Unusual symptoms

[Hannah125]

Hi,

My symptoms have worsened this week and today I have symptoms that I find extremely worrying. I feel an itching sensation in my upper chest as if there was an irritation or inflammation. What is weird is that it seems to irradiate in my right lung. And my right lung hurts when I take deep breaths and it itches too from top to bottom. The pain sometimes piercies through my back and my lungs (especially the right one) feel tight. I don't cough and I don't have fever so I doubt it's an infection. My sats vary from 98 to 96 throughout the day depending on how tight and itching my chest feels. I often force myself to cough but it irritates my lungs even more. Seretide isn't working at all, nebs and rescue inhaler don't last very long (1 or 2 hours). Do you think these symptoms can match an asthma attack or could it be something else ? I know I should see a doctor but there are no appointments available now and I don't want to be told that it's anxiety again.

I find it curious that the pain and itching sensation I feel tend to be more on the right side. Has anyone ever felt something like that ?

Thank You

[Junglechicken]

Hannah. Please call your GP practice ASAP and say you need an emergency appointment for your asthma as it is obviously causing you a great deal of distress. If they can’t help or you get worse call 111 and they will advise and get you an ambulance if you need one. I had very few symptoms prior to my pneumonia diagnosis but as it progressed my left lung started to ache and I developed a fever a week later. I have also developed chronic sinusitis as a complication and still dealing with the consequences 3 months later because I brushed it off as nothing. Please please please don’t ignore your symptoms as I did. You may have a chest infection in it’s early stages that needs sorting ASAP. Your medication isn’t working as it should be, so there’s something up there. Stand your ground on this and don’t be fobbed off with “it’s anxiety”. If you start to get worse remember call 111 they will advise on what you need to do and call for an ambulance if you need one. Please let me know how you are getting on.

[Hannah125 in reply to Junglechicken]

Thank you very much for your message!

I didn't think it could be an infection because I've been feeling unwell for so long (I've had trouble breathing for 7 months with this irritation and tight chest) and I had a chest x ray not so long ago (maybe two weeks ago) and it was normal. But my symptoms are once again worsening and I can't understand why. I'll try to see a doctor but I already saw so many and most of the time they didn't care about what I told them, they only care about numbers. So if I go and my sats are good they'll send me back home without doing anything else. That's what I've been living over these last months. Do you know if lung infections always show on x rays and blood tests ?

Thanks!

[Junglechicken in reply to Hannah125]

Hannah. I’m not medically trained in any way but my understanding is that infections show up with in a blood test through a higher than usual white blood cell count. I completely know how you feel. I had to kick and scream to get my diagnosis of sinusitis and appropriate treatment which is now making be feel so much better and I can start to live my life again. Like you my blue inhaler was becoming increasingly in affective and had to take more and more to get relief. I was in tears at one point as I just couldn’t get a decent breath. To all appearances there was nothing wrong. Stats normal, peak flow good. The only thing that was off was my breathing difficulties( which my GP did not believe was as bad as I was claiming) and higher than normal heart rate which was investigated several times, again perfectly functioning. So obviously I was suffering from anxiety (don’t think so!) My specialist who I got to see by going private, noticed that I was always fiddling with my nose and believed that post nasal drip was irritating my lungs. Mention post nasal drip to your GP, it might be the answer. Make a nuisance of yourself. Sadly sometimes it is the only way.

[Eian59]

Hi Hannah

I was in intensive care and the doctor who was in charge had a team with him think they were junior doctors but he told them and me we don't treat the numbers we treat the patient. He told them the sats mean nothing on their own and they shouldn't go just by them. So keep going and telling them how you feel never mind the numbers.

Hope you're feeling better soon.

Eian

[Hannah125]

I went to the doctor today in a different hospital (it's a one hour drive from where I live) and he was a respiratory specialist. Basically the same thing happened all over again. I should mention that I had a lot of trouble breathing on the road and had to use my ventolin many times (I don't count them anymore!) and I had this painful sore chest. At one point I was feeling like there was a giant rock sitting on my chest.

However, by the time I arrived at hospital I felt better because I think all the ventolin I had taken was starting to work (still had a sore chest though and inflammation). The doctor measured my sats and it was 99. He then told me my chest was clear (I wasn't wheezing). After that he made me do spirometry test and he said the results were good. I asked him if I could start a short course of oral steroids to calm the inflammation and settle the flare but he refused and told me "we don't give oral steroids to people who have good spirometry numbers". When I asked about a seperate steroid inhaler to increase the dose I was taking with seretide he also refused and told me to continue using only seretide.

So now I'm back home with the same tight chest and struggle to breath and still no solution to my problem. I still have some steroid tablets left so I think I'll start them tomorrow for at least 3 days.

[Js706 in reply to Hannah125]

Hi Hannah,

Sorry that the other specialist visit wasn’t helpful 😞

Have you ever done spirometry without having had your ventolin or nebuliser within the few hours beforehand? (I think I was told 5hrs for my last spirometry)

And have they checked reversibility? (Doing spirometry, giving you ventolin and then rechecking spirometry)

[Hannah125 in reply to Js706]

I did a spirometry test a few months ago (maybe in March) and I had not used ventolin prior to the test. The results were still good but I was actually feeling good that morning (I usually struggle more in the afternoon and evening). Back then I didn't even use more than 8 puffs of ventolin everyday, now I use 25! I also had reversibility test back in March (did spirometry then took two puffs and did the test again after 5 minutes) and the results were also good. That's why the doctor had said that it wasn't asthma and he even refused to prescribe me any meds.

