i have always been a shallow breather... and every once in a while i need to just spontaneously give a quick, deep, breath...almost like a "got-to-catch-my-breath" kind of thng. i also have apnea.. and this happens several times a night actually waking me up. the problem is, since i had my surgery monday morning...these deep breaths really hurt. initially i assumed this is normal... but it almost feels like my port is stuck tight to my diaphragm or something.. it's like a painful squeeze whenever i breathe deeply.

has anyone else experienced this? will this heal/go away with a little more time?

Hi Kat,

I cant say that is normal. WHat I do know is those are symptoms of a possible PE (Pulmonary Embolism) blood clot in the lungs. Something that is very serious and you may want to contact your dr right away. Better to be safe than sorry.

While I don't want to minimize the possiblity that it could be something serious, I had the same problem the day after surgery, it turned out to be gas pain. It sure did hurt though! It lasted a couple days for me.

You might want to call your surgeon's office just to be on the safe side.

i normally breathe shallow as well I woke up braething so shallow from surgery bc it hurt to take deep breathes I kept making the machines I was hooked up to beep and the nurse had to keep telling me take deep breathes breanne take deep breathes lol it gets better!

I had the same thing happen to me and it was gas as well. Every time I would take a deep breath I thought I was going to explode or something, and sneezing OMG, I don't even want to think about it. Are you doing the breathing exercises? They gave me a breathing thingy that I had to do 10 times a day to get my lung capacity back to normal and that helped alot!

It's really important that you breathe VERY deeply several times an hour...to keep your lungs clear, mostly, but there are other benefits. It should "loosen up" if you keep at it. If it still hurts tomorrow, call your doc.

Did you get the incentive spirometer from the hospital? IF so, use that. Really...it's a pain, but very good for you

Do you know if you had a bonus hiatal hernia repair during surgery? I did and couldn't take deep breaths for almost 5 days. The surgeon told my DH (not me) that I may have trouble taking deep breaths or I may not even notice the hernia repair! I would "pant" a little if I was walking somewhere (even slowly). I too would have the unexpected body reflex of "take a quick deep breath". I also began having spasms in my esophagus because it appears that the surgeon took away my ability to burp when needed.

All of this stuff has eased and I can pretty much breathe like normal now. I called the surgeons office a couple of times ANY time I felt something unexpected or weird to get their advise.

thanks everyone... it seems this is common, including the need for oxygen in recovery and setting off the monitor alarms!! you have no idea how much better i feel knowing this.

i was not given a spirometer (RM), but i emailed my surgeon and asked about it. sounds like i should have been given something to get my breathing stronger.

he didn't mention any hernia repair (emmylou) but it sure sounds familiar to your symptoms doesn't it.?.?

i'll wait to hear what the doc says... and in the meantime just try and stretch out my lungs.

thanks again!!

Breathing issues after surgery are very common, especially laproscopic surgery which can cause a "gas pain" in the shoulder and midchest area which each breath. The easiest way to alleviate this is if you weren't given an incentive spirometer is to do several deep breathing techniques. One of the ways I tell my patients (they're kids) to look at it is to practice trying to blow out your birthday candles, or trying to blow a bubble - the concept is just that you are taking a deep, prolonged breath in to help stretch out your lungs. Do this 10 times an hour while you are awake and after a few days it should feel easier to breath. If you don't take deep breaths you risk lots of complications, including pneumonia. We don't want that!!

If you don't have an incentive spirometer, get some balloons! Seriously; while UnforgettableRN is right, the balloons help. Get one and blow it up a few times. Do that each hour, change to a fresh balloon when the one you are using gets too easy to inflate. That is a great trick and works like a charm!

I had my surgery Monday a week ago (7/6) and I am alot like you ..shallow breathing, sleep apnea etc...

I had the same problem and it scared me so I called the doctor and he said sometimes that feeling takes up to 10 days to go away. By Sunday (7 days from surgery) it was completely gone, and the "air" that was trapped in my shoulders also seemed to dissapate.

Hope you feel better soon.

With your sleep apnea, did taking the pain meds they give you for home use cause more of a problem with your apnea, and are you on a cpac machine?

I am on a Cpap and I did not notice any problems with the pain meds, but I only took 2 for one day and then switched to Advil.

I hope that helps!

Misty