Worried my sister's dying!?

[Liv7117]

Hi, I'm very worried that there is something wrong with my twin sister. She has been having shortness of breath, headaches, etc. We are 16, and at track practice today we had a 1600m race. She was not able to run as fast as she normally does and afterward had a bad headache/ear pressure and nose bleed and has been having shortness of breath for the rest of the day. She keeps taking very deep breaths and losing breath mid sentence. Is this normal? She says she's fine but I don't believe her. Could this just be allergies something?

[Dazza123]

If ever concerned, she should see a doctor, thats what they are there for. We cannot give an opinion as we cannot see her and do not have medical experience. If you are concerned, you probably know her better than anyone so tell her or maybe your parents that she needs to see a doctor, even if its just to rule out any issues :)

[Liv7117]

The problem is that my parents won't listen because they are all too familiar with my health anxiety and my sister will not go to the doctor because she says she's fine. She did have acute asthma a few years ago but it has gotten better. Is it possible that this is causing the shortness of breath?

[Toby2000]

Hi,

I feel your pain. I worry a lot about my sister/s too, especially since one of them is a survivor of a rare stomach cancer.. I think you should learn to trust her to make the decision of seeing a doctor, because it's her body. That's what I'm trying to do anyway.

Toby :)

[Liv7117]

Thanks for your replies. Her breathing is definitely better, but she still has a headache and gets them quite often. I hate it because I feel like she's just lying to make me feel better and I am just so worried about her but I feel helpless

[MyNameIsTerry]

Given she has been diagnosed with asthma I would suggest she speaks to a doctor, Liv.

The breathing issues are common to asthma so it could mean it has become more difficult and needs some management.

Don't worry about asthma though, its very common and easily managed. People run marathons with it these days and there are athletes with it too. It just needs stabilising and management from there.

Asthma comes & goes throughout life for some of us. I've had periods of a few years where it hasn't bothered me and I haven't used any medication but that doesn't mean it has gone, it simply means your health is good enough to manage it without medication.

Exercise is good as it will increase lung function and make her more capable.

The head pressure, nose bleeds, etc I'm less sure about. There is the possibility of sinus issues or allergies I guess. Things like alllergies increase mucus production which constricts the airways hence it makes asthma worse.

So, its one for a doctor. Your parents do need to be more serious about this. Its extremely likely that she just needs some management of her asthma, its not something to dismiss when there is a known breathing condition in play.

[Liv7117]

She has an inhaler which she uses when her asthma acts up. She actually much better today and feels fine. I think I may have just overreacted a bit. The bloody nose was probably from running in the wind, now that I think about it, as was the pressure in her ears/head. She does get headaches a lot though, does anybody know if this is normal?

[MyNameIsTerry]

Nose bleed can be from physical activity, weightlifters can get it when they are working near to their maxs.

Did she use her reliever (inhaler) after the race? If she did and still had issues for the rest of the day, that wasn't doing enough. It could just mean she needs to be also using a preventer inhaler.

Lots of headaches could be due to any number of factors e.g. stress, dehydration, diet, etc. So, you would need to know more about her behaviour, habits, lifestyle, etc so I don't think anyone could day on here without reeling off loads of possibles that may not even be right.