Shortness of breath, weakness, chronic cough

[Daimoth]

Had a pretty bad head cold, had a sinus infection and all that goodness. After it was all over, a cough stayed. In the past week or so I've been getting short of breath and I've been experiencing some weakness as well. No gasping, no coughing up anything red or bloody, I occasionally cough up small amounts of green/yellow mucous - usually only in the mornings. No lost appetite. It also seems to get more severe at night, and the cough has mostly subsided. Now it's occasional coughing, but with an increase in the intensity of shortness of breath and weakness.

It also responds to Albuterol Sulfate/Budesonide, asthma meds that my stepson no longer uses. I'm well aware its a bad idea to take meds that aren't yours, but they work. Now, I also know that both of these work on both asthma and bronchitis, and there is some symptom overlap between those two conditions as well. How do I tell which of these I have?

I ruled out COPD and lung cancer based on my symptoms and age, and I suppose it might be acid reflux cough... I dunno. I'm sure there are people here who know more on the matter, what do you think?

[Daimoth]

Bump?

[Tike40]

Sounds like asthma with an upper respiratory infection. Could also be more severe like congestive heart failure. You should really have a medical professional listen to your chest.

[Daimoth]

More info: I smoked regularly, a pack every five days or so, but I quit as soon as the cough wouldn't go away, that was before the shortness of breath or the weakness. My chest feels tight and big, and my neck muscles are a little sore.