New with odd symptoms

[kendo1184]

Hi all.

Newbie & first post, might be a little long.

I'm a 32 year old male, generally healthy (gym 3 times a week, run, box etc) but my asthma has been badly controlled pretty much since it was diagnosed when I was about 17. I have smoked for a lot of my adult life, since before asthma and during but quit about 3 months ago.

During the past 3 or 4 years I've been going through Salbutomol like nothing. Using about 3 inhalers per month, several doses per day. Have tried most of the common preventer inhalers and have just recently been put on Relvar 184/22 and Montelukast. Have had a chest X-Ray recently that's come back clear but have spirometry at the end of this month and a CT scan and further throat investigations.

Basically I'm concerned there's something not right somewhere in my airways/throat. My voice has recently been a bit crackly, I was put on steroids not too long ago in case of any infection. I monitor my peak flow (usually about 650) and as I said I'm generally healthy.

The problem seems to be that there's air in my lungs, but I'm having difficulty getting it in and out. My breathing has always been shallow particularly at night, and my lungs feel like they're on fire when I wake up in the morning. I had pneumonia as a teen and tonsillitis several times (won't remove tonsils as my neck is too thick apparently).

Just wanted to see if anyone else has had any similar symptoms in terms of airway/throat issues? The doctors surgery here is in special measures and have been useless for a long time so I'm not completely convinced I've been investigated fully over the years.

There's certain things I know I need to get better at (dust around the home, fresh air etc) and I realise it'll take a while for the damage from smoking to heal.

Thanks and apologies for the long first post!

[Hidden]

Hi I wonder if you are suffering from air trapping? If air gets trapped in your lungs you will find it difficult to take in deep breaths as you can't fully empty your lungs. You will have your appointment very soon so you will get some answers then. Let us know how you get on please. x

[kendo1184 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for the reply! I've never heard of that to be honest but certainly sounds plausible. I'll have a look into it and mention it at the appointment.

[Hidden in reply to kendo1184]

I expect the tests to include this anyway as it's quite common with lung disease. x

[Jenzzie18 in reply to kendo1184]

I have air trapping in my lungs which when bad is a nightmare as you feel like you can't fully inflate your lungs. X