Pain, Asthma??: Never really thought... - Asthma Community ...

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Pain, Asthma??

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Never really thought about it before, only recently realized that some asthmatics get pain in lungs as a significant symptom. What is it that causes the pain? I have occasionally noticed a sharp-ish pain in the lungs, usually just in one area (one side or across the bottom - never in the top part of my lungs). Will probs check its nothing significant with my GP next time I see him, but it doesnt in itself cause problems apart from being uncomfortable, it doesnt make it hard to breathe although it does tend to be when im at the point where i notice a bit of effort in exhaling, although i spend a lot of time like that so it could be a coincidence. I dont like to attribute everything to asthma, and like i say, it wasnt something i really thought about before, just assumed it was one of those random things my body likes to do to confuse me. And i'm not particularily prone to chest infections, when i do get them i tend to *really* know about it, would be surprised if my body was able to be subtle about it!

Basically what i'm asking is, does anyone get this for 'asthma' reasons, or know what causes it if it was asthma? or what else causes this sort of pain? (as i said, will check it out with GP - i just suspect if he *can* attribute it to uncontrolled asthma he will, its got to the point where i wonder if i walked in with a dislocated shoulder he'd say 'probs caused by the breathing' lol!)

Sorry for the slightly random musings, just nice to know whether its a 'my body' type thing, or if others get it! :-)

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12 Replies

I definitely get lung-pain... and, without any genuine empirical info I attribute it variously to:

1) Air trapping / partial collapse

2) Inflammation / infection

3) Mucus plugs getting stuck (one time I even coughed up a blood clot)

4) Physical injury from coughing

... no idea whether / which of those is accurate, but yes, what you're describing sounds familiar.

in reply to

I definitely get lung-pain..., one time I even coughed up a blood clot.

Curiouser, yes, I've been smoking for more than ten years and I also sometimes smoke weed but I've never ever ever coughed up a blood clot.

May god heal your heart and than your lung. I have no trust in GPs or charities.

in reply to

I definitely get lung-pain..., one time I even coughed up a blood clot.

Curiouser, yes, I've been smoking for more than ten years and I also sometimes smoke weed but I've never ever ever coughed up a blood clot.

May god heal your heart and than your lung. I have no trust in GPs or charities.

I don't believe in god. But that particular lung is healed, by antibiotics and tiotropium, thanks.

I hadn't coughed up a blood clot until that point either - so I have no idea what correlation you're trying to make. It certainly can't be based on statistics as two people aren't sufficient to make up a data sample.

I have no idea why you are posting here as it seems disingenuous to use the forum of a charity that invests in medical science to express your distrust of charities and medics.

Not just you Soph, I certainly get pain in lungs/same place when I am having an attack and sometimes afterwards. GP has ruled it out as cardiac pain and instead said its when I have an attack.

What I am trying to say (I think - severe attack and great lack of sleep) is not to worry, recognise how you feel and talk to your GP about this, find out if its ""normal"" for you

Take care xxx

Thomass_mum profile image
Thomass_mum

Sounds similar to what I have been feeling today although mine has been accompanied by an aching it between the sharp pains as well.

How's things with you Soph anyways? We have Thomas's endo appointment Thursday.

X

In my experience, I have found my asthma to be a very painful condition. Sometimes the pain is so bad that I have to rely on high doses of painkillers just to be able to breathe comfortably. Other things I find that help the pain are a long hot bath, a hot water bottle or sometimes lying on the more painful side (sounds odd but I find that sometimes it really helps)

thanks guys, glad to know its not just me, seeing as its so common i suspect it is the asthma, will mention it to GP when i go for clarificaion but im glad its a 'known' thing rather than unique to me (or at least rare)! Hard not to google stuff like this, but i have a policy against it as i'll only end up with symptoms that match with cancer, most things seem to according to the internet, and my brain doesnt need the extra stress!!

Do people use ventolin to ease it? or does it not work like that? I have had discussions with my GP about whether things are asthma or not (i used to have a hard time judging what was 'normal' SOB and what was asthma after exercise) and he used to let me do 'theraputic trials' which made it sound much more important that ""see if meds help!""

1_winged_angel - thanks for the tips, will deffo give them a try tonight as lungs are being very poorly behaved and the pain is pretty bad (but manageable i guess)

Jenny - I'm doing ok. Still trying to get my head around managing the adrenal insufficiency - tend to judge when i need a new dose by waiting to feel terrible, probably not the best way of doing it!! Lungs have been a bit more stable since starting meds for the adrenal stuff, not where i'd like to be, but better! Got a few more tests up ahead (sigh!) and was very anemic, which wont be helping matters, neither will my stubborn refusal to take a sufficient dose of iron (ooops! in my defence iron tablets are evil and should be illegal under the geneva convention or something :-P) How's Thomas doing? Did he get to do an overnight stay in hospital to see how he did? Good luck at the endo, keep me updated!

Hope you are all feeling better - sounds like a lot of us are struggling at the moment!

*hugs* :-)

Do people use ventolin to ease it? or does it not work like that? I have had discussions with my GP about whether things are asthma or not (i used to have a hard time judging what was 'normal' SOB and what was asthma after exercise) and he used to let me do 'theraputic trials' which made it sound much more important that ""see if meds help!""

Soph- I get pain as a symptom and relieve it by taking ventolin. It started off as a bit of a trial and error experiment to see if this pain was actually a symptom, and it does seem to be. My theory about it is that it's localised tightness or mucus plugs/prodution. I also get the usual pain with aching muscles and ribs from coughing/breathing hard, infection pain and pleuresy and the symptom pain I get is different.

May god heal your heart and than your lung. I have no trust in GPs or charities.

Medtree- Until god heals my lungs I'll continue using approved meds. Without my GP I would be far less healthy than I am now or may even not be here so I'm very thankful to my GP(s). Also, many of us here have benefitted greatly from one particular charity whos forum you are using. Asthma UK have not only provided a forum in which we can gain support by sharing our experiences, but they also provide much information on the web pages, asthma nurses you can phone and continue to research meds and play an important role in making sure that asthma care improves in this ccountry. Personally I wholeheartedly support this charity and have raised a lot of money for them.

Soph the only time I get pain is if its infection related. That is usually one of my first signs of things going tits up infection wise and subsequently asthma wise. Of course pleurisy also causes significant pain (inflammation of the pleural membranes around the lungs).

went to GP today as lungs were in a horrendous mood, she has said i dont have an infection, and am i right in thinking pleuracy makes a noise my GP would have heard. I didnt mention the pain specifically, im too tired to think today, will do that in a more routine appt! Thanks for the help :-)

yeah they can often hear a rub if you have pleurisy. I misread that and thought you said the GP was in a horrendous mood lol

Also get lung pain. I've always attributed it to bronchial tube irritation. I feel it at two points: during flares and also sometimes when things are opening up. Ventoline does help if I'm flaring.

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