Hey guys, really sorry if this is the wrong category, I wasn't sure where to put it
So, I've had unexplained breathing problems for a few years now, but Friday morning (it's now Monday evening), they suddenly got a lot worse. I couldn't fall asleep again because I couldn't breathe again; nose blocked up completely, felt like heavy weights were on my chest, couldn't yawn or take deep breaths, my breathing just felt extremely restricted and it was triggering anxiety. I took either Clonazepam or Lorazepam, can't remember, thinking maybe it was purely anxiety, but it didn't improve 3 hours later. I ended up just getting up, went to get my healthcard renewed (good thing I did, too...), and throughout the day, the breathing issues worsened and I developed fleeting chest pain, right next to my sternum. I wondered if maybe working out had done something? 26 hours of no sleep later, I was so exhausted I just passed out at 6pm on Friday and slept 10 hours. When I woke up, I couldn't breathe again, and had chest pain again. It kept getting worse. I called a 24/7 healthline here and the nurse instructed me to go the ER immediately based on my symptoms, which triggered a panic attack, which caused the breathing difficult to get even worse...
So I was taken to urgent care on Saturday, I was stuck there for over 6 hours straight. They did an EKG, x-ray, and some 3-hour-long blood test to check if I had blood clots or pulmonary embolism. Everything came back clear/negative, the 5 doctors and 1 nurse I saw all said I appeared to be healthy and completely fine. I explained to them that this has been an ongoing issue but that it got worse and I literally have not been able to breathe right for over 36 hours, and they did nothing for me at the hospital, no extensive tests. Didn't even check my oxygen levels or do an echo'. They said my heart, lungs, ribs and blood all appeared to be 100% fine, strong and healthy. I was told "it's probably just a virus", gave me a Ventolin inhaler, and sent me home.
Well, yesterday, I had 3 more "attacks" of being unable to breathe. I took Ventolin once, two puffs, and felt a little bit better 30 minutes later. Then, not even an hour later, came the third attack, which left me doubled over wheezing because it was so bad. I ended up sobbing in bed and trembling, unable to speak or move, because I was so scared and just could not breathe. And I couldn't take any more Ventolin puffs. I took Lorazepam and
opened my window to bring fresh air into my room, ended up falling asleep at some point and woke up with really bad confusion. I felt mostly okay the rest of the night. Today, minor shortness of breath all day, chest pain has diminished completely, I was hoping I was starting to get better, but I've had a few attacks today as well. No Ventolin (idky, I feel like I shouldn't use it... and who knows when my doctor will finally listen to me and write me an inhaler prescript
ion, so I don't want to use all of this inhaler, it's all I have). Overall (longterm and shortterm) I've tried steam inhalation, inhalers, eating more (bc it gets worse if I'm hungry), stronger ranitidine (I have GERD that occasionally gets worse for a couple days), vitamins, different types of iron (I'm also anemic), no improvement. And doctors don't seem to be able to find anything wrong with me.
Does this sound like asthma? If not, what do you think this is? Anyone else ever had this and found a solution? It's really tiring being unable to breathe 24/7 and not even being able to sleep anymore for more than 5 hours at a time bc I feel like I'm suffocating.
EDIT: I'm almost 21, bio female (transmale, not on hormones yet), no history of drug use or smoking (but have been exposed to second-hand smoke an average amount), only other person in the family with inhalers is mom but she doesn't even use/need them, never had tests for sleep apnea done, never had echocardiogram or stress test done (idk what's up with the doctors here but they just won't do it), was never told the results of my spirometry test 2yrs ago.
Post Edited (Aryn) : 11/27/2017 3:52:02 PM (GMT-7)