Stairs with Exertion

How winded are you walking Stairs?

To a normal person, that isn't a problem for you.  For us, it isn't an easy feat! Walking up a set of stairs is a great accomplishment and feeling!

So what does it feel like when you walk a set of stairs?  Let's do a test shall we.  

1.   Take a straw, open it, insert into mouth

2.   Plug your nose and start breathing through the straw

3.  Walk up the stairs and down again for 1 full minute

HOW DO YOU FEEL?   Did you Actually do this?

For a PH Patient this is how we feel; tight chest, heart rate is racing and we feel faint and dizzy.  It will take many of us about 4 to 5 minutes to fully catch our breath before we can proceed to do anything else.

I don’t know about some pholks with PH, but I have 15 stairs in my house to get me from the first floor to the second floor, and that is the biggest challenge for me.

Someone in one in my support group forum on FB asked how come it makes us so short of breath when we do a flight of stairs. The explanation I was given by my CRNP is this: “You are going in a vertical position when walking up the stairs, carrying not only your weight but using more oxygen (O2) when you are moving upwards.”

So think of it like this: When you are on a flat surface, you have no weight with little restriction to your lungs or body while moving. When going up a flight of stairs you are now putting added weight to yourself because you are in an unwavering position while walking up those stairs. Many lean forward to counter balance the incline, which causes our diaphragm to close off and makes us breathe shallower which gets us out of breath faster than being on a flat level surface. Make sense?  

So what can we do to help ourselves from getting out of breath so easily going up the stairs? Hold onto the Banister and Stand straight up and down, DO NOT lean forward.  Stop in the middle, catch your breath and then continue going up. When you get to the top, stop and once again catch your breath before continuing. 

Thanks for reading, until tomorrow when we talk about doctors. 😊💜