Hello,
I joined these forums because I really need someone's opinion on the breathing problems I've been suffering from as the doctors have not been able to find anything.
I am a 21 year old female who had asthma as a child (but I never had to go to the hospital even though I did have a few important attacks) and I had to take a treatment (seretide twice a day and ventolin during attacks) plus aerius for allergies that caused nasal congestion. As a child I suffered from many bronchitis with fever. But as I grew up it all went away and with time (starting from when I was 11) I stopped taking all the medications because I felt better.
The only moments where I still felt my asthma were after an important effort like running for more than 15 minutes.
However, it has been more than 15 years I haven't had any asthma attack and zero breathing issue (aside from efforts but I no longer practice any sport anyway). But last year something happened that made me question whether or not it was possible that my asthma was coming back.
It happened when I was at school and I realized I was late for an exam so I rushed up the stairs and as I progressed I felt even more out of breath than I ever had but I kept going. When I finally arrived I realized I could no longer catch my breath and my breathing and heart rate were still very fast and my head was spinning to the point that I felt I was going to pass out. It eventually did pass 3 minutes after but I felt bad for the rest of that day as if there was a pressure in my chest.
The following weeks there were moments when I suddenly felt like I wasn't getting enough air in my lungs and I felt like I constantly had to take deep breaths to feel better but sometimes even that didn't work. Since this summer however, it started to become more permanent and it usually increases in the evening and when I wake up in the morning.
My symptoms were and still are:
-chest tightening
-filling my lungs with air takes more effort than before
-sometimes I can't take deep breaths, it feels like my breathing is limited or blocked
-a little wheezing during expirations for short period of times
-the horrible sensation of suffocating even though I'm still breathing
-difficulty catching my breath after even the slightest effort (walking for even 30 minute)
-increased breathing sensibility to pollution and smokes as well as changing temperatures (when I come out of a warm room and go outside the fact that the air is colder triggers some of the symptoms I mentionned above)
I've been thinking about either asthma or maybe reflux but I'm not sure anymore. I did an x ray of the lungs as well as a chest ct scan and blood tests but they were all normal. Last time I went to see my pulmonologist and told her how I felt she didn't appear to take me seriously and when I asked her if it was possible for it to be asthma she simply said no without explaining anything to me. I have another appointment with her next week to do my annual respiratory functional exploration.
I need to mention that I do not smoke but I have become very sensible to pollution in the streets and strong perfumes. My blood test showed that I had a respiratory allergy but it didn't specify of what.
Do you think there is a possibility that all this is caused by a form of asthma (maybe due to allergies or something else)? It there any test that exists in order to establish an asthma diagnosis? Can asthma come back even after all this time? Could it be a digestive problem?
Thanks!