Connect
← Return to Mysterious shortness of breath: What has helped you?
Discussion
Mysterious shortness of breath: What has helped you?
Lung Health | Last Active: 6 days ago | Replies (3422)Comment receiving replies
Hi! I recently (early August) had an inhalation incident at my job. I’m a welder/fabricator at a railroad company. I went into a “mock asthma attack” and pretty much hyperventilated. My face started turning blue, so my wife Allen’s the ambulance when I went home to use her inhaler to try and stop the wheezing from the fumes inhalation. When they sent me home, I was having the discussed SOB every few minutes. I wrote it up as just the over-exertion of my lungs and the inflammation due to the incident. They let me go back to work after the weekend (happened on a Friday). Well, ironically, I got hurt again that week (broke my hand), and have been off work for 3 months to heal. Well as I’m sure most people are aware, Workmans comp took their time getting my financials started and times got very rough. I should’ve mentioned earlier, the hyperventilation incident scared me to the point to where, for the first time in my life, I’ve developed anxiety and when my SOB starts, so does my anxiety. When my doctor told me I’d be off work for an undisclosed amount of time, I let myself develop depression. Now it’s constant SOB and it’s to the point to where some (unknown to me) muscle in the bottom of my throat feels like it’s almost swelled shut and I have to swallow a couple times to relieve it. I know it’s from the excessive deep breaths. I’ve googled and researched and I’m gonna go with the depression/anxiety diagnosis. I’m 43 and never had a mental disorder or any kind of issue. I’m not asking for answers I’m just looking, and saw your post and realized it’s the exact thing I’m going through. I’m glad to see that someone understands. Thank you for this.
Replies to "Hi! I recently (early August) had an inhalation incident at my job. I’m a welder/fabricator at..."
Wow @tra4179 I'm so sorry to hear you're going through all this. Have you seen anyone about the anxiety and depression? It sounds like that came about when all this started, and I'm thinking that talking to someone about the anxiety may help with the breathing issue. I too had anxiety and panic attacks when this was all new to me, but over time I've learned to manage the symptoms and so the anxiety went away. But dealing with the anxiety can also relieve the symptoms.
Did the inhaler help with the breathing issue and do you still use one now?
If possible, I suggest you get a pulse oximeter for your finger that you can measure your heart rate and oxygen levels at anytime to see if your symptoms correlate with low O2 levels. If that is the case, you should be able to get help for getting oxygen increased and that would help reduce the symptoms if it is indeed caused by the mock asthma attack.
Have doctors done any other exams, bloodwork, or other evaluation? @thomason made some good points in his comment especially about possible vocal chord paralysis
Connect
@tra4179, have you ever tried a Primatene Mist Inhaler? The inhalers are over-the counter and somewhat expensive--about $30.00. I realize you probably do not have asthma, but this great product saved my life when I had SOB attacks. In my case, because of having Covid twice and radiation for cancer in the throat, my vocal cords paralyzed. For over one year these attacks were getting worse, until a great ENT diagnosed the condition and performed a tracheotomy. Toward the end of that miserable year, I began using the inhaler. It helped me to breathe until the surgery could be scheduled. It was a lifesaver for sure. By the way, you can purchase them much cheaper sometimes on eBay. It would be worth a try until you can get a few different opinions as to what is causing your condition. Did you have Covid? It messed up people's vocal cords in some instances, which can cause SOB. An ENT (or two) would do a nasal scoping to determine if they are functioning properly. To ease your mind, if the vocal cords are partially paralyzed, you probably would not need a tracheotomy. There are many surgical techniques to help with vocal cord issues. I cannot have surgery to correct the vocal cord paralysis, because radiation changes the tissue, where it could become necrotic. Best wishes to you.