Posted 3/1/2014 9:14 PM (GMT 0)
My boyfriend developed a some sort of respiratory problem in June 2013. I had a sinus infection that turned into bronchitis while we were in Hawaii at the end of May and we thought he had caught whatever I had. He tried to go to the gym while he was sick and had breathing issues. His cough lasted for months. He had to give up all forms of exercise. Walking a mile caused him to have breathing issues. The pulmonologist couldn't find anything wrong and sent him to a cardiologist, hematologist, and neurologist. The hematologist found that his red blood cell was elevated. The neurologist thought the headache he'd had for months with no end was caused by the high red blood cell count causing sluggish blood. The PA at our doctor's office thought it was asthma and gave him an inhaler and a nebulizer. Both of which landed him in the ER.
Here it is March 2014 and he can't get any relief from the constant headache. Plebotomy was suggested to relieve the sluggish blood but the regular physician says it "probably won't help the headache". He's from Europe and can't donate blood, so a phlebotomy has to be a scheduled appointment at a doctor's office.
My question is has anyone else had a non-stop headache for several months and respiratory issues and ever figured out the cause, or at least a way to treat the symptoms?
At this point, he is so miserable that he's assuming he's dying and they'll figure out the issue at his autopsy. I'm miserable because I can't do anything to help him.