7 Weeks Pregnant with Shortness of Breath, Prescribed Qvar-anyone Else?

I would recommend you see a pulmonary specialist or allergy/asthma doc. There are many good ones in the bay area. We see Dr. Torrano at Allergy and Asthma Associates of Northern California. They have 7 offices in south bay from Gilroy to Santa Cruz to San Jose (Moore Park/Saratoga). Here's the main number ###-###-####.

Stephanie

I had horrible shortness of breath with my 2nd child. I couldn't walk 20 feet without being totally out of breath. I finally wound up having to take two steroidal inhalers Foradil and Asmanex. These are inhalers that asthmatics use on a regular basis - even when pregnant.

EDIT: DON'T wait for your first pre-natal appt to ask to be referred to a pulmunologist. By the time all of the red tape gets unravelled, you might be looking at a pulmunology appointment that is two needless weeks away.

Call your regular doctor (or OB/GYN) on Monday morning and inform them that you need a pulmunologist referral, and that you will hold while they get the referral. Then call the pulmunologist's office and tell them you are pregnant with serious breathing problems and want an appointment this week - when can they fit you in? Be polite but firm, and don't accept no for an answer. If nothing else, just show up at the pulmunology office preparred to "camp out" until they can see you.

Hi! I have asthma and I am mother of a beautiful, HEALTHY 13 month old daughter. I was also a little short of breath during my pregnancy and was prescribed Qvar, because my other inhaler (Albuterol) and asthma medicine (Singulair) would have caused problems. But, the Qvar helped with my breathing - not my allergies so much - but I was able to breathe, which is very important for a growing fetus (and his/her mommy)!! My daughter is a perfectly healthy, normal little girl. I am glad I used the Qvar when I had to. I think NOT using a medicine to keep YOU healthy during your pregnancy will cause your baby more harm than good. Your baby can't grow/breathe if you can't breathe. You're not alone in feeling nervous, I think every woman with breathing difficulties gets nervous about taking medications/inhalers during pregnancy. I know I was. But ultimately, you listen to yourself and your baby's needs and everything works out. Congratulations on your little-one-to-be!!

I had this problem too! However, at the time I had no idea I was pregnant. I just thought I'd put back some of the weight that I had lost. I would be on the elliptical for maybe 2 minutes and felt like I had run a full marathon sprinting! It was horrible. But I kept working out, but just at a slower steadier rate. Don't worry this too shall pass, I'm sure, just as mine did. I'd say by the beginning of month 3 I was feeling like myself and "running" (using the elliptical) until the 9 month mark at a pretty intense level. This helped with the labor and delivery. Made it very easy.
I would NOT take the drug. It's unnecessary. Yes, it's hard to breathe right now, but you have to remember that your body is adjusting and shoving things up and over for your uterus to expand to 500 times its current size! The lungs are not exempt. Just keep doing what you can and stop if you need to to take a rest. It's frustrating, I know, been there and done that. But you will get through this.
Doctors are quick to put people on "drugs" so watch out. Take only what you absolutely HAVE to. I would not consider this a HAVE to situation, but a SLOW yourself down situation. :) Hope this helps.

I had asthma during both of my pregnancies and used Albuterol when I needed help breathing. My pulmonologist said he had been conducting a study for the past 10 years about "pregnancy asthma". Something about the hormones effecting breathing. (Not to mention as baby grows and squishes things!) He told me that most of his patients had no breathing problems after giving birth. This rang true for me. Delivered two healthy babies.

Hi Sunshine,
I read you are open to holistic approach. Have you ever tried going to a chiropractor? When I was pregnant with all my kids. I have 4. I had regular adjustments up to I had the babies. It relief and opens up your lungs. Go to a chiropractor and ask him to give check your ribs. I have asthma and when I get my ribs adjusted it relieves me. I use to take advair and other inhalers. Not anymore. Try it. It won't hurt you. It's also great to get adjusted because he or she can adjust your hips to relieve the lower back pain.

