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Severe Dyspnea for 11 months

Late last May, I had a sudden onset of breathing difficulties.  I had had a cold/flu which produced a persistent cough for 3 weeks.  The cough produced very sore ribs.   Suddenly, I had a moment where I leaned forward in my chair and felt like I couldn't take a deep breath.  It was as if something was just "closed" and I had to fight to force it open.

I went to ER 4 days later.  Battery of tests showed up normal, including chest X-Ray, chest CT (no embolism) and echocardiogram.  I was sent home with Ativan and told to take Aleve.  Rib cage pain disappeared, but breathing problem lingered.  And lingered.  I kept being told it was anxiety, and told to take more Ativan.  The Ativan never made a difference.

After several months, I went to pulmonologist.  Took PFT, all normal.  Took methacholine challenge test, results equivocal (I had 19% drop on 5th and highest dose of methacholine).  Pulmonologist put me on Asmanex.  It made very slight difference (slightly easier to take deep breath) but I am still in misery.

Every breath I take feels restricted, unsatisfying.  I feel constant urge to take deep breath, but can only do so "successfully" every 3-5 minutes.  I also yawn constantly and have difficulty yawning "successfully."  This persists every minute of every day.  The only slight alleviation I get is when I lie down on my back or side.  

I also developed muscle spasms (permanently in calves, transitory in rest of body) and extreme muscle tension.  My chest often feels like it's locked into place.  I have tremendous belching and liquid gets trapped in my stomach for hours after I drink anything.

The only diagnosis I have gotten is anxiety.  But the Ativan makes no difference, even at large dose.  My life is hell b/c of this.  I have recently switched doctors to an osteopath who thinks it may be a structural/myofascial problem or maybe GERD (though he thinks that's less likely, and that hasn't been checked yet).

Any help?  
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248663 tn?1198083095
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
The original event when you leaned forward in your chair sounds like a mucus plug but the general problem does not sound like an intrinsic lung problem, especially with normal PFTs, x-ray and CT scan.  The yawning suggests hyperventilation and this is often associated with anxiety.  The muscle tension symptoms could be on an emotional basis too, but could also be associated with electrolyte abnormalities or some type of intrinsic muscle disease.  A chemistry panel, including complete electrolyte determinations could be helpful if abnormal or reassuring if normal.

The one exception that could account for your unremitting shortness of breath, could be present with a normal chest x-ray, a conventional CT and a normal ECHO and could account for your breathes feeling 'restricted', is recurrent clots to the lung, called pulmonary emboli (PE).

You might want to ask your doctors if they are convinced that PE has been ruled out with reasonable certainty and if not, consider a spiral CT scan.

The belching and liquid entrapment in your stomach needs to be evaluated.  A barium swallow would be a good place to start.
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Avatar universal
Thank you very much for your reply.  My new doctor is sending me for a GI consult, though he says it's unlikely that even if I have reflux it would cause this kind of nonstop dyspnea.

One other thing I should add.  This all happened right after I moved back to the East Cost, and was in my new apartment for 2 weeks.  It also happened the first day I used my new air conditioning.  All my doctors have insisted that's a coincidence, so I suppose it is, but it still bothers me.  Could mold and/or allergens actually be the explination? I had a respiratory allergen panel done that showed nothing, though my IgE was slightly out of range (138).  

This has been a completely crippling condition.  I am practically an invalid, going through each day just trying to breathe from minute to minute, but I keep getting sent home with more prescriptions for anxiety drugs that don't make any difference.  Is it really possible for anxiety to cause this kind of 24/7 disabling shortness of breath?  And to be so unresponsive to any kind of medication?

Thank you again.

Helpful - 0

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