About 15 years ago I developed a short term chemical pneumonitis from accidentally inhaling a chlorine type gas as well as a few other household chemicals over a short period of time. For several months I had shortness of breath and pain in my lungs. After being on an inhaled steroid for several months, gradually my symptoms diminished over time. All along, my airways were clear, not congested. I am 44 years old now, a non smoker, and recently had a couple week bout with some shortness of breath after being around fumes and solvents that I work with in my garage area at home. I had a PFT test done that came back mostly negative except for my DLCO being elevated (116%) and my sRaw cmH20/L/s/L being at 187% and only showing a 20% improvements after a nebulizer inhalation. An albuterol inhaler alone doesn't do much for me, but I am taking advair 100/50 a couple times a day which seems to help.
Question - While I don't seem to have Asthma and wheezing, could I have "reactive imflamatory" airways that produce similar symptoms, and, would that be treated differently than normal asthma?
Also, why do some people have temporary inflamation that eventually settles down to a somewhat "normal" state, and others can have inflamation that leads to a Pulmonary Fibrosis?
Thanks, w.man