Trouble breathing

I was rushed to the hospital this morning and was having a hard time breathing and cathing my breath.  This has been happening for about a week and a half no matter where i am or what im doing it can happen. My chest becomes tight and my throat seems to be blocked and its hard for me to swallow.  I am 26 yr  female and i do smoke up to 4 or 5 cigs daily not pks! Please help! could it also be gas?

[miscdesign]

stop smoking!  I've never heard of gas doing that.  I have however heard of Smoke doing it, allergies doing it and / or anxiety doing it.  

[Sunny602]

Hello Leslie...I am sorry about the asthma/anxiety issues that you are having. It is very scary whenever shortness of breath starts, then the anxiety kicks in and makes things much worse. Were you doing anything in particular when the breathlessness started? Oops...I just read that the episodes happen randomly. Do you live in a cold climate? I have found that cooler air that is less humid can trigger an asthma attack. Also, at this point it would be a good idea to stop smoking as your habit isn't very bad at this point. That would help your asthma as well. As far as it being gas, no it probably isn't the cause. GERD however can induce asthma like symptoms though. Acid reflux can actually splash into your lungs and cause wheezing shortness of breath and chest pain.
I would see your regular doctor at this point so that he or she can examine you thoroughly and order specific tests if warranted. I hope that you find answers soon. Sunny

[leslie240]

Thats what they are treating me for to acid reflux and they gave me a inhaler as well and as far as the cold air its just colder in the winter and this never really happened like this before.  They also said i have a high liver count but don't really know what that means either.  So if its the acid then that means its not asthma or is it setting it off worse?

[Sunny602]

It's good that they are treating you for reflux, best to cover everything. You could have both conditions..asthma and GERD . I have both..it is very important to keep the GERD under control because reflux often makes the symptoms so much worse. I know this first hand. I am on Nexium 40mg a day, sometimes twice a day if I am on IV antibiotics (they always make my reflux very bad) along with inhalers and nebs (Flovent 220 mcg two puffs twice a day, Xopenex 1.25 mg neb every 6-8 hrs as needed, Singulair 10mg every day...
It is also possible to just have one or the other condition.
I sure hope that they find the right combination of meds for you. The thing with asthma is that symptoms can come on you pretty suddenly, they did with me especially in my 20's. As a kid, I don't remember having many problems with my asthma except that maybe I had exercise induced asthma now that I think about it (wasn't officially diagnosed as such though). Sunny :)