[adelina]

Hi - where do I go to ask questions abour a breathing problem; perhaps asthma related?

[momto5]

Can you share a little more? What kind of trouble? How long have you had it? What have the doctors told you?

[adelina]

Originally Posted by momto5

Can you share a little more? What kind of trouble? How long have you had it? What have the doctors told you?

I have had adult onset asthma for over 15 years. It is limited to spring-time allergies and the occasional seasonal bronchial virus. I have never felt that is was a danger to me and have always taken the correct medications to keep it under control when the situation calls for it; in the springtime I take various allergy medications and daily asthma medications and when I pick up a chest cold I use my albuterol inhaler or my nebulizer with albuterol if it is really bad. MY doctor even provides me with prednisone to keep on hand since we a 30 minutes from any hospital. With the exception of the very first attack, I have never had an occasional were I felt like I was anxious or worried about my asthma.

This Saturday I had been outside all day. My family and I belong to a horse club that provided a color guard for a funeral. All week my husband (who also has asthma) and I had been a bit bothered by our asthma. So I had been on my Advair Discus for over 6 days to keep my airways clear. But on Friday and Saturday I had needed my Inhaler 4or 5 times each day. During the week I had also felt a bit "drippy" in my bronchioles. I feel that this sounds weird but I don't know another way to describe it. Just drippy enough to need to clear - but nothing that I could cough up. Anyways, on our way home about 4pm I notice that my lungs were getting to point of reduced capacity. This often happens to me - I don't necessarily get wheezy - I get reduced lung capacity. When ever I breath out fully (anytime of the year) I sound like a goose honking. It is much worse when I have a cold or allergy flair up and often will be accompanied by wheezing ,but not all the time. So I just focused on emptying my lungs completely and when we got home I went and rested. When my husband came in from unloading the horses and such, I asked for help getting a breathing treatment started because I noticed I was getting very short of breath, no matter how often I emptied my lungs, I couldn't get good clean full lung capacity back. The next few hours are pretty much of a blur for me. Very slowly my lung capacity diminished and my breathing became more and more shallow - but no wheezing. We tried 2 and 1/2 more breathing treatments and they did not work at all. This has NEVER happened. In all my time of using a nebulizer (and I hate as it makes me VERY, VERY jittery) it has always at least helped enough to make me feel a bit better. This time the lungs continued their slow closing down at EXACTLY the same pace and by 8pm and during the 3rd breathing treatment I told him to call 911, I could get barely any in and barely any air out and was breathing very, very, very fast to feel oxygenated. I also could not sit up without feeling very dizzy.

The paramedics arrived and hooked me up to oxygen immediately, they listened to my heart and lungs. They loaded me in the ambulance and after a total of about 10 minutes probably I could slow my breathing down, then eventually i could exhale the old air and take deep breaths. This is when it got embarrassing. The paramedics were nice - but because an EKG showed nothing wrong with my heart and because they could find no wheezing, and my o2 was 100 % (I was breathing like a freight train! And was probably hyperventilating?) - they were trying to indicate I was just a panicking 40 yro woman who freaking out at an asthma attack.

I MUST YELL HERE AT NOOOOO POINT IN THIS TIME DID I EVERRR PANIC.

I tried to explain how my asthma behaves and that it was lung capacity - not wheezing. They kept trying to find a heart attack and when that failed , they were just not interested and I felt like a fool.

To end the story i went to PCP yesterday(Mon) and saw the nurse practioner and she had no idea what could have happened either - so now I really, really, really, really feel like a freak. I tried see my husband asthma specialist but they don't have an appointment for over a month! See i can't handle this, i already have one freak condition. But I am really, really, scared now - I don't know what I did, or what to do to stop this from happening again. It has never happened before and I really couldn't breath.


Is it asthma? is it something else?

[momto5]

I'm sorry they treated you that way. Unfortunately, I don't know much about breathing problems, other than the pneumonia and pleurisy that I had a few months ago. I doubt you'll be able to get a second opinion any sooner than you can see your husband's specialist, which I think you should do. If it happens again before that, you'll just have to go to the ER or call 911 again. Not ideal, but unless you have been established with another doctor, they usually don't take new patients very quickly.

[adelina]

Hi all that have read this post. Thank you and sorry for sounding a little or more thant a little spastic. Its just that I have already gone down the road of "I don't know what that is" and have been diagnosed with a disorder that nobody knows about and nobody can help. It is called Ganglioneuritus and it has completley ruined my life and to now have this stupid breathing thing happen I just cannot deal! Please can someone with experience please help me out - I am so at rock bottom I cannot go through this again.

[adelina]

I think I may have found the problem. It happened again but not as severe, and I also had high blood pressure. I have high blood pressure pills to take when my pain gets severe. I had high blood pressure the first time I had the breathing problem as well, I just attributed it to my arm pain. even though my arm pain was minimal. Yesterday when my breathing got difficult I took my blood pressure because I also felt a little dizzy. It was 153/91 so I took a bp medicine and after a while my breathing got a little better but not completly better. I also have had blurry vision, extreme exhaustion, chest(lung) pain, and a racing heart beat lately. Now my question is do I go to ER today or wait til monday to see my Dr. agin?

[Revsma]

Hi!
Have you seen a GP to make sure it's asthma?
When I was first having trouble breathing, I was sent to an allergist. He tested me, then sent me on to another allergist who specialized in breathing problems and lung disease. He gave me an inhaler which helped immensely.
My breathing has progressively gotten worse because of what's going on neurologically with my diaphragm, not the asthma-so I was then sent to a pulmonologist.
That's the route I took, I'm still seeing a pulmonologist and will be till I take my last breath (sorry, I just had to say it).
I don't know if that helps you or not. Good luck!

[mrsD]

If you are taking Lyrica (or neurontin ) for your pain issues, be aware that Lyrica can cause breathing difficulties: Neurontin less so, but since they are related, it is possible.

http://epilepsy.emedtv.com/lyrica/ly...e-effects.html

[polygon]

Hello Blaine.
I had a similar experience, couldn't get any air in, feeling like my lungs were too tiny, some chest pain. Called the province's healthline and she called an ambulance for me. They thought I had an embolism but nope, fine. They noticed that my GP prescribed me albuterol 4x a day, and was heavily exacerbating the symptoms instead of helping. Are you supposed to take Advair 4 or 5 times a day, even if your breathing is disturbed? It could be making it worse.

Anyway, I just did a complete pulmonary function test, yet to get the results. I suggest you do one if you haven't already, or do another one if your symptoms aren't being controlled anymore.
What kind of high BP med is it? I was on propranolol (overactive sympathetic nervous system) for about a week before I realized it was making my breathing worse. I think most beta-blockers have that effect, so definitely consult with your doctor is that's what you're taking.

[adelina]

Thank you Polygon!
I use my Albuterol inhaler only as needed. I had used it maybe three times that day, and it did not really help. Normally it does help tremendously. I take my Advair 0-2 daily depending on the time of year. Normaylly this time of year I don't need and so had stopped taking it. But that week in particular my asthma(or breathing difficulties) had been bothing me so I was back to twice a day. I take Lotensin for my BP, I don't remember if it is a beta-blocker or not. I am thinking not because it could interfer with my asthma or something like that?

I want to get in to see someone about pulmonary function - my pcp said she will be e-mailing me today. I also have a seriously racing pulse - its waking me up at night at around 110 bpm. Does this relate to High Blood Pressure?