Shortness of Breath

[doby48]

A few months back (approx Sept 2003) I started having difficulty breathing (shortness of breath, feeling like I can't quite catch my breath) and this happens all the time, not just during workouts. It seems to be worse when I am doing heavy workouts though cause after it first started I had to take a few months off and my breathing was better but not back to normal. I went to my doctor and they ran several tests and everything came up clean. I went to 2 specialists and they were all stumped and said that there seemed to be nothing wrong so it was probably anxiety since there was no way to test for that. I don't believe it is anxiety I don't have any of the symptoms otherwise.

So, I did my own reading and found that a magnesium deficiency can be the reason for shortness of breath. I started to take magnesium supplements and I have been doing very well. In the last few weeks I have upped my workout back up to where it should be and I started having difficulty breathing again. Anyone else had this happen or any ideas whats going on? Like I say, the more I workout the worse my breathing is, and the breathing problems are 24/7 not just during workouts.

[NaughtyNurse]

How old are you? What else are you taking? What about diet? (I'm thinking maybe you've developed a sensitivity to something that hasn't been identified). What about smoking? Do you do anything injectable, and if so , what's that technique like? My suspicion is a sensitivity that's developing. Any other details may be helpful.

[doby48]

I'm 29yrs old and am not taking any roids and don't smoke. I am taking whey, l-carnitine & multivitamin now as my only supplements. I also have some RedBull that I drink prior to any lengthy cycling sessions. I know that caffine causes a depletion of magnesium but i am already supplementing at a fairly high dosage (700mg/day) If I cut back on the magnesium intake I have even more problems breathing, too much magnesum will give me an upset stomach so 200mg in the AM and 500mg in the PM seems to be the best for me. There is Taurine in the energy drink which is the only thing I could possibly think of as the cause but haven't heard of any reports of that causing negative issues, plus I don't drink it every day.

My diet otherwise is pretty clean, skinless chicken breast, fish, tuna, turkey burgers, xlean hamburgers, egg beaters, salads, broccoli, almonds, etc.