athma?

[alphaxihoney]

Does anyone here have asthma?

I am wondering if that maybe be what I have.

For the longest time I have not been able to get a good deep breath. I feel like all I need is one really good deep breath but it seems like no matter how much I try...I can't.

I get short of breath out of nowhere...and for days and days at a time. Sometimes it feels like I've finished running a marathon I'm so short of breath at times...sometimes I get so short of breath my chest hurts.

It scares the crap out of me. I get winded just going up and down the stairs! Other times when I am talking to someone I get short of breath and so embarrassed and I try to disguise it...but I can't. The yawning constantly is what is embarrassing...I yawn so much because I am short of breath and it's really bad when I do it in class...and it's not a short yawn...it's a really loooooooong yawn...very embarrassing at times but I feel like i can't help it. It sounds weird...but I'm sure there are some of you who know what I am talking about.

The really bad shortness of breath comes in waves...I'm fine for a while and then once it hits I am miserable. I have been short of breath for a LONG time but it's usually pretty manageable and doesn't bother me but there are times where it gets really bad.

I am wondering if it's asthma? I have never had an actual asthma attack...or at least not like the ones I've seen where people wheeze and start gasping for air. That's why I have been brushing it off...but now I am really beginning to wonder if I am feeling the symptoms of asthma. I've seen a sorority sister who has severe asthma have asthma attacks...and thankfully I've never had one of those!

Does anyone else have asthma and is able to say they have these symptoms? I have severe hypoglycemia and I am very familiar with the symptoms of low blood sugar and those symptoms I just described above are definately not symptoms of that.

I am going to call my doctor first thing Monday...but I was just wondering if my prediction of asthma could be right?

Thanks!

[Tippiechick]

Disclaimer: Not a doctor or nurse...

Yes. In a word, yes.

As the mother, sister, and daughter of asthmatics, I think you can assume it's asthma. It could also be other things, such as a heart murmur. (I have a leaky valve. It causes many of the same symptoms as asthma.) But, the chances of it being a congenital heart defect are not as likely as it being asthma.

I would tell the doc the same thing you told us. Let them know it gets worse after exercise.

Does it get worse at night, too? If so, tell them.

You should do a search for asthma. It can get you to some good resources.

[Jill1228]

From a fellow asthmatic...

Get it checked out! You might have it. It is nothing to mess with. You do not want to wait until you have a full blown attack!

[PM_Mama00]

A few years ago I was having the same exactly thing but added occasional headaches. It was like someone would suck the air out of me and I couldn't breathe. I got diagnosed with allergies and a little bit of asthma. They gave me Advair and Zyrtec which worked wonders. Now that I have Albuterol (from my 4 crapolicious months with bronchitis) I just use that sometimes.

[_Lisa_]

I'd say asthma is your best bet. Reading the description of your symptoms is how I feel when its allergy season or really really cold outside. But I've also had my symptoms under control for years so allergy season & winter are pretty much the only time they appear again. I use both albuterol & cortisone inhalers.

[DolphinChicaDDD]

I agree with the other people who suspect its asthma.

You should def see a doctor, one who is a pulmonologist and an allergist because most cases of asthma are allergic in basis. Then the key is finding out what are your triggers and staying away from them!

I suggest from now until you see a doctor, that you keep a 'breathing log.' One of my doctors had me do this to help control my asthma when I was having problems. Bascially, anytime you get out of breath, feel like you can't take a deep breath, etc, write down what you're doing, where you are, whats around you/weather, what time of the day it is. A typical entry for me looked like this:

Running (mile number___)
Outside
cold, 38 degrees, windy
3:00pm
or my personal fav
Drinking
inside at a bar
smoke, food, dry heat
11:30pm


By keeping the log, we were able to figure out I'm allergic to smoke and I have cold weather asthma.

Hope everything works out for you!!

[tinydancer]

Your symptoms sound exactly like mine, and I do have asthma. I felt like crap for months until I finally was so sick I went to the doctor and got on some medication. I take my pills religiously and now only have to use my inhalor every now and then.

An interesting side note - I am one of three teachers at my school who got adult-onset asthma. I still think it is something in the building that caused it.

[kddani]

sucks to your asthmar!

[kafromTN]

I use to have symptoms like that, but I was also 70 lbs heavier than I am now, so I wrote it off as just being out of shape.


-Mark

[chideltjen]

Sometimes I have minor loss of breath... but I think it's due to allergies, as I live in a city with a bazillion trees and dry heat weather.

As with anything, get it checked out. It could be nothing... or it could be something way serious.

All I know is that asthma attacks are hella scary to watch. One of my sisters had one recently after a soccer game and I got scared for her. (Having the other girls panick didn't help either...)

[Intense1920]

Originally posted by kddani
sucks to your asthmar!

LOL. Someone enjoyed Lord of the Flies.

I have asthma as well. You should definetly get it checked out.

[epchick]

I dissagree with most people. I DO NOT really think it is asthma. I have a similar situation as you. I get really short breath. I can walk up a hill ok, but if I walk up a hill and talk at the same time, I am GASPING for air.

A lot of the time I get short breath, I get chest pains, kinda like if someone is stabbing me.

I went to the doctor and they took me to the hospital to take tests. They did EKG, an ultrasound on my heart, and pulmonary tests and everything came out ok.

My mom thought I had asthma, but when I took those tests everything came out NORMAL, I DON'T have asthma.

Like PM_Mama said, it might be allergies, but you shoudl get it checked out. I've been to the doctor off and on since around Halloween and they still can't figure out how i'm getting these pains and the shortness of breath.

As of right now i've been diagnosed with Dyspnea (sp?) which is like where the heart with send a signal to the lower chambers, and the lower chambers will spasm causing pain and shortness of breath. But even then, they aren't sure I have that.

I hope you find out what you have!

[chideltjen]

Originally posted by epchick
As of right now i've been diagnosed with Dyspnea (sp?) which is like where the heart with send a signal to the lower chambers, and the lower chambers will spasm causing pain and shortness of breath. But even then, they aren't sure I have that.

Gotta love Kaiser. I have similar symptoms. Where my chest hurts so bad, I AM short of breath. I had the EKG done and whatnot. Apparently it's only an inflamation of the chest wall or something. Nurse said to apply heat and take some IBProfen. I swear it's their solution to everything.

[KSigkid]

Get it checked out by a doctor as soon as possible - really, it could be asthma, it could be a heart issue, it could be any number of things. The problem is that so many of these conditions share symptoms that you really can't be sure.