Out of breath while speaking

[PDaddy]

I've been noticing that often when I am speaking with someone I will need to stop mid-sentence to take a breath before finishing. Is this a sign of diminishing lung capacity and is this common with PALS?

[CindyM]

Yes. Maybe it is time to get a pulmonary function test. (Sorry.)

[PDaddy]

What's a PFT? I've taken the lung test where you blow into a tube and they calculate the percentage, I was 80%, 83%, and 90% 6 weeks ago...

[Al]

Sorry to say PDaddy but when the diaphram gets weak we get out of breath mid sentence. It's a normal so to speak, no pun intended part of ALS. I've just started doing it in the last few weeks. My last FVC was 56% 3 months ago. We're all different. Could be the size of the diaphram that makes a difference. Any thoughts Wright?
AL.

[sharonca]

PDaddy - I'm having the same problem and was given an Rx for a bipap machine last clinic appt. I had gone from FVC of 87 in March to 54 in June. Bummer. I also do this weird gasping thing unexpectedly. I'd get an FVC test to make sure your number haven't dropped too much.

Sharonca

[PDaddy]

This really sucks, I used to play trumpet and I played waterpolo in college, so my lungs USED TO work really well. I could do 2 laps underwater! Blah.........

[gbrown]

PDaddy:
I have the same problem. When I speak, I have to take a breath during a sentence. I also get out of breath when I first lay down in the bed but it passes shortly. I believe this is just a part of ALS. I am on a BiPap but this still happens. By the way, the breathing excercises that I do has increased my lung capicity 13% in the last nine months, but I still have this problem. I have a Clinic appt. next Wednesday and will find out if the capacity is still on the increase or not.
Gordon

[patricia1]

PDaddy:
I have the same problem. When I speak, I have to take a breath during a sentence. I also get out of breath when I first lay down in the bed but it passes shortly. I believe this is just a part of ALS. I am on a BiPap but this still happens. By the way, the breathing excercises that I do has increased my lung capicity 13% in the last nine months, but I still have this problem. I have a Clinic appt. next Wednesday and will find out if the capacity is still on the increase or not.
Gordon

What is the excercises you do? Pat 1

[PDaddy]

What is the excercises you do? Pat 1

Good question Pat1, I was only given exercises for my legs. What do you recommend??

Pat2

[patricia1]

[QUOTE=PDaddy;48118]Good question Pat1, I was only given exercises for my legs. What do you recommend??

Pat2[/QU
yOU SAID YOU DO EXERCISERS THAT INCREASED YOU LUNG WHAT ARE THEY?

pAT1

[PDaddy]

my reply was wrong, never mind.

[sharonca]

I was told to do "Breath Stacking". You take a breath, hold it, take another, hold it, take another, hold it and then let it all out.

Sharonca

[anneinma]

My husand had these problems and I am sorry for those of you who do. When he began using the B Pap all night it helped a lot. I don't know if this will help anyone but hopefully it will.

[gbrown]

Pat1:
The respiratory therapist at the ALS Cinic that I go to showed me a couple excercises to use. One is to breathe in as deep as possible using the belly muscles and then transfer it up to the lungs and hold for about four seconds. Then blow out through pursed lips, making sure that you exhale for more seconds than you inhale.

With her blessing I also started using a product called "Ultrabreathe" Respiratory Trainer. This is what helps me more than anything. I use it off and on all day.
Gordon

[PDaddy]

Had a doctor's appointment yesterday, while there they did the lung capacity test. My best score was 95% so the problem is not with my diaphragm!! That's good news, but I still wonder why I need to take that mid-sentence breath...

[crystalkk]

Does anyone know what the highest % FVC is that you can get? It sounds like a stupid question but I thought some where on here I read it was 128% not 100% like I would have thought.

[PDaddy]

That's a VERY GOOD question!!

[CindyM]

I don't know about that question but can answer the one before it. My lung capacity is 98%. But my ability to get air out of my lungs is at something around 60% sitting and less lying down. (This is according to my memory. Don't quote me, folks. I don't have the results in front of me.)

I think the diaphragm needs to work both in and out. Plus the chest muscles might be weak, too.

[Al]

I'm not sure what is the highest but it can be more than 100%. They measure your FVC and give you your value for a sample group of the same age and weight as you. You can be more or less than " average ".
AL.

[vmd]

The FVC value can be above 100%.

[karin]

Your FVC is compared to what the FVC of an average person of your height, weight and sex would be = predicted FVC. That's why they need your height, weight and sex (and maybe age?).

If your capacity is higher than the average, then it's more than 100%

[fiddleplayer51]

We were at clinic today in Charlottesville and the pulmonologist explained that FVC can be >100% because it is based on height and the ratio between leg length and torso length varies alot among different people. She said take some people who are 5' 10", for example. Some are going to have longer legs and shorter torsos or vice versa. The lung capacity is therefore going to vary among them even though they are the same height. Another factor is the girth of the torso. She said that a better measure than foot to top of head height is to have people sitting and just measure from the seat to the top of the head.
My husband's FVC in April was 112% and is now 80%. I don't know what the highest FVC would/could be.
Jane

[Jennifer51]

Had a doctor's appointment yesterday, while there they did the lung capacity test. My best score was 95% so the problem is not with my diaphragm!! That's good news, but I still wonder why I need to take that mid-sentence breath...
The way it was explained to me...from the speech therapist...is that due to the muscle weakness in the soft palate, when we talk, air now leaks out of the nose, which it would not have done pre als..so you cannot get as much speach out of a breath as we used to, plus with muscle weakness in the chest you are not getting as much air in as well...so either or both of these issues cause breathlessness when talking.
I have bulbar onset...sometimes I am more breathless than others...I thinks sometimes it is also due to stress, which makes me worse.
jennifer51

[PDaddy]

That makes sense, my soft palate is getting weaker, my voice gets nasal after drinking a cold drink. :-(