Am I crazy?!!! - Asthma Message Board

Howitt44 · 09-25-2003, 10:10 AM

I think I'm obsessing over this, but the doctors think I may have asthma. They can't know for sure until I have a meth. challenge test. Anyway, I am constantly analyzing every breath I take!! It drives me crazy. I have never had an out and out asthma attack. There are times that I am short of breath, or it feels strange when I take a deep breath. I think I'm paranoid about it because my father had emphysema, my aunt died of lung disease and my grandfather had lung cancer. However I am healthy and have never smoked. I have been check for inherited emphysema and it was normal. I am constantly worried about having a lung disease of some kind... I am constantly checking my peakflow also, to the point where I do it every hour!!! By the way it is 450 constant and I am 5'2". Is that normal and if it is and remains constant I probably don't have a lung disease, right? Please help!

kellie2 · 09-25-2003, 12:26 PM

Did you have a spirometry test? You don't say and that's usually the test you have first to determine if you have asthma or any other lung disorder. You usually don't have a meth challenge unless the other is inconclusive and you or your doctor want to know for sure. You ARE seeing a pulmonologist, correct? Because that's really who you should be seeing, especially with your family history, not a regular doctor.

Your peak flow really doesn't mean anything. I - and others on this board - have asthma and have always had high peak flows regardless of how we were feeling. I was diagnosed last year (at age 49), never had asthma or allergies in my life. And like you, I never had an asthma 'attack', just chest tightness, short of breath, etc. Everyone is different....some have actual attacks, then are fine in between, while others like me had symptoms all the time. So you really can't go by what others have or what a peak flow says. You really need to have the breathing test done and that will show you exactly how your lungs are working.

kellie2 · 09-25-2003, 12:29 PM

oh, and by the way, it's not abnormal to be obsessed with your breathing, either. I had a chart that I actually wrote in every day - peak flow, how I was feeling that hour, etc etc - so yeah, I was a little 'obsessed', too. We all are at the beginning because we know there's a problem and don't know what it is or how to fix it. And it's just darn scary not being able to breathe right. So no, you're not crazy, you're not obsessed, you're not abnormal. You're simply scared, and that's very normal. But once they treat it, you'll feel just like you used to. Really.

Howitt44 · 09-25-2003, 12:32 PM

I have had two PFT tests. Two were a little low and the third, the last one was normal even without meds. The 'Advair I was on didn't help, so I stopped.

connied · 10-02-2003, 08:07 PM

I have a 24 year old daughter that has had severe asthma since she was 5, so I have witnessed her frightful attacks and trips to the hospital. Imagine my surprise, when at age 49 I have been diagnosed with asthma. In past years I have had problems with my breathing occationally...just strange...trying to get a deep breath, no real pattern to it. In the last few years it has grown worse and more frequent and like you, I felt I was obsessed...always concentrating on breathing. Regular doctors just dismissed it as anxiety, hyperventalating, etc. Nothing they suggested helped. I had decided it was due to weight gain, age,and the fact that I am somewhat out of shape now.
I have been put on Advair and only been on it a couple of days..so far no difference.