Help for a friend

[alpar]

A close friend of mine has been presenting for nearly two years with breathing problems and pain in the area of the trachea below the vocal chords. She is not able to function in the normal way because she is always conscious of her breathing. She has to make an effort to satisfy a normal breathing requirement and this is constant throughout her waking hours. She has undergone several examinations of her throat and trachea including a CT scan which have revealed certain problems which indicate some sort of malfunction or obstruction but she says that the full extent of those problems have never been revealed to her and she has been given little or no indication that any appropriate treatment is available or possible. She is gaining the impression that although there is a problem there seems to be no medical or surgical solution.
She is a qualified nurse and understands the complexity of the anatomy of the trachea and problems associated with any disfunction.  At times she feels that no one will ever come forward and say how or whether it is possible to repair any damage so that she may continue a full life and be able to carry out her profession with the dedication and proficiency that she knows she is capable of.  So far she has been very diligent and hard-working at a job which she loves, but each day she is finding it more and more difficult to drive herself against the pain.
The hardest part now, for her, is that her nearest and dearest are finding it difficult to understand how she can have anything seriously wrong with her after all the tests and they are not giving her the support that she needs and deserves.
Is there anyone out there who understands this problem and who can offer any help or advice please?

[hhastings5]

I would like everyone to know about my son's cure for Vocal cord dysfuntion (stridor) and how doctors should at least give their patients an option in this direction. My son who was 13 at the time could not participate in any sport whatsoever without having an attack. After being misdiagnosed as having asthma, we went to a ENT specialist who correctly diagnosed him, but said he should just resign himself to being inactive. Wow -what a blow! The ENT had him go to a speech therapist to teach him to relax his vocal cords. What a joke!!! What happened next is a miracle. I saw an ad in the paper for a chiropractor who said his work also helped people with asthma or similar simptoms. Hmm, I was desperate. Long story short, an x-ray showed a misallignment in his spine where the nerves go to both his lungs and throat. My son had pinched nerves that led to both his throat and lungs! Then with chiropractic treatment adjusting his spine he saw almost immediate results! It's been almost a year now, and he has not had ANY ATTACKS SINCE! I'm just amazed that no doctor thought to refer us to a chiropractor. Why can't they work together? Amazing. Please let others know about the possibility of pinched nerves causing this condition. It's my duty to tell everyone!

[alpar]

Many thanks for your prompt reply. I will keep you posted.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi

Thanks for keeping me posted.

Stridor is due to several causes, the principal being some type of obstruction—may be due to foreign body, tumor or edema. Fish bone getting stuck and causing edema is very common. The sound comes when she takes in air (inspiratory) or when she breathes out (expiratory) or both (biphasic)? This is the clue to diagnosis. Inspiratory stridors can be due to vocal cord dysfunction. Narrowing of the area below the glottis too causes inspiratory or biphasic stridor). Expiratory stridors are due to a tracheal or bronchial lesion.

I think you should discuss with your doctor and the cause for this. It is difficult to comment beyond this without examining and tests to confirm it. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted.

[alpar]

My friend has studied the link you suggested and come back to me with the following information.
1. She has been told that she has stridor in the trachea.
2. Her oxygen transferance levels are below par, giving an average reading of about 7.
3. She is always having to make a conscious effort to draw enough breath into her lungs. She has had a spirometry test which showed a below average result.
I hope this information will help in enabling you to have a better idea of the problem and get back to me. Many Thanks.

[alpar]

Thank you for the link. I will pass it on.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi

Difficulty in breathing is due to many causes. It is difficult to diagnose without examining the patient for the type of breathing and associated signs. However since your friend is a nurse, I am giving you a link that will help her understand what she has, based on what the doctors told her about her problem.

     Here is the link:
http://www.kidsearnosedoc.com/learning/problems/breathing_difficulties.htm

Please let her go through it and pin-point what she has really been told. Then if she has any further questions, maybe you can write to us again. We will be happy to help you out.