I'm sometimes so aware of my own beating heart that I feel it in my throat, neck, chest etc. It seems really fast too, to the point that it s'times keeps me awake and anxious.
I also get regular pains in ribs (expanding / being compressed?) and feel a sort of pressure on my chest. I'm anaemic (on iron pills), mentioned it 2 GP few wks ago but she wasn't concerned. I sometimes feel it's hard to get air in2 lungs. Any1 else have / had this?? Thanx in advance

I get this. I don't know what it is, but it's horrible xx

If it's the same as what I'm getting, I think it may be the baby compromising our lung capacity.

Sometimes, not always, if I'm doing any sustained activity (anything from brushing my teeth to taking the Christmas tree down), I can go all breathless. Usually, it's not enough just to lean on the counter. I have to actually sit down and catch my breath. And sometimes when this happens, I'm very aware of my heart rate going up significantly.

I've read a few places (prior to this happening) that in the 3rd trimester, but before the baby engages, the uterus and baby are so high that it compromises our lung capacity. (That's one of the reasons they recommend the swine flu vaccination, particularly for women who were going to be in the 3rd trimester during flu season, because of it being mainly respiratory and affecting an already decreased lung capacity at that time of pregnancy.)

I get this alot aswell. At my last midwife appointment i had it really bad and my BP was low and she told me it is because of that. My body also feels very achey xx

I got this REALLY bad on sunday so called NHS Direst who sent me to a open GP office who sent me to A&E. They did loads of test as they thought it could be a blood clot. After 4 hours of tests etc they finally decided (well semi-decided) that it was prob anaemia and i need to go on iron tabs asap. If prob consist or get worse i have been told to go straight back to A&E.
Dont want to worry any of you ladies but if you do feel really bad and/or start experiencing blurred vision/chest pains/headaches/limb aches or pains (especially calf) then i would go to docs to get checked up.
Cant help but put your mind at rest. So glad i went as now i know i need to start munching the red meat again! lol
xx

I get this and was told it has to do with increased progesterone and my low BP

i got this and told my doc and she was not concerned. She said that its normal for our heartbeat to be faster during pregnancy and stuff like that..

i get it all the time, im also anaemic (actually they told me i was severly anaemic) im on 3 iron tabs a day to get on top of it because if i eat meat i throw up, dont know why but i do, anyway, my doctor and midwife both toldme it was due to bubs position, and that he was sitting just under my ribs which was pushing all my organs up under my ribs which is what causes that uncomfortable (and sometimes painful) feeling.and as for the heart beat, pregnant women have 50% more blood circulating inside their bodies, and you being anaemic, like myself, have to try and pump the blood that we have faster (which in turn causes the fast heart beat) and breathlessness. I ope ive helped a little bit, i know how frustrating it is to keep getting different answers from doctors and midwifes xoxo

I had this really badly from 22 weeks through to around 32-33 weeks. Despite various investigations I never got a conclusive single answer as to the cause aside from that I was experiencing "an extreme of normal physiology" and "an inappropriate response to weight-bearing exertion". It seemed to be due to a combination of the following: I was anaemic (been on iron tablets since week 22), I had low BP during my middle weeks, I had a significant sinus tachycardia (i.e. my heart was beating in a normal rhythm but at a much faster rate than normal), the baby / uterus was compressing my aorta.

It was very distressing while it lasted as I was unable to walk anywhere at all, and it caused me to become extremely short of breath on the slightest of exertion, but I am happy to report that around the 32-33 week point when baby started to "drop" I began to feel MUCH better. Since week 34 I've been feeling great - like I bloomed really late!!

The best advice I can give anyone in a similar situation is to listen to your body - if you feel like you need to sit down & rest then do exactly that. There is nothing to be gained in fighting your body and trying to do things which in the end just make you feel worse!

Hope you are feeling better soon & try not to be frustrated by all the various health professionals who will trot out the old "it's just because you're pregnant" line. As frustrating as that is to hear, in the end it's kind of true!

I had this for a while between about 28-34 weeks and it was put down to a few things - 1) baby taking up more room high up and so my breathing was affected and 2) being anaemic/vitamin B12 deficient. Things definitely improved once LO started to move down and anaemia got under control/had B12 injections.

Might be worth asking your midwife if you can have full bloods done to see if there's more going on that just bog standard anaemia?