i am a 63 year old female. i weigh 350 lbs. i am 5 ft. 11. my knees both are bone on bone . recently, i hve been having difficulty with shortness of breath and weakness with most easy tasks. i spent this last winter on the couch to save my knees as i am uninsured. i also this week had 2 episodes of waking up gasping for air unless i was sitting up. has my inactivity caused my stamina to be so low?
Thanks for your question on Chat Doctor. I can understand your situation and problem. In my opinion we should rule out cardiac and pulmonary causes first, for your symptoms. So get done ECG and 2d echo first, to rule out cardiac cause. If both are negative then we need to think of pulmonary causes like1. Bronchitis2. Pulmonary embolism (because you were immobilized due to knee issues.) So get done 1. PUT (pulmonary function test)2. CT pulmonary angiography.PFT is needed to rule out bronchitis. And CT pulmonary angiography is needed to rule out pulmonary embolism. So better to first diagnose your self and then start appropriate treatment.