Went to my doc for bronchitis and was given a zpak. I get bronchitis twice a year. Female - 33 yr old- non smoker with bad seasonal allergies. Amid my bronchitis I had a bought of wheezing that I thought was a bird flying over head but realized it was me...so I took albuterol and it went away. I had a friction rub in my lungs for two weeks that sounded annoying but didn't hurt. Advil took the rub sound away but I still have the pain. The pulmonary doc said she thought I had pleurisy and it would go away on it's own- that bronchitis can cause wheezing, but doesn't mean I have asthma. My PFT tests were good. So, I went to another pulmonary doc for a second opinion as these are the only set of lungs I have : ) and he said he is 99% sure it sounds like I have asthma. He said my lungs are clear and that maybe the noise/pain could be from pleurisy and ordered a CT scan. I have that in a few days. My regular chest xrays are normal, I was winded that week when I was coughing bad, my PFT was good so they said they weren't even going to give me the nebulizer and redo it because there wasn't really room for improvement. What the heck am I missing? I have a methocholine challange scheduled in two weeks, which I am scared to death to take....all because of an aching pain and friction rub. Does this sound strange to you? I feel like I have two complete ends of the spectrum from 2 different specialists within 2 days of each other. One said "take advil" and the other has me running every test under the sun. (Thank God for insurance!!) I would just love an opinion of someone with asthma that could chime in ; ) Can you have asthma with no breathing problems but rather a dull pain? FYI: The inhaler doesn't make a bit of difference with the pain. Thanks!
Re: Opinion Please:Doesn't seem like asthma to me?
I have no idea what a friction rub is but you could have pulled a muscle, have an inflammed tendon, a cracked rib, etc all from a lot of coughing. So maybe one of those is the pain. As for whether or not you have asthma, I think I'd wait on the PFT and methocoline challenge until all signs of bronchitis, pluerisy, etc are gone.
Re: Opinion Please:Doesn't seem like asthma to me?
I agree with Titchou - I'd put off the methocholine challenge until you're totally recovered from the bronchitis/pleurisy. You've been to two docs and both of them said that your PFT results were good. The second doctor may just be very cautious and thorough but the dull pain you describe doesn't sound like a classic symptom of asthma - you could well have pulled a muscle coughing.
