I'm new here…I was wondering if anyone could help me make sense of some confusing symptoms.
I am a 37 year old ex-smoker. I quit smoking 4 years ago when I got pregnant with my first child.
I smoked from the age of 17,18.
My BMI is normal, I am 5"8 - 140 pounds.
Several weeks ago we went on holiday and I believe my lungs got irritated by swimming in some water which had an algal bloom. About a week after we got back I started experiencing symptoms.
I started experiencing (and still am) some heaviness in the lungs, some air hunger, some pressure feeling. As if it is hard for me to be satisfied with a breath. No cough and no phlegm but my chest just feels - different. Like I have a chest infeciton but without the mucus associated.
I went to my doctor and she did a blood test which showed deficiency in Vitamin D.
My chest x-ray showed hyperinflation in the lungs.
My PFTS were all normal. The technician said that there were no signs from the numbers of any issues.
I am now terrified. Do I have the start of emphysema or COPD? I am not sure if my symptoms are due to something temporary or something more sinister which will get worse over time. I have two small children and I am having panic attacks daily over this.
I am seeing a pulmonologst next week btu I was just wondering if anyone knows whether this might just be a passing infection. I am worried about the hyperinflation - could it be nothing? Is hyperinfation on its own indicative? Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to COPD, I have read.
Thank you for any words.
kind regards.
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Maria_happy
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Hello Maria and welcome to you. Not knowing what could be wrong is very scary but please don't panic. You should get answers at your pulmonology appointment so will know more then.
Be strong and enjoy every day. Wishing you well and do let us know how things go. Xxxx
I am inclined to think the respiratory doctors would have reacted very quickly. A CT scan the next day for a start, if there was anything sinister going on.
COPD is nothing to be terrified of. If and it is a very big if, you have it, it can be successfully managed. It takes a long time to become severe.
Even then, many people live to a ripe old age with COPD. Your panic attacks are causing over breathing which would account for over inflated lungs.
My advice is to calm down, try not to worry. You will find out the full story next week. I presume your doctor has prescribed Vitamin D3 injections, or pills.
You are right, I tend to revisit and revisit in my mind. I am jumping around from 'it's just irritated lungs from allergies" to "why would I be deficient in Vitamin D, why would I have hyperinflated lungs".
I read something from a lung doctor here in the US called Dr. Tom (link here -> yourlunghealth.org/dr_tom/a... that said Hyperinflation as seen on an x-ray, is nothing to worry about. It just means you were able to take and hold a deep breath. He was a great advocate for Spirometry and PFTs and seemed to think that hyperinflation on an X-ray was no big deal??
I recently moved from Europe to the States and this was my first medical appointment. The doctor I saw was kind of useless to be honest, she saw the x-ray and prescribed me an inhaler but I was the one who requested that she order PFTs to find out more.
The PFTs were completely normal. So what I am left with are the physical symptoms, long lungs and a lot of google-fear. The PFTs seem to rule out COPD but not emphysema?
I am new to all of these terms but from what I understand, COPD and Emphysema are progressive, i.e. they get worse as time goes by.
I guess I am scared of being diagnosed this young, in terms of life expectancy.
To clarify - emphysema and chronic bronchitis are two different lung conditions which come under the umbrella term of COPD. Therefore emphysema is COPD - they are one and the same condition.
I've got emphysema and absolutely no sign of hyperinflation - I went for a CT scan and there are no damage or any sign of any damage in my lungs - but still the Spirometry shows I 've got Emphysema. So what I'm saying that the hyperinflation on its own means nothing - maybe you just have big lungs. Wait for the specialist he will sort it out quickly.
Good evening Maria. I'm so sorry. It sounds difficult. Hyperinflation is a symptom not a disease, and it occurs in several lung conditions. I think you should explain to your pulmonologist (you are in America?) about the algae. The sudden onset of the problem is significant. You smoked for less than twenty years? How heavily? Sorry to interrogate like this but your consultant will ask you these questions. Even with your smoking history it is less likely to be COPD or Emphysema. Some of what you describe is like hyperventilation/overbreathing/dysfunctional breathing. Check out your breathing patterns by looking up 'good breathing' on the web. And see if any information about that fits. However I am a tad sceptical about that diagnosis because there is a physical abnormality present in your lungs and that would not be the case if it were purely dysfunctional breathing.
Always fascinated about lung conditions, particularly those that do not fall into very easily understood patterns.
Please let us know what your pulmonologist comes up with.
Yes, you are right, I am in America currently. Well spotted
Thank you for asking these questions.
I was interested to hear the sudden onset is significant? Is this good? bad?
I am 37, smoked since let's say 17, gave up 4 years ago. I would say I have about a 15 pack year smoking history. Sadly, I chain-smoked on weekends in college. I also worked from home for many years which didn't help. Basically I loved to smoke.
