Aa
Coughing for 6 months and other symptoms
Okay, I`ve been having problems for the past several months, and honestly I quit checking them out.
It started when I started coughing somuch in the mornings and had trouble breathing, that I almost passed out. It felt as if pressure was building up and y head was going to explode, then subsided. I went to the hospital and was told, Panic attacks.
After a couple weeks went by, I was feeling about as bad, albeit the passing out coughing sent into something more regular, like ever week or so instead of every 2 days. Went back again because ofdifficulty breathing and pressure on my chest upon waking, and was diagnosed with Whooping cough. I get antibiotics. About 5 days in I knew it wasnt having much of an effect, but I went back anyways after a good 10 days to be sure. There I was diagnosed with Asthma, and given the orange pump. That didn`t do anything either, and me not being much of a fan of hospitals, I ignored the rest.
The symptoms of whatever I have are steadily growing worse. The frequency of my looking for my air in the morning is back to every 2 days. EVERY morning I wake up it feels like an elephant sat down on my chest. I cough like crazy, yet can barely get sputum out. I rasp in the morning all the time and occasionnally at night. I feel sharp pains in my left lung. I have numbness and tingling sensations in the left arm and sides, and I noticed that my memory is starting to have troubles; I seem to have difficulty saying words I`m thinking about, they come out more difficully than before. It`s hard to explain. I have occasionnal dizzy spells for no reasons. I also see my eyes "trembling" when I watch a screen or tv.
So I went back tot he hospital, and AGAIN, nothing....
So, my question is, was the initial doctor assessement correct? Are these really panic attacks, is this all coming from somewhere in my mind? Or as a smoker for the last 10 years, is my body telling me that it`s enough? Or something else?
It started when I started coughing somuch in the mornings and had trouble breathing, that I almost passed out. It felt as if pressure was building up and y head was going to explode, then subsided. I went to the hospital and was told, Panic attacks.
After a couple weeks went by, I was feeling about as bad, albeit the passing out coughing sent into something more regular, like ever week or so instead of every 2 days. Went back again because ofdifficulty breathing and pressure on my chest upon waking, and was diagnosed with Whooping cough. I get antibiotics. About 5 days in I knew it wasnt having much of an effect, but I went back anyways after a good 10 days to be sure. There I was diagnosed with Asthma, and given the orange pump. That didn`t do anything either, and me not being much of a fan of hospitals, I ignored the rest.
The symptoms of whatever I have are steadily growing worse. The frequency of my looking for my air in the morning is back to every 2 days. EVERY morning I wake up it feels like an elephant sat down on my chest. I cough like crazy, yet can barely get sputum out. I rasp in the morning all the time and occasionnally at night. I feel sharp pains in my left lung. I have numbness and tingling sensations in the left arm and sides, and I noticed that my memory is starting to have troubles; I seem to have difficulty saying words I`m thinking about, they come out more difficully than before. It`s hard to explain. I have occasionnal dizzy spells for no reasons. I also see my eyes "trembling" when I watch a screen or tv.
So I went back tot he hospital, and AGAIN, nothing....
So, my question is, was the initial doctor assessement correct? Are these really panic attacks, is this all coming from somewhere in my mind? Or as a smoker for the last 10 years, is my body telling me that it`s enough? Or something else?
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Your description suggests that you very likely have a physical respiratory disease and it could be asthma. If you did indeed have whooping cough that could have precipitated the asthma, as whooping cough can seriously inflame the bronchial tubes, sometimes for months after the acute infection. The night-time to early-morning worsening of asthma symptoms is common.
I gather, from the suggestion of panic attacks, that you may be troubled by some anxiety and that, in turn, could account for some of your responses to cough and shortness of breath that your doctors have suggested is panic.. Gasping for air can make a person pretty nervous.
I suspect that you may have a blockage to airflow on the basis of the whooping cough, acute bronchitis and asthma.
I suggest that you quit smoking immediately and ask that your doctor prescribe whatever meds are required to get you over this flare-up of asthma/bronchitis.
As for smoking cessation, there should be no question. Your airways have been battered by smoke for a long time and, with the current severe episode, you must quit smoking now if you are to have any hope of returning your lung function to normal.