Dear Sunshine,
I have mild asthma and have taken QVAR as my preventative inhaler for 5 years. I took it during both of my pregnancies and Stanley (almost 3) and Malcolm (almost 3 months) are fine. Breathing is very important and although you may or may not have asthma taking it once a day should be fine.

Good Luck!

Sunshine,
I have had the same trouble since the very first month of pregnancy. I had trouble catching my breath last time I was pregnant too and that was when I was 9 years younger and in great shape. The doctors I have seen tell me that it is normal and due to hormones. I saw a cardiologist during my last pregnancy and everything showed normal. I am going to see another one in a few weeks just to make sure I am okay. I can only comfort you with the fact that I went through this once already and everything was fine with me and our baby. I doesn't feel normal to be so out of breath for the simplest things-I know. I get embarrassed because get short of breath just talking on the phone! If you can, I mean if it is safe for you to not take the prescribed medication, I would just tough it out. I am in my fifth month, still huffing and puffing as in the first month of my pregnancy. It feels like I am just weak and out of shape but I know that is not the case. It sounds like you are in great physical condition if you're a runner-I would get a second opinion if you're worried that it could be something dangerous but otherwise maybe just go with it and let your body do what it needs to.
Good luck to you!

my gut response is don't take it! doctors are so quick to prescribe drugs that haven't been tested. i remember hearing about the drug they prescribed to moms for morning sickness awhile back and it ended up causing birth defects. i think if it's causing birth defects in animals that it must affect human babies at some level. humans are only animals...

Hello Sunshine,
If you check clear medically I suggest hypnosis. Hypnosis is a wonderful and reliable method for you to discover what goes on inside. Check your local listings for alternative practitioners, or search the net. Look under anything mentioning hypnosis, can be HypnoBirthing, Hypnotherapy Hypnosis for health, and so on.
Be well, S.

I had shortness of breath w/pregnancy too, the midwife said it was due to the surge of progesterone (hormone). If you're feeling uncomfortable about the drug, don't take it. If you have Kaiser you can call their nurse hotline and they'll tell you about drug compatibility w/pregnancy. I'd get a second/3rd/4th opinion w/either a medical doctor or an alternative (midwife, acupuncture, homeopath, herbalist) practitioner.

Hope you're soon feeling better.

Don't have advice, but I am 17 weeks and called last week cause I had 2 days of difficult breathing and it scared me. i know my baby is not big enough to be sitting on anything to make me feel that way. I called the advice nurse but by the time she called me back I felt better.. She said if I still felt that way to call back and they would check my heart??? Not sure why. i thought I was being a complainer but I know what I felt.

I have asthma and I am now eight months pregnant. I have been on Qvar for a few years and was told to keep taking it because the need for the baby to get enough oxygen outweigh the risks of the medicine. I used the Qvar and albutural until I found I was not having any more symptoms later in pregnancy. I have seen several doctors and mid-wives because I go to Kaiser and you see different professionals there throughout your pregnancy. All of them claimed it is safe.

I would get another doctors opinion. I would not take anything that may hurt my baby...

Shortness of breath during pregnancy can be normal or a sign of something else not right in your body, it's a matter of how short of breath you are. If you can just slow down and still breath and not take medications that would be best. If the shortness of breath is more severe, you may need medications. There are many reasons for this. Off the top of my head - normal pregnancy, lung problems, allergies, heart problems. Your doctor will start with the most likely - normal pregnancy and then progress from there if your shortness of breath gets worse. As normal as pregnancy is, it is still a severe stain on your body. If there is an underlying problem it may never come to light unless you get pregnant or until you become much older. If you need to take medications talk to your doctor about the different options and why one drug seems best. Remember if your really can't breath well (again a matter of severity), that's not goood for the baby either. Most likely this will pass, just like all the other discomforts of pregnancy. It's amazing how different each pregnncy is (I am the mother of four) Best Wishes!

