COPD vs Asthma diagnosis

[cherokee6399]

I was just wondering if anyone out there has had a cat scan that looks like you have bronchitis and emphysema yet your doctor insists you do not have COPD and that you have severe asthma?

[Bobcat_44]

Some people with asthma develop permanent scarring and narrowing of their bronchial tubes. Asthma with permanent airway remodeling begins to look in many ways similar to emphysema.

[cherokee6399 in reply to Bobcat_44]

Thanks for the information.

[hypercat54]

Why do you think it could be copd when your doctor says it's not? They are the experts on reading x-rays. x

[cherokee6399 in reply to hypercat54]

I hope you're right.

[hypercat54 in reply to cherokee6399]

Could you be suffering from health anxiety? x

[cherokee6399 in reply to hypercat54]

I feel anxious when I can't stop coughing. Exhausted too!

[hypercat54 in reply to cherokee6399]

The majority of people with copd don't cough. I have both copd and asthma and my asthma has always caused me to cough especially when I am anxious, stressed, and through dust and exertion too. x

[cherokee6399 in reply to hypercat54]

Thanks for the info.

[Tigerpaws]

Well why not ask your Asthma Clinic to run a Spirometry test on you and then you'll know one way or the other!

[cherokee6399]

Thanks for the suggestion.

[corinneyvonne]

Hi I was initially diagnosed with COPD despite never smoking etc. I didn’t accept this and now it is severe asthma and I am responding wonderfully to Mepolizumab. However it took twelve months of persistence to ensure I got the right diagnosis. I was lucky in some ways as I ended up in A&E and hospitalised in Kensington and the consultant on call was a lung specialist. He was insistent (after usual multitude of tests) that I did not have COPD but severe asthma. He was right and nearly two years later, I am well. I had to initially pay for a private consultation with one of the top consultants, Dr Mohammed Munavvar but it was worth it because he referred to the Chest Centre at Royal Preston Hospital. I am now under the care of Dr Aash Vyas and team and they are all wonderful. It can feel like an uphill struggle but you will get the right diagnosis eventually. Be patient, persevere and most importantly be kind to yourself. My thoughts are with you 😄

[adapting in reply to corinneyvonne]

hi corrine, had you had a spirometry test when you were initially diagnosed with COPD?

[cherokee6399]

Thanks so much for the encouraging words.