Good luck
I gather, from the suggestion of panic attacks, that you may be troubled by some anxiety and that, in turn, could account for some of your responses to cough and shortness of breath that your doctors have suggested is panic.. Gasping for air can make a person pretty nervous.
I suspect that you may have a blockage to airflow on the basis of the whooping cough, acute bronchitis and asthma.
I suggest that you quit smoking immediately and ask that your doctor prescribe whatever meds are required to get you over this flare-up of asthma/bronchitis.
As for smoking cessation, there should be no question. Your airways have been battered by smoke for a long time and, with the current severe episode, you must quit smoking now if you are to have any hope of returning your lung function to normal.
Good luck
Thank you for the advice. I am awaiting the results of some tests I took at the doctors, although I suspect the results will come clean, as they have for the last 6 months. It still remains an unpleasant situation to live with.
I have recently starting experiencing coldness in extremities (hands and feet mostly) during the day at irregular intervalls, as well as noticing some throbbing, dull pain in the upper leftwards area of my chest. Sometimes it "echoes" under my left armpit, and I feel numbness and a general sense of..."displacement" in my left arm, as if it wasn`t where it`s supposed to be. Best I can describe it is a "malaise" type of feeling,more than actual pain in the arm. When I do have pain in it, it`s usually rapid, not particularly sharp, more like numbness. I thought at first it was my old wound acting up (when I was trainning for wrestling a few years ago I tore my pectoral muscles, and Isince then occasionnally feel a pulling sensation), but this is a different kind of pain, more like an "itch". I keep scratching my chest over my heart as if something was itching, then it spasms under my armpit and through my arm. Not particularly painfull, mostly just very unpleasant.
The last ECG I did as well as X-rays showed good lungs, so I`m not worried about cancer suddenly sprouting inside 3-4 months, but I am concerned as to wether or not this is a sign of something chronic developing.
Also, I have noticed when going to bed at night, an increasein involuntary body movement. Didn`t have anything like that before as I`m not a very nervous person, but I`m lying in bed at night and suddenly my leg or arm will jerk once, quickly, for no apparent reason. Happens maybe 1-2times a week. Might be nothing at all, but it`s new to me.
I have recently starting experiencing coldness in extremities (hands and feet mostly) during the day at irregular intervalls, as well as noticing some throbbing, dull pain in the upper leftwards area of my chest. Sometimes it "echoes" under my left armpit, and I feel numbness and a general sense of..."displacement" in my left arm, as if it wasn`t where it`s supposed to be. Best I can describe it is a "malaise" type of feeling,more than actual pain in the arm. When I do have pain in it, it`s usually rapid, not particularly sharp, more like numbness. I thought at first it was my old wound acting up (when I was trainning for wrestling a few years ago I tore my pectoral muscles, and Isince then occasionnally feel a pulling sensation), but this is a different kind of pain, more like an "itch". I keep scratching my chest over my heart as if something was itching, then it spasms under my armpit and through my arm. Not particularly painfull, mostly just very unpleasant.
The last ECG I did as well as X-rays showed good lungs, so I`m not worried about cancer suddenly sprouting inside 3-4 months, but I am concerned as to wether or not this is a sign of something chronic developing.
Also, I have noticed when going to bed at night, an increasein involuntary body movement. Didn`t have anything like that before as I`m not a very nervous person, but I`m lying in bed at night and suddenly my leg or arm will jerk once, quickly, for no apparent reason. Happens maybe 1-2times a week. Might be nothing at all, but it`s new to me.
A quick update, I thought it might`ve been nightime heartburn, so I bought some shelf medicine to regulate acide that last 24 hours. Yet when I woke up this morning I was still out of breath, and the pain in my chest is still present. It feels a lot like heartburn, only it`s more intense, and sometimes I feel it goes right through right into my back in the morning. It gets better after 30 mins to an hour.
You are reading content posted in the Respiratory Disorders Forum
Find out what causes asthma, and how to take control of your symptoms.
Healing home remedies for common ailments
Tricks to help you quit for good.
Is your area one of the dirtiest-air cities in the nation?
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
