I am a male, 21 years of age and have had asthma since I was 6. My asthma is currently fully controlled. However, last year, in August of 2010 I was on a farm in Taiwan when I began to have a breathing problem. The day after I showed up on the farm the problems began. At the same time, I ran out of my emergency inhaler.
My main symptoms are 24/7 and general, since August 2010 have not gotten better or worse: If I am breathing normally I will slowly begin to have a tightening sensation in the chest and throat. Then I will feel like I am not getting enough air and will take a sharp and big breath in. 50% of the time this results in relief, the other 50% of the time it will be a sharp breath in that feels like it cannot be completed. It feels like I am unable to "get over the hump."
I left the farm after three days. I left because I was told there was mold in my bed and pillow. I am allergic to mold...
I then lived in Mainland China for 4 months. I thought it was my asthma. I finally got my emergency inhaler sent to me but it did not help this breathing problem at all. I took Chinese GERD medicine by recommendation of one of the 5 doctors I saw in China. It did not work. I also had a chest X-ray which was normal. They also did some blood test which was also normal. All 5 doctors were stumped. One said I had lung inflamation, another said I just need to relax.
I came back to the states and saw my asthma doctor. All the tests showed my asthma was under control. She diagnosed me with VCD and suggested I see a speech therapist. She said it will likely go away on its own. Others she has seen with the same problem - there symptoms went away within a year.
I then began to see a speech therapist in March 2011. She had me doing breathing exercises for two months. This gave me something to do and kept me from getting anxious about not being able to breathe (which makes it worse) but it did not help.
This past week, June 2011, my speech therapist had me see a doctor who would look at my vocal cords. The doctor looked at my cords with a scope. The top part on the left (the two "bars" that make a triangle - I forget what they are called) - it sagged down some and lookd swollen. He said it was not abnormal and may have always been that way. He said my vocal cords and folds function almost entirely normally with some small abnormalties. He said it was not VCD. He plans on sharing the video with my speech therapist and asthma doctor and other specialists to determine. He was not very concerned but also said he didn't know enough about breath stuff to say what my problem was about. I am leaving for China for 2 months in 4 days. I will not be able to see any doctors during this time.
It is not asthma, nor VCD. All the dozens of specialists and doctors I have seen are stumped. I am desperate to find a solution - I'm looking for an answer and a cure. Thank you!!