Get to a pulmonologist(lung specialist) now and don't rely on an ob/gyn to know what to do . You want to figure out what is wrong NOT just mask it with a drug.

God Bless.

Try some iron. Natures plus makes a chewable iron that is not constipating. It is vegitarian. I have used it and it has helped. I wouldn't take any drugs unless mine or the babies life depended on it. Congratulations.

I had the same problem during my pregnancy and my doctor did not prescribe me anything and said it was normal. SOmetimes it got so bad that I felt like I needed an oxygen tank to get more o2. I made it through my whole pregnancy with no meds, hope this helped. S.

Hey Sunshine-
I can totally relate to your concern. I have had pretty bad asthma all my life but worse since I had bronchitis 5 yrs ago...I 'decided' to get off all my meds to get prego and ended up with a lung infection that almost landed me in the hospital when I was three months pregnant (septmeber 06). At that point, my doctor (pulmonary specialist that I ended up being referred to at that point) put me on prednisone and antibiotics (talk about some drugs you wish you didn't have to take while prego). Anyway, he kept me on pulmicort and my albuterol inhaler while prego and ABsolutely did not want me on Qvar. I ended up sick around Xmas and had to go on prednisone again briefly. My baby is 17 months now and perect. Just fyi.

Also, I told him we were going to start 'trying' again and he wanted me off Qvar and singulair and back on the pulmicort (and my albuterol, as needed). He seemed VERY adament about not being on Qvar. I trust him COMPLETELY and feel he is very thorough. I would absolutely discuss all your options with your pulmonary DR because, yes, it is class c for a reason. As someone else said, breathing comes first, for many reasons....I experienced it first hand and tried to be tough (by the way, I am a cycling instructor, Personal trainer,and pilates instructor- I have to breathe to work and LOVE to work out BUT, our precious little creations inside us have to take precedence for a while so you might need to just slow down until you get your lungs under control). I completely understand your desire to continue exercise , and you should....just prioritize -this breathing management is first.
It's so worth it to do it right!
Take good care and good luck!
M.

Sunshine,

if i were you, i'd try natural alternatives first and take Qvar as a last resort.

have you heard of Monavie or Xango? Both are made with whole fruit and have wonderful antiinflammatory properties. my daughter has asthma and will drink some juice and breathe much easier....and not even need to use her albuterol inhaler.

also, have you considered seeing an acupuncturist? they can do wonderful things for breathing...within minutes!

let me know if you need any more info...i can recommend an acupuncturist if we live near each other or tell you more specifics about the juices.

wishing you all the best,

G. RN

I'm 7 weeks pregnant too. Right before I found out I was pregnant - I had what I thought was a terrible asthma attack. An amazing amount of shortness of breath. Worse than I'd ever had it before. I made 3 trips to the emergency room that week. Each time the only "treatment" they gave me was the Albuterol nebulizer. The first trip that helped a little for about an hour, then I was right back to the same shortness of breath troubles. 3 days later when I went back to the ER I had a nebulizer and not only did it not help my breathing but it made me worse. My blood oxygen level was always 100% every time I went into the ER - so although I felt like I couldn't breath all the ER doctors told me I was fine. This shortness of breath was also accompanied by a lot of lung congestion and thus coughing. But when they listened to my lungs - I was fine. I had 3 rounds of blood tests, two EKG's for my heart, and a chest x-ray. Everything was 100% normal. Despite all the tests and time I spent in the ER, they didn't really treat me with anything (other than the nebulizer, which just made it worse.) The whole thing went on for about 5 days and since they couldn't treat me, I wanted to jump off a bridge because I was basically feeling like I was suffocating for hours on end (at one point for 24 hours straight.) I was also trying to take NO medicines for this. But eventually because I was in so much distress - I started on an acid-reflux drug (possible that the acid tickles into your lungs due to relaxed muscles during pregancy) and irritates your lungs. Aciphex is Class B anyway. And I took a bunch of Mucinex to get the congestion out. I also had to take some Ativan which my OB assured me was okay because it wasn't very much (though it is Class D.) I still have to diagnosis for what I'm going through with the breathing problems. I'm not sick, and it's not from a flu or cold. I have had lung issues in the past but nothing ever this bad and the last time it was almost this bad was 5 years ago. The doctors at the ER suggest Anxiety, but my husband is convinced there is some physical trigger. It would make sense if progesterone can cause this. After 5 or 6 days I recovered, but not enough to walk up hills or actually exercise, but enough to feel normal when I did normal things. Then I had a relapse yesterday. I know it's not asthma for me, because it doesn't respond to asthma drugs. It does however get a little better when I take Ativan (which calms you down and takes away the panic that results from feeling like you can't catch your breath for a long time.) DON'T take Ativan without talking to your OB first. It is Class D. Though it used to be Class C and they used to give it to pregnant women to help them sleep so go figure.

