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Thread: chest congestion when lying down

  1. #1

    chest congestion when lying down

    For the past few weeks, everytime I lie down on my back, I get this weird gurgly sound when I take a deep breath in. Almost like congestion, but I dont think Im actually congested.
    Im worrying that maybe it is fluid in my lungs...going to cause distress or me to stop breathing. It seems to be at its worse when I first wake up (lying down for a long period of time) for the first couple breaths, then subsides.
    Anyone else ever experience this? I have been fighting a cold on and off for a few weeks.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Posts
    1,877

    Re: chest congestion when lying down

    I think it definitely is related to your cold. Catarrh sometimes takes a while to shift. I've had this feeling before. You could try inhaling steam or ask the pharmacy for something. I'm sure it'll disappear soon. Any other symptoms then I'd go to the gp incase you need an antibiotic.
    Myra

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    3,735

    Re: chest congestion when lying down

    Whenever I have a cold it always goes down my throat and to top of my trachea and in the morning I will get a gurgling sound when I breathe out but not when I breathe in - the gunk is stuck at the bottom of your throat. Usually after a week or so it goes away. I find that coughing to try and move the gunk makes the gurgle worse! The gurgle goes away when i get up. If you find that you can't breathe when you lay down then do go to the Dr as this means its affedting your lungs but if you can breathe fine when laying down and run up the stairs okay maybe wait and see if it goes itself.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    68

    Re: chest congestion when lying down

    It's definitely your cold - there's an awful lot of snot and gunk in there at the moment. If it's bothersome, try inhaling steam before you go to sleep in the evening.

    It's not fluid on your lungs, promise. Your symptoms would be much, much more severe.

  5. #5

    Re: chest congestion when lying down

    I am on antibiotics for an ear infection. I also take clonazepam everyday and I read a side effect could be fluid in the lungs. I'm worried that is what's causing this. It is only when I take a VERY deep breath IN, not out. Like a rattling deep down.

  6. #6

    Re: chest congestion when lying down

    Hiya,
    Did you ever find out what this was? Or did it go away? I only ask because I've had exactly the same thing for a year, and had a chest x-ray yesterday for that exact reason.
    Mine started lower left lung, only after I've been lying down, right at the end of a deep breath in and goes away after a couple of deep breaths. Then after a few months it started to spread, so if i lay on my back, it would be in the back of my lungs at the bottom, if I lay on my right side, it would be on the right side of my lung. Always goes after a few deep breaths.
    Anyhow, i made the grave mistake of visiting dr google, scared myself silly and took myself off to my doc in a panic. He said I couldn't have a chest x-ray at the time as I was pregnant, hence me only having it yesterday. He couldn't hear the rattling, but then he wouldn't because it's only after I've been lying down a while and breathing shallow. He also had me do a spirometry test which was normal.
    I've also lost loads of weight in the last few weeks. I know I've had a baby 2mth ago so bound to lose weight but people are commenting how skinny I look, and after my other baby I really struggled to lose the weight. Not only that, I've actually been trying to put weight on by eating rubbish but just seem to lose more. So that makes me think I've got the big C.
    Won't get x-ray results for a week, but I swear the bloke who did the x-ray looked horrified when he saw my x-ray image, almost like he couldn't look me in the eye because he saw a huge tumour or lots of scarring.
    I've had HA since I was 9, it has been such a huge part of my life for 20 years but this is the first time my symptoms cannot really be explained away by being psychosomatic/anxiety (apart from the countless breast lumps I've had) so this has to be real.
    Sorry, I've hijacked your thread then rambled on about myself. I hope your symptoms went and that you're ok now.
    x

  7. #7

    Re: chest congestion when lying down

    Hello,

    I'm not sure that I am using this forum's e mail correctly. I sent you a private message regarding the gurgling and wondered if you have received it. I too am having what you described and I was wondering if yours happened daily or if it had stopped. Did it happen daily?

    Thank you,

    Maddie136

  8. #8

    Re: chest congestion when lying down

    Did u 2 ladies find out what was wrong? After the xrays especially? I hope I'm not too late for a response. I do suffer with anxiety, but am fine when lying down and then the congested feeling starts, but I canyt cough anything out, it goes away... And then comes back when I'm lying down again

  9. #9

    Re: chest congestion when lying down

    I have experienced this same thing for about 8 years now. Only when lying down, though it used to be after long periods of lying down and now I don't have to be lying for long to hear/feel it in there. Really hoping to get some answers, but my chest X-ray was normal (praise God) but it would still be nice to know what's causing this.

  10. #10

    Re: chest congestion when lying down

    Hi,

    I'm not sure if anyone in this forum has come to a realization about what this sensation is, but I have been having a similar feeling lately, only a little different.

    For me, it first happened a few weeks ago after I ate lunch. I'm a full-time college student and usually take a nap once or twice a week on my busy days. This was one of those days, about a half hour after eating, I laid down to rest before my class and immediately there was an intense bubbling, gurgling sensation in my chest (around my sternum) that was intense enough for me to hear it. It happened when I breathed in deeply, nothing when I breathed shallowly. I immediately jumped up and paced around my room trying to breathe it away but it wasn't going to I walked to my school's health office and tried to explain what was going on. While standing there and talking with the secretary, it got more and more subtle until it was gone. I was a little shaken up from it, though there was never a moment when I couldn't breathe or talk. I never burped or anything so I was confused about whether it was gas in my esophagus or something to do with my lungs or possible gases around my chest organs. I really didn't know.

    Two weeks after that, it happened again. I wanted to nap after eating my lunch, and though I was a little nervous, I decided to go for it and as soon as my body turned sideways - bubbles. Since then, I have felt a very subtle version of this every now and then after eating. It feels like the sensation is lingering and just waiting for my body to lay flat or sideways for the bubbling to commence. All I know is that it seems correlated to my eating, but I can't think of anything I'm doing differently with my food than from the past. I'm eating normally, not overeating, and not eating anything particularly volatile.

    It worries and confuses me though I've never had any pain from it nor have I had trouble breathing. Lately, I have been extremely stressed as I'm winding up my senior year in college and have a crazy work load. I wouldn't be surprised if anxiety is contributing to this; my stress and worries tend to manifest physically with nausea, loss of appetite and sometimes a shallow breath feeling that is usually just in my head. But I just wanted to make sure, in case this is a serious problem and not anxiety related. I was thinking of seeing my school doctor but it seems like a difficult thing to diagnose when I only have a couple weeks left of school and no health insurance once I leave. Also, if I don't come into the office with bubbles ready for my doctor to listen to, I don't know what use it would be.

    If anyone with this similar problem has made any discoveries about possible causes, please do share. Yesterday, I visited a doctor here for another reason and ending up mentioning the bubbling. She wondered if it had something to do with the esophageal sphincter possibly not closing completely and letting gases or fluids sort of travel up into my chest when I lay down. Sounds plausible, but I wonder if this is will be a serious or chronic issue.

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