shortness of breath age 24

[Mixedemos]

Heres my question Ill try to keep it short. Im 24 years old and an ex smoker. i smoked from age 14-23 about 1 pack a day. I mentioned that because at about age 17 I had a dr tell me once that she could tell on an xray that I was going to get emphysema at a young age (in my 30's) if I didnt quit. She never went in to why that was and so I never really believed her, but Ive also never forgot. Here for the past few weeks Ive been having shortness of breath come on real quick and feels as if my chest is real heavy. I can also feel my heartbeat speed up to about 120bpm. When this happens it scares me and I get real shaky. My dr said it sounded like panic attacks and i got a rx for wellbutrin, ive also been having sharp pain that comes and goes when i breath in which he said was pleurisy and gave me a nsaids rx for that. The thing that worries me is when i wake up in the morning my chest feels like i smoked  a lot last night and it takes a min for it to feel normal... any thoughts?

[Mixedemos]

I guess my main question is is that even possible. Can smoking for just ten year hurt your lungs that bad at such a young age? im trying to figure out if that dr was just trying to scare me back then because it really has affected me. I havent smoked for a year though but still worry and almost feel stupid to tell my dr my worries. Is it possible to get emphysema in your 20's or 30's??

[National Jewish Health]

The effects from smoking do not go away in a short period of time, unfortunately.  Your lungs take a while to clear all the damage that has occurred.  If you are concerned about long term damage, you can do two things: 1) get a lung function test to be sure the flow of air through your lungs is normal; and 2) get a chest x-ray.  These two tests will give you a good idea if there is damage that has persisted.