laurasue, I have had something similar to what you describe for about 2 years now. It started with a cough and lots of phlegm. I had an xray of my lungs which didn't show much of anything. I went to a doctor that advised a cat-scan, that an xray will not do the job with the lungs. The cat-scan did reveal that I have IPF (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis) similar to COPD. There is no cure but I'm on OFEV to slow the process of the lung scaring. I've had to slow down some but I am still active and coping with it. Hope this helps.