Pain when breathing making me anxious

[Ravenclaw1991]

Bit of background. I am 27 yr old female, with a history of minor asthma and allergies. Rarely have to use blue inhaler. At the end of the summer I got a very minor cold- it didn't even really turn into anything, but since then I have been having some scary breathing symptoms, mostly a nagging, intermittent sharp pain in my lungs that comes and goes, and has no pattern apart from disappearing at night. Within 1 hour of waking up I seem to get full of mucus which I then spend the rest of the day clearing along with a pain, which is mild (not taking anything for it) but nagging and persistent enough that it's worrying me. It's not the kind of raw pain that you get from coughing too much and irritating your lungs, but one that seems to have no rhyme or reason to it and seems mostly to happen if I am sat upright (which is most of the time, since I have a desk job) or stand up very quickly.

Please please please can someone tell me what this is? The anxiety is making it impossible for me to concentrate at work and all I see on the internet is 'Lung cancer'.

[EmmaF91 Community Ambassador]

Hi

I’d advise you visit you’re GP (at a time when you’re most symptomatic!). They’ll then be able to listen to your case and your lungs and work out what’s going on! And that will hopefully calm down the stress/anxiety you’re feeling, as well as getting it diagnosed and treated.

Dr Google is a very nervy doctor, who likes to worry patients with the worse case scenario! I wouldn’t advise visiting him again until you’re less stressed or have a diagnosis!

Hope you feel better soon x

[Ravenclaw1991 in reply to EmmaF91]

Thanks EmmaF91,

I know that Dr Google is NOT my friend...I have pretty bad health anxiety which I really should stop feeding.... in my calmest and most rational state of mind I deny that I am ill altogether sometimes, but when at my worst I catastrophize into a place where I am convinced beyond reason that I am doomed.

Thanks for providing some sense in a sea of fear! xxx

[Minushabens]

Emma is right - ignore Google! According to my searches, it's a miracle I'm still alive.

There are of course dozens of possible explanations, most of them mundane, or at least a lot less concerning than cancer, but only a proper medical check-up will establish what it might be.

[strongmouse in reply to Minushabens]

Yes it could be lots of mundane reasons. As you mention sitting upright can excerbate the pain I wonder if if is because you are sitting cramped over causing some stomach pain - purely from sitting? You could try getting up and stretching on a regular basis, e.g. every half an hour. Lifting arms up etc to strech your abodominal area.

Definitely if it is worrying you and continues see the doctor.

[Hidden]

Its the fungicides in rotten leaves all asthma tics get bother every year,I do,so does my sister who's been on life support through asthsma worse than me.hope helps.

[Ravenclaw1991 in reply to Hidden]

Does this cause pain?