Doctor,
I am a 21 year old white male who is seemingly healthy. For the past 1-2 years, I have been getting out of breath easily, going up stairs, running short distance, putting clothes in the washing machine/dryer, etc. Some activities bother me more than others. I also have chest pain, mostly directly over my heart. The pain starts for no reason and not always when I am out of breath. I went to the doctor for this in October 2008. The doctor ordered an EKG, echo cardiogram, blood test, chest x-rays, PFT, i think that was all the tests. I also saw a cardiologist. In the end, both said I was healthy and there were no problems. My primary care doctor prescribed Advair for me to take twice daily. This helped some but did not solve the problem. I quit going to the doctor cause I felt like I was getting no where and they were beginning to think I was making these problems up.
Now a couple years later, the other night, I am watching discovery health channel. The story is about a healthy EMT who is having the same exact problems as myself. His were a little more severe, but I could relate to his every symptom. He was diagnosed with HIV, and Pneumocystis pneumonia having caught both diseases while on the job. I did some research on PCP and see that mainly AIDS patients have this disease.
Both of my parents died of HIV after I was first born. My dad caught HIV through blood transfusion before blood was tested, he first had leukemia. I was told that I did not have HIV or AIDS and had nothing to worry about. I even did an anonymous at home HIV test last year as I was curious. (this was before I went to the dr about my breathing problem) The test came back that I did NOT have HIV.
My concern and question is, is it possible that I have Pneumocystis pneumonia? Do people that do not have HIV also get this type of pneumonia? Do I need to go to a different doctor and be tested all over again, or mention Pneumocystis pneumonia?
Thank you for your advice
Matt