It seems, that when I lie flat on my back for a long time, I start to have difficulty breathing and I am a bit curious as to how much of this is really a problem and how much is to be expected....

This has happened a couple of times and it's starting to get me a bit weary of medical procedures as this is the only time I do lie on my back. I usually only sleep on my side.

The first time, was earlier this year, when I had a kidney stone removed. When I came out of surgery, I couldn't breath and was admitted to ICU. They could not find any signs of spontanious pnuemothoraxis, but apparently this is very difficult to prove after the fact. They eventually suspected that it might have been the aneasthetic.

The second time, was when I had to have the stint removed from the prior kidney-stone operation. This time, however, it wasn't as bad because the procedure didn't last as long.

The point that I started to doubt that it was due to the aneasthetic is when I went in for a brain-MRI. Thirty minutes into the sixty minute process, I started to find it more and more difficult to breath. When it was finally done, I was very close to choking.

Since then, I have experimented with lying flat on my back and I genuinly start to feel as if I am suffocating if I do it for too long.

The final thing that has me confused, is that whenever I go to see my cardiologist, he complains that he can't see my heart because my lungs are "Too big" and are in the way. It amuses him that my lungs is larger than what he would expect, seeing as I do not do any sports and am not a very active persion.

Anyone have any ideas as to the cause of my breathing difficulties and how much of a concern my apparent "oversized" lungs are?

Thanks