My kneejerk reaction was to answer "no", but thinking back now, I remember instances when my breathing was impaired due to acites (fluid accumulation in the abdominal area), so I have to answer my question with a "yes". This fluid was interfering with my mechanical ablility to inhale deeply enough to maintain a normal oxygen level.
I have also had fluid accumulate around the lining of my lungs (plural effusion) which would impede the full inflation of my lungs.
In my case, the fluid overload I was experiencing was treated with a combination of Albumin infusions, and intravenous Lasix. That said, the plural effusions were taken care of manually by physically draining them with a needle.
I can’t say that because of my low albumin that I was in danger of death because of these two issues, but I was extremely uncomfortable, and in some pain.
Another emergency, not necessarily due to the fluid overload, are serious infections. When these unfortunately arise, I’m usually given strong intravenous antibiotics as well as intravenous immunoglobulins to help boost my immunity.
Many of my hospitalizations I was given the albumin and lasix at 8 hour intervals for a week, then before I left, they were followed by a final dose of the immunoglobulins.
This final dose sometimes seems to help the other proteins gain a foothold in my circulatory system as evidenced by unusual spikes in my total protein level.
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