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Mysterious shortness of breath: What has helped you?
Lung Health | Last Active: 2 hours ago | Replies (3355)Comment receiving replies
Hi everyone,
My SOB started on January 31, 2021. It pretty much started out of the blue and it has been on since then with varying intensity and with a bunch of other symptoms such as general shallow breathing (this does not happen all the time), the inability to sigh or yawn completely (frequent), tightness of chest, general discomfort in chest (this is really hard to describe. I just have that "sicky" sensation in my chest as if I had bugs living inside...). I do not cough though.
I have seen doctors (family doctor and lung specialist), my chest x-ray test came back negative, lung function test is normal, blood test is normal. Since I did experience a little bit of heart burn initially as well, my doctor prescribed me Pantoprazole (40Mg, twice a day). Although this helped me with the heartburn, it did not really help with SOB and all the other symptoms.
I also use inhalers, Flovent once or twice a day and Ventolin occasionally. They seem to help a little but not completely and not consistently. Besides, I also use a peak flow meter regularly and the values I blow are quite normal and consistent (average 650). So given that the chest test and lung function test are normal, my doctors do not believe I have an asthma. They do not think it is beneficial for me to get a CT scan either because they do not believe I have any lung issue due to the negative test results described above.
My doctor suspects that my symptoms are related to anxiety. While I have had generalized anxiety disorder for a long time, I simply cannot see how my anxiety can all of a sudden cause me to have SOB constantly and so persistently for over two months now. Basically, what my doctor suggested that I try to take Cipralex (antidepressant) and if that does not help, he would consider referring me to an ENT and gastroenterologist.
Do you guys think it would be still a good idea to insist on having a CT scan to completely rule out any lung issue? Or would you say there is no point getting exposed to radiation given that all my other results are negative?
I would appreciate your thoughts and comments regarding my situation.
thank you
Replies to "Hi everyone, My SOB started on January 31, 2021. It pretty much started out of the..."
Not sure if you got a CT scan but I did recently (super expensive even with insurance) and it came back clear. Probably a good idea to rule stuff out but for me nothing eye-opening came of it sadly.
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My symptoms and story are extremely similar to yours. All my test are “normal”and I’ve been diagnosed with asthma (worsened by anxiety). Treatment so far has been very successful, yet I still produce thick, sticky “mystery” phlegm on most days without cough. My pulmonologist (one of the best in Atlanta) has scheduled me for my first CT scan next week. It’s been explained to me that a CT scan is helpful in diagnosing more severe forms of asthma. I’m actually doing MUCH better now and thought about canceling the scan, but for peace of mind I’m committed to it (if something else is in play, I want to know about it). You may want to ask for one ... it can’t hurt and I wouldn’t worry about radiation from this lone scan.