I quit cold turkey when I found out I was pregnant and have never looked back. I am also quite an active person and I like to go for walks, hikes and sometimes I go through phases of running (I would not at all classify myself as a runner but sometimes, I do like to go for a run).
I'm not sure if the swimming in algae is connected but my symptoms have just started upon return from my holiday and it is the only thing I can think of. There was a red tide algal bloom in the sea water when we visited and being a bit of a lover of nature I just thought ah, it will be fine. It is the only thing I can think of which has happened.
Perhaps this irritiation caused a pre existing lung condition to flare-up or perhaps there is no COPD, it is just this algae thing. I don't have the knowledge. I am grasping at straws and tellling myself, it is OK - my PFT results were completely normal.
But otherwise I cannot explain the hyperinflation in the lungs. I am getting conflicting information in my internet 'research.' On one side, Dr's saying hyperinflation in the lungs, on an x-ray without the numbers to support it, is meaningless. On the other hand, hyperinflation is a symptom of several lung diseases.
So it's either something or nothing. And around and around I go until panic sets in, which yes, I do feel probably contributes to the feeling of tightness in my chest, and to the feeling of being more conscious about my breathing.
I would love if all of this was simply psychosomatic.
Again, Thank you for your reply. Please let me know if you think of anything else. It helps to have someone to talk to about it.
Wish you, and anyone reading this a great weekend.
Pulomonologist, over here we call them respiratory consultants. And you gave your weight in pounds.
I think the sudden onset is significant, many lung diseases develop very slowly. They kind of creep up until you become aware of increasing breathlessness and tiredness. Have you had panic attacks before? If so then hyperventilation is usually a component of that. If that is the conclusion of your doctors then it is treatable with breathing exercises and maybe some counselling to cope with stress.
I don't tend to have panic attacks - at least not for about 6 or 7 years. I used to have socially triggered panic attacks, triggered by shyness.
These have gradually disappeared with age. I have been extremely anxious since learning about the hyperinflation which I do think may be contributing to my breathing disfuntion.
Thank you for your thoughtful input and suggestions, it was greatly appreciated.
I will update this post when I find out more next week.
you describe very well how I feel I havedysfunctional breathing with asthma you just cant breathe with the panic and fear iim going to see a physcotherispst but its an 8 wk waiting list I have read vit d def can cause asthma so why don't the nhs test people for asthma.also seeing psychiatrist tues perhapshe can give me something.also wasn't diagnosed thought byour description of how reathing problems were anxiety nhs is severly lacking .
Hi Maria, Welcome to the site. I think you have had some really useful replies that I cannot add too. It won't be long until you see the Consultant & hopefully all your fears will be answered. Take Care, Margaret
Hi if you have done the tests and they are normal, then you don't have copd, so stop worrying please. The majority of suffers are quite a bit older than you at diagnosis.
Panic attacks will cause many of the symptoms, I think you need to concentrate working on your anxiety, and there a couple of good sites here for that. x
Hi coughalot2, I just read your message and it brought me to tears. I am hopeful that this is the case.
Am I right in thinking though, that early Emphysema may not show up in the Pulmonary function tests?
I didn't really have panic attacks before being told about the hyperinflation in my lungs, although I am generally kind of an anxious person. So I probably am not the best 'breather' (typically a shallow top-of-the-lungs type of breather).
You seem to have focussed on emphysema for some reason. If you had any lung problems it could just as likely be chronic bronchitis which also comes under copd.
Any tests would show copd, even if it was just background, you haven't got it. Even if you did it is very far from a death sentence. I was diagnosed mild 8 years ago and am still mild. I live a virtually normal life apart from some breathlessness on climbing hills and steps, but that could be more down to age as well. I am 62. Please stop gouging indiscriminately and stick to recognised sites and believe what we tell you, not Dr Google. x
By the way so far, you are a lovely bunch! I truly appreciate each and every answer more than you know. I have not many people to talk to where I live and I don't want to worry my friends and family unncessarily. So truly - Thank you for all your helpful answers.
Hopefully by now you will feel a little more confident. I was diagnosed at 16 with Chronic Bronchitis, and am now in my 60's, so although it all sounds scary, even if you do have COPD it is possible to live well for many years. So I hope that you find out all that you need to know about your illness and are then in a good place to cope with the outcomes. Wishing you all the best and folk on this site are always helpful and very supportive, so let us know how you get on.
I have not yet seen the pulmonologist but I have managed to get an appointment for next month.
Looking at my PFTs, I see that under the Diffusion heading, my DLCO was 85% of Predicted and my DLCO/VA was in the red at 76% predicted. Does anyone know what this means?
(My Spirometry results were good (FEV1/FVC was 98% predicted).
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