I want to caution you against blindly taking asthma drugs unless it's clear that your breathing issues respond well to the asthma drugs. Otherwise you are taking drugs for no reason. And every time you say "short of breath" to a doctor they immediately think "asthma" or "reactive airway disease (same thing)" BUT it may not be asthma. And I am living proof of that. Please let me know if you find out more. I've been to pulmonolgists several times for the same (though a little less severe) problem and they have found nothing wrong with me each time. The last one suggested Aciphex after he was done with me. I do have to admit that while on the Aciphex I never had breathing problems. And I got off it to get pregnant. Sure enough, the minute I'm pregnant - breathing problems. So acid reflux is a possibility. Good luck and keep me posted.

I agree it's a bit nerve racking taking any type of medication when pregnant, especially during the first trimester. I too had difficulty breathing during my the first trimester of my first pregnancy and it was exacerbated by the fact that it was spring time and I suffer from seasonal allergies. I also used Qvar and Albuterol. If you want to keep things safe take more rests during walks and just take it easy until your second trimester. Good luck!

I would urge you to NOT stop taking the medication until you see a specialist - many asthmatic women who suffer from life threatening breathing problems very successfully take all of their medication, including qvar, during pregnancy with no side effects to either mom or fetus. I would also urge you to remember that your oxygen saturation is ESSENTIAL to proper fetal development - lack of proper maternal blood oxygenation can cause SEVERE birth defects and miscarriage - you have a much higher chance of suffering complications due to your lack of proper oxygenation than the very remote chance of something happening due to any side effects from the medication. Breathing is not only essential to your survival, but more so to the heath of your unborn child.
See a pulmonologist, and continue to take your medication in the dose prescribed by your medical doctor. It is more important for you to provide your developing child with the oxygen it needs until you can see a specialist and be properly examined, tested, and diagnosed than to take a chance with the health of your baby. I doubt that your medical doctor would put you on a medication if he/she really professionally believed it would harm your unborn child. It is never a bad idea to get a second opinion, especially when a pregnancy is involved, but you cannot just dismiss a diagnosis from a medical doctor just because - if you can't breathe, you're dead. Plain and simple - more people die from untreated respiratory distress because they never think it is "serious" enough to call a doctor, ambulance, or visit the hospital. Remember, you are breathing for two.

There is no conclusive evidence that acupuncture for breathing problems works, and a review of the scientific studies that have attempted to answer this question have not proven acupuncture to be a viable technique for the treatment of pulmonary issues. If there are reports that it works, these can be explained by the placebo effect (The placebo effect states that medications or medical techniques/ procedures may be perceived by the patient as effective because they believe they are effective, but there is no measurable effect).

If I were you I would look towards natural medicine. Either acupuncture or homeopathy. I'm not sure where you live but I take my family to Cypress Natural Medicine in Palo Alto. I'm sure they would be able to make you feel better without medication that could harm your baby. I'm not sure about the medicine you are on but I know I always feel better not taking any medication just in the chance that it could do harm. Yet, when you feel that terrible you have to do something. I'm sure they can help you and quickly too- acupuncture in my experience has had the fastest results. Good luck!