[Js706 in reply to Hannah125]

Hmm I’m not sure what to suggest then 😞 normally asthma that isn’t fully controlled (which is using ventolin more than 3 times a week, so 8 a day would definitely count as uncontrolled) should show an improvement when doing reversibility. And I think they often try to do spirometry in the morning as normally asthmatics are much worse in the early morning and better later on in the day.

The only thing I can think of is to see if you can get them to redo reversibility now that you feel more symptomatic? Or have you ever had a challenge test done?

[Hannah125 in reply to Js706]

Yes, I think I'll try to ask for another reversibility test to be done and this time I'll try to stop using ventolin 4 or 5 hours before the test (though I'm not sure I'll be able to especially with this horrible chest tightness I suffer from all the time).

I've heard of the challenge test but I'm too scared to do it. Having an asthma attack (especially the typical asthma attack with loud wheezing and extreme shortness of breath) is a traumatizing experience and I don't think I could cope with it. Also I'm not sure if it can be done while going through a flare up ?

[Js706 in reply to Hannah125]

Normally if I think I’ll struggle going without inhalers I try to get spirometry booked in first thing in the morning, then at least I know I’ll be asleep for some of the 5 hours or so beforehand I shouldn’t be using them.

I had a challenge test and honestly it wasn’t too bad. Because they monitor your spirometry after each dose they normally stop the test and give you ventolin before you’re often too symptomatic. I had to stop mine on the 3rd dose when I had a 20% drop in my spirometry but my cough etc had only just started to get what I would call “moderate” at that point.

With whether they can be done in flares it varies. I wasn’t in an acute flare when I had mine but was very uncontrolled (and when they gave me ventolin at the end I improved beyond my baseline so probably was at the start of a flare anyway). They would decide on the day based on symptoms and your baseline spirometry.

They do sound horrible but if you’re having lots of issues with drs etc about it it might be worth looking into, as they can’t really go against a positive challenge test! Certainly I was having issues with some drs saying I was just stressed out (and not asthmatic) when I had mine and the second I had the positive result that stopped!

[Junglechicken]

Hi Hannah. Did the specialist say anything about what might be causing the problems?

[Hannah125 in reply to Junglechicken]

Hi,

I told him I had an allergy to dust mites and that I sometimes suffered from reflux so he prescribed something for the reflux. I've tried these reflux meds before but they have bad side effects so I think I'll be trying Gaviscon instead. I also read that licorice root could be as effective as the meds to reduce reflux and acidity in the stomach so maybe I'll try that too.

But I have a feeling that there is something more to it than that. I've had reflux for years as well as allergy to dust mites but I never had symptoms or attacks and never used ventolin. The flu somehow triggered a sort of severe asthma, it almost feels like the inflammation caused by the virus never actually healed and just keeps increasing.

[Junglechicken]

I was first treated for silent reflux but the medication I got made my breathing worse with nausea/abdominal pain. Horrible treatment which I stopped taking after two weeks. I’ve maybe had reflux twice in the last year that I was aware of but it never affected my asthma. For me chronic sinusitis was the more likely explanation (I had no idea that it can seriously mess with your asthma control), especially as I had recently had a serious respiratory infection. I always have excruciating jaw pain during a cold and have temporarily lost my hearing on occasions. Keep digging for the answer with the medics. Never give up, never surrender.

[Nutzs47]

I have suspected viral pleurisy which started with an achy heaviness in my right lung along with sharp stitch like pains when I breathed in laughed etc behind my right boob and just above my diaphragm so maybe you need to ask if it’s possible you’ve got it unfortunately there’s no treatment just anti inflammatories and paracetamol x

[Hannah125 in reply to Nutzs47]

I do have these symptoms sometimes but how is it diagnosed ? I've had a chest x ray which was normal so I'm not sure if it is enough to rule out any infection. How long does it take to heal ?

Thanks!

[Js706 in reply to Hannah125]

Pleurisy is normally diagnosed based on symptoms - so shortness of breath/cough/sharp pain when you breathe in etc.

They’ll often do a chest x ray or bloods just to make sure it isn’t a bacterial infection causing it or that there aren’t any complications from it (normally easily picked up on x ray and there will be signs when a dr examines you).

A virus is the most common cause and will normally be diagnosed based on symptoms and having a clear x ray.

The treatment is normally just painkillers and waiting it out. I’ve had it a couple of times and also found ice or a cool sheet on the painful area helps, as does lying on it at night.

The two times I’ve had it, it’s stared to improve within 2 weeks and been totally gone within a month

[Nutzs47]

I haven’t had an X-Ray but all the symptoms were there esp tenderness just above my diaphragm and I had a virus a month or so before which caused an asthma flare .Ive had it about 2 weeks and it’s slowly getting better like JS706 says it’s been treated with ibuprofen and paracetamol also I have a cool pad which I’ve laid on in bed and laid on the affected side which app helps x