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daxisgone · 11-19-2004, 02:23 AM

background info...i'm 19 male 5'11 and weigh in at 130 lbs...

during august this yr i had a tough tmie catching a full breathe a lot of the time. i went into the ER once because i was at a restaurant and i felt light headed and my hand started to sweat n i couldn't breathe. ridiculously i waited 16 hours in the ER before they took me in.....i wasn't that sick while i was waiting. they gave me predisone n 2 doses of nebulizer...bcuz i told them i had asthma as a kid. no wheezing, no coughin, just can't take a deep breathe with light headedness.....

after i was expelled from the hospital couple days later i went to an asthma speciialist, tested for my peak flow which shud be at 600 but righ then i was about 480. my spirometer was 81%. she said i had mild/borderline asthma....
i felt fine other than the fact that i can't take a full breathe most of the time....a week later i went back in and had a peak flow best at aoudn 650-700....beyond normal avg. she said it shudn't be my ashtma then. i then told her i belch a lot after i eat and i feel bloated. n she said maybe i have reflux and tha'ts causing it. she then gave me 10mg of prilosec to take dialy. i took it for 2 months, i was well except i still can't take a deep breath e alot of the time.

i then went into my primary care doc n he told me it's all anxiety/stress....he gave me klonopin but i never tried it bcuz i'm not some1 who likes to rely on medication n experience withdrawal. he said it may also be that i quit smokin and that my body isn't used to it. ....well, yesterday i came off prilosec, i feel better but still can't catch a deep breathe as often as i want. i'm realy puzzled because my peak flow is above avg and i'm exercising, i can run about 5 mins non stop n wudn't be so out of breathe n although i get tired more easily than my frends, i can still paly basketball, and all of this w/out using albuterol.....what could be wrong with me?!?!?!?! do any of you think it's also stress and anxiety......if it is, shudn't it be non-persistent? i duno, i'm just really confused and am desperate for some hlep....n now that my reflux is basically gone but my chest tightness is still there, i dun think it's reflux...the doctor says if it's chest tightness, it must be either ur lung, ur heart, or esophagus.....and he says my lungs are fine, my heart is fine, and my esophagus shud be fine since i'm not having syptoms....cud this be just all from my powerful mind....

another note. i'm experiencing a lifestlye change...all my frineds left for college elsewwhere and i duno ne1 here nemore..i'm forced to make new friends. i also live by myself so i get lonely n sad a lot. but good thing i'm moving out either with family or ffrends starting january...i duno, maybe this is why i've been sick

daxisgone · 11-20-2004, 04:38 PM

anyone? i need help pleas

charleyhorse · 11-21-2004, 10:03 AM

Hi there - sorry you are having such a rough time. The mind indeed can be a powerful things and it's not always on our side. However, the persistence of your problem is puzzling. I think you are right in that anxiety problems would come and go so I have a hard time blaming your symptoms are that. I had severe reflux problems and it did cause some chest tightness and difficulty breathing and generally stirred up the asthma. I also had a hernia and that gave me a feeling of pressure when I tried to take a deep breath. I am wondering if that might be a problem for you as well and might explain why you feel you can't take a deep breath. An endoscopy which takes a look down your throat should catch that. Please don't let doctors brush you aside. You deserve to breathe well.

daxisgone · 11-21-2004, 03:34 PM

thanks for the response.

you said you had hernia. how did you get hernia fixed? medication? surgery? or nautrally subsides.

minefruit · 11-22-2004, 12:25 PM

I have to admit that when I first started reading your post I thought that what you described sounded more like anxiety than asthma. I had a simillar experience where I thought that i was having asthma and I was taking albuterol (inhaler) trying to control it and the stimulates in that started giving me full blown panic attacks (arm numb, chest numb, palpitations, coughing, etc). When I went to the urgent care, I didn't feel panicky, but when the Dr asked me what was going on in my life it seemd kinda obvious (fired from one position, moved to another at same company for less pay)

I find that it is pretty constant for the breathing problems to be there. Remember, anxiety can pick up on what is already there and just make you more concious of it. If you already have restricted air intake, you may just have gotten intune with this and it makes you panic a little...make sense? I take Klonpin too. Does it help your breathing? It does for me.

From my understanding asthma is more about not being able to breathe out then in.

I did take Singular for a few months and my breathing was so much better i never even realized it was bad!!! Unfortunately, singular was too expensive ($45 copay per month for me), but i think that it is a miracle pill!

wrin · 11-22-2004, 01:30 PM

Medications for anxiety are hardly a show of weakness -- I can understand the fear of addiction and klonopin can produce withdrawal symptoms -- if used for extended periods of time as a maintenance medication instead of as a one-at-a-time anxiety quick-relief.

If you have a constant level of anxiety, you are right to not want to take klonopin all of the time. If your anxiety comes in fits and starts like an asthma attack does, then the klonopin should help take the edge off.

The only time klonopin has been shown to have withdrawal symptoms (this is from the Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties) is when the dosage is abruptly discontinued after taking it at therapeutic levels constantly for a matter of several months. All this means is that if you switch drugs and are taking the klonopin at a continuous dosage every day, the dosage must be tapered instead of stopped abruptly. No biggie.

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