Feeling Winded While Lying Down? What to Watch and When to See a Doctor
A reader wrote in saying they feel winded when lying down, especially at night. That can be unsettling. It may feel like mild breathlessness, or it may feel like you just climbed a flight of stairs even though you’re resting in bed.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, shortness of breath while lying down is called orthopnea. It often improves when a person sits or stands up, and it can be linked to heart failure, lung disease, obesity, pulmonary hypertension, pneumonia, or other conditions.
It might be easy to try and explain symptoms like this away. Putting such a symptom down to aches, poor sleep, and general aging. However, breathing trouble at rest deserves medical attention. Don’t put that off.
The different ways it can feel
The reader said that they feel winded, however, wording may vary, as another may say they can’t catch their breath when lying down. Someone else may call it chest tightness, or experience wheezing, coughing, or heart fluttering.
The Cleveland Clinic states that people with orthopnea may sleep with several pillows, or even sleep sitting up, because lying flat makes breathing harder.
There is a big difference between waking up suddenly at night gasping for air and feeling uncomfortable on your back.
However, orthopnea is not the only possible scenario. Medical News Today highlights that sudden nighttime breathing trouble can be called paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, and snoring or obstructive sleep apnea may also be involved.
What can cause that winded feeling?
Medical News Today reported that heart failure is one of the most common causes of orthopnea. When the heart can’t pump as well as it should, fluid can back up into the lungs, belly, or legs. That can make breathing worse when lying down.
Lung conditions can also be involved. The Cleveland Clinic lists COPD, pulmonary edema, severe pneumonia, pulmonary hypertension, and diaphragm paralysis among possible causes.
Body position may play a role too. Medical News Today adds that obesity can put pressure on the lungs and diaphragm when a person lies down, making breathing harder.
Sleep apnea is another possibility, especially if there’s loud snoring, choking sounds, pauses in breathing, morning headaches, or heavy daytime sleepiness.
Symptoms that can help point to the cause
We recommend paying attention to the pattern. For instance, is it new? Is it getting worse? Do you need more pillows than before? Are you waking up several times a night short of breath?
Information from the University of Utah Health shows that dyspnea can happen while sitting or lying down, and other symptoms may include chest tightness, leg or foot swelling, blue or discolored fingers and toes, a suffocating feeling, or lightheadedness.
Another helpful detail is whether you have coughing, wheezing, fever, chest discomfort, swelling in the legs, fatigue, or a racing heartbeat. Whatever you experience, write it down as they can help doctors understand what you are describing.
The University of Utah Health highlights that testing may include an EKG, echocardiogram, chest X-ray, breathing tests, blood tests, sleep testing, or positional lung function tests.
When to contact a doctor
Contact a doctor if you feel short of breath when lying down, especially if it is new, unexplained, frequent, or getting worse.
Go to the emergency room or call 911 if shortness of breath comes on suddenly and does not go away. Also, if you have severe breathing trouble, blue lips, chest pain, fainting, or a fever, seek urgent medical help.
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