You had a neck ct scan for another reason which picked up the beginning of your lungs you say, and the doc said you have emphysema.
You also had a digital xray which was completely normal.
Your breathing tests completely normal.
You have no symptom whatsoever.
You run daily, you feel fine.
You are not a smoker
and I assume you have been tested for alpha1 since you say you don't have that.
So its a mystery to me why you think this is the end of your life.
You can see a specialist in a couple of weeks, that is great, the specialist will be able to advise if you have emphysema or not after carrying out further tests, but since you have no symptoms and breathing test and digital xray show normal chances are this is not the end of your life.
Incidently I have been living with emphysema over 12 years, I can't run and daily life involves reduced activity, shortness of breath, tiredness as the norm, but I am certainly not headed to the pearly gates just yet. ( I hope) :D
You ask: is there anything else that may be indicative of a lung issues other than emphysema from a CT scan, the answer is yes, but only a specialising respiratory consultant will be able to ID the difference.
Relax and breathe and run as you normally do until your appointment with the specialist comes around.
hi firstly I want to wish you a happy and as symptom free life as possible.
im thinking if the alpha test was wrong. but I will try to calm down. cos im near death because of anxiety. the reason I panic is I dont want my parents to see me suffer and be sad about me. they wanted me to have a full life kids etc but im not sure I will cos I dont wanna get into a marriage and die a few yrs later. and I dont wanna see my parents cry cos of me
You seem focussed on or have convinced yourself of the worst case scenario, with very little reason to do so. Before you start taking the route of doom and gloom perhaps wait to see what the specialising respiratory consultant has to say.
As I said I am 12+ years diagnosed with emphysema and I tend to focuss on what I can do rather than what I can't do, and just generally enjoy as much of life as I can, no time for worrying about if I am gonna die in a few years. Try it and see
Hi you are not going to die of lung disease if indeed you do have any. I agree totally with Vee, live your life as normal and stop visualing yourself at deaths door. It sounds like you have a touch of health anxiety which is common but not something anyone wants or needs. x
Oh boy you are cracking me up. I know this person is very worried and we are all on here trying to help. But it sure is good to laugh. It makes you forget your ills for a while!!
Hi teras Please try to relax or do something enjoyable while you wait for your results. I know what its like to worry about your health. The thing is it doesn't help at all just makes you stressed. Try not researching for a week and do fun things. You will find you sleep better. Hugs sent to you... Sue
I really think we have ALL helped you as much as we can, with the very little resuts that you have. Please just WAIT til you know more from the specialist review of your scans.
In the mean time , if you are thaat stressed, see your doctor a
Hi Teras, it sounds unlikely you have something seriously wrong with your lungs. I just spent 4 days thinking i had lung cancer!!! waking at 3am searching the internet for signs and symptoms of cancer it turns out they made a mistake on my x ray and the blood ive been coughing up is from the few cigs i was smoking. 2 to 4 a day for a year.
oh im sorry you went through this. but its over now so you can relax and quit smoking!
i guess i dont have anything serious at the moment. but the docs are convinced i have emphysema so im not handing it very well. it means in a few years i will get the bad symptoms. and im only young.
Hi if you have emphysema it is most likely to be mild. At this stage all you will suffer will be getting breathless when walking up hills and steps. You might feel a bit more tired as well. That's it folks. There is no inevitability that you will get 'bad symptoms' in a few years. With leading a healthy lifestyle and looking after your lungs you could easily stay mild for the next few decades, or longer.
Emphysema doesn't usually progress very quickly as you seem to think and you are not going to go from mild to severe overnight. You will probably never progress to severe unless you expect to live to 120!
It might go to moderate by the time you are 60 eg as your lung function does decline a bit naturally as you age. To put it into perspective the minimum lung function you can live with is 6%. In practise most people don't make it so far down and the low teens is when most would expect not to have many years left. You wouldn't be considered very ill unless you got down below say 30%.
Like I said most emphysema sufferers die with it rather than from it. Please stop thinking you have only a few years of healthy life left! You have a lot more than that. x
Hi Teras if you are extremely stressed maybe get something from the dr to help you sleep? i was lucky to have some valium while going through the "thinking i had lung cancer episode"
hi guys, just fyi...i left my job to come near my family and have all the tests done.
it turns out it was a misdiagnosis. theres no sign of any disease or emphysema in my lungs. maybe the initial doctors were checking someone else's ct scan or they simply are useless. im quite angry.
Hi I bet you are angry that is awful. When you have calmed down though you will be very grateful that you don't have anything wrong. I am so glad you are not suffering from this awful illness. I hope you have a very long and healthy life. All the best. x
Hi i was in the hospital a week ago i was there for 2 days it started over a sinus infection that turned into a bad chest cold so i thought they took one xray dr thought it was emphazema he did a pulminary test woth me still having a cough and determined i had moderate emphazema could they have been wrong