my breath.... I probably looked like I had just jogged all the way to the office, sitting there gasping, got a few concerned looks from fellow patients!
THe doctor listened to my symptoms, performed a trans-vaginal U/S (btw, I'm 5.5 wks preg... couldn't see heartbeat yet, but she said that's to be expected this early on. She said it looked like a perfectly normal 5 week pregnancy)... she didn't see any fluid or abnormalities that could be causing my breathlessness on the U/S. She said that sometimes the progesterone suppositories can cause a feeling of shortness of breath, and that maybe I'm experiencing that side-effect in the extreme. They took my blood and tested my progesterone levels and they were high. She concluded that it was possibly the progesterone that was causing this nightmare. and told me to immediately discontinue the suppositories.
Unfortunately, we won't know for a while if the progesterone is what's causing these awful symptoms-- unfortunately, the progesterone has a 50 hr half-life, so it won't be fully out of my system for about 6-7 days. But it will be at about half-strength in 2 days, so I hope I start feeling SOME improvement by then.
I have been dutifully taking the E.D.-prescribed steroids too, just in case it is a lung issue, but so far, they have done nothing.
So, for now, I have been spending my days in the house, reclined on the couch, struggling to breath as best I can. My poor mom has been carting my kids around to their camps, appointments, etc, since my breathing gets really bad, really fast when I move around-- so much so that I can start to hyperventilate.
It's truly a nightmare, and I have this fear that it will never improve. I keep thinking, "what if it isn't the progesterone and this is some mystery ailment that NEVER goes away?" ....when you can't breath, it's hard to focus on anything else. I'm just feeling very low-- I want my life back, I want to be excited for this new life growing inside of me. I want to enjoy the summer with my kids. I really need some support.
Has anyone else had shortness of breath (maybe not to my extreme) from progesterone?
Thanks for listening,
-V
All had been well until about 3 days ago when I started having really terrible shortness of breath. I have asthma, but this was not asthma. I had no wheezing, my pulse-oxegenation was 100%, and my asthma treatments weren't TOUCHING it-- I still felt like I had just sprinted a mile and couldn't catch my breath.... terrifying! Of course, this started on Sunday, I called my OB's on-call line and they said go to E.D. in case it's a pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lung)... I guess preg women are more suceptible to them and those on progesterone are also more suceptible, so I was kind of a double-whammy, risk-wise.
So I went to E.D. and eventually agreed to a VQ scan of my lungs (like a cat-scan but a VERY low dose of radiation b/c I'm pregnant)-- I was so hesitant to do it at all because I hate the idea of ANY radiation during this early stage of pregnancy, but pulmonary embolisms are literally drop-dead serious medical emergencies and, as the E.D. doc said, "You can't be pregnant at all if you're dead"-- yikes.
So I got the scan and, luckily, it was not a P.E., the doctors didn't really have a good explanation, so it was diagnosed as 'suspected atypical asthma' (I have had asthma since age 8 and it felt like no other asthma I'd ever experienced.) and I was sent home on a low-dose steroid.
I contacted my fert doc (the one who prescribed my progesterone suppositories) on Monday and they had me come in to the office that morning. By this point, I had figured out that if I reclined/sat still for a period of time, my breathing didn't feel as out-of-control...So I tried to sit very still in fert doc's waiting room, trying to catch my breath.... I probably looked like I had just jogged all the way to the office, sitting there gasping, got a few concerned looks from fellow patients!
THe doctor listened to my symptoms, performed a trans-vaginal U/S (btw, I'm 5.5 wks preg... couldn't see heartbeat yet, but she said that's to be expected this early on. She said it looked like a perfectly normal 5 week pregnancy)... she didn't see any fluid or abnormalities that could be causing my breathlessness on the U/S. She said that sometimes the progesterone suppositories can cause a feeling of shortness of breath, and that maybe I'm experiencing that side-effect in the extreme. They took my blood and tested my progesterone levels and they were high. She concluded that it was possibly the progesterone that was causing this nightmare. and told me to immediately discontinue the suppositories.
Unfortunately, we won't know for a while if the progesterone is what's causing these awful symptoms-- unfortunately, the progesterone has a 50 hr half-life, so it won't be fully out of my system for about 6-7 days. But it will be at about half-strength in 2 days, so I hope I start feeling SOME improvement by then.
I have been dutifully taking the E.D.-prescribed steroids too, just in case it is a lung issue, but so far, they have done nothing.
So, for now, I have been spending my days in the house, reclined on the couch, struggling to breath as best I can. My poor mom has been carting my kids around to their camps, appointments, etc, since my breathing gets really bad, really fast when I move around-- so much so that I can start to hyperventilate.
It's truly a nightmare, and I have this fear that it will never improve. I keep thinking, "what if it isn't the progesterone and this is some mystery ailment that NEVER goes away?" ....when you can't breath, it's hard to focus on anything else. I'm just feeling very low-- I want my life back, I want to be excited for this new life growing inside of me. I want to enjoy the summer with my kids. I really need some support.
Has anyone else had shortness of breath (maybe not to my extreme) from progesterone?
Thanks for listening,
-V
Hi There,
I hope you're feeling better. Progesterone can ABSOLUTELY cause shortness of breath. I've not heard of anyone experiencing it to that degree... though I wonder if that in combination with your asthma history triggered all this. All pregnant women will at some point experience some shortness of breath and this is a direct result of rising progesterone levels. (Of course later in pregnancy it's more a result of the decreased space for our diaphragms to move).
It seems a little surprising to me that the doc hadn't checked any levels prior to starting you on the suppositories.... but that is by no means my area of expertise....
At any rate... it certainly could be the progesterone doing this to you. It's really good that you let them do the VQ scan! Pregnant and supplementing progesterone absolutely put you at high risk for a P.E.! I'm glad they ruled that out!
Take it easy and hopefully this will ease quickly!!!
Very best wishes to you....
p.s. We're right around the same point in our early pregnancies...
I hope you're feeling better. Progesterone can ABSOLUTELY cause shortness of breath. I've not heard of anyone experiencing it to that degree... though I wonder if that in combination with your asthma history triggered all this. All pregnant women will at some point experience some shortness of breath and this is a direct result of rising progesterone levels. (Of course later in pregnancy it's more a result of the decreased space for our diaphragms to move).
It seems a little surprising to me that the doc hadn't checked any levels prior to starting you on the suppositories.... but that is by no means my area of expertise....
At any rate... it certainly could be the progesterone doing this to you. It's really good that you let them do the VQ scan! Pregnant and supplementing progesterone absolutely put you at high risk for a P.E.! I'm glad they ruled that out!
Take it easy and hopefully this will ease quickly!!!
Very best wishes to you....
p.s. We're right around the same point in our early pregnancies...
Little update from me:
Off of the supplemental progesterone for 2.5 days now and breathing symptoms have started to subside-- FINALLY. Looks like we were right about the progesterone being the cause of all my discomfort. I was even able to take a little trip to Target today. Thanks everyone for your words of encouragement! It made me feel better to share my emotions during a scary time! Hopefully, I can have a drama-free pregnancy from now on! Thanks again,
-V
Off of the supplemental progesterone for 2.5 days now and breathing symptoms have started to subside-- FINALLY. Looks like we were right about the progesterone being the cause of all my discomfort. I was even able to take a little trip to Target today. Thanks everyone for your words of encouragement! It made me feel better to share my emotions during a scary time! Hopefully, I can have a drama-free pregnancy from now on! Thanks again,
-V
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