Persistant Dyspnea in Young Male

[manytingles]

Thank you for this service. I am a 26 y/o M and I am extremely distressed over some health issues. I have very mild occular myasthenia.  Because of this, I recently underwent a battery of tests, including ANA and PFT.  I tested + ANA with nucleolar pattern (1:40) last month. For the past 6 years, I've had off and on breathing problems at rest.  I simply feel like I am not getting enough air and I can't pull in a full breath.  It started out as occasional and is now fairly persistant.  It has gotten better (100%) and worse over the past year.  I went to my PCP several times, and each time she said it was nothing.  I got several EKGs and an Echo and then I got a PFT -- the doc said the PFT was NORMAL. BUT I just looked at it and I noticed that two values, the FRC and the ERV fell in the 75% area. Everything else, including the TLC is around 100%.  I just read that that is indicitive of fibrosis.  Also, I had a CT scan done 6 months ago and my lungs were clear except for a "4mm pleural based nodule" at the left base of one lung. I am very concerned that I have some kind of pulmonary fibrosis or other serious problem.  I am going to see a pulmonologist next month, but sometimes I think I am going to stop breathing!  I don't wheeze, and I never have to stop and rest (I am fairly active) and anxiety makes it much worse.  Other symptoms include occasional sore throat -- sometimes I feel like I am breating fire. This occurs randomly and not just after eating.  I do not have any pain in my esophagus or below.

Given my history, what do make of my problem? What does the node mean?

[National Jewish]

The information provided suggests that you probably have normal lungs.  The combination of normal PFTs and a normal CT scan mean that you do not have pulmonary fibrosis.  The most likely cause of your breathing problems is anxiety, quite possibly along with panic attacks.

Anxiety can certainly cause breathing problems like you have described,

[ninny]

Please don't be so ready to pin this on anxiety.  My daughter has been having breathing problems for over two years and she was put on a ton of drugs and now she is on 100 mg of valium, she has also had ECT.  Guess what?  she still has the breathing problem.  God forbide that it be a rare medical problem-that would just be too hard to figure out.