Involuntary Gasping - Cancer: Lung Message Board

SOCA · 11-07-2004, 09:45 AM

Anybody with LC experience intermittent episodes of involuntary gasping ? I'd describe the sensation as a sudden single gasp as in trying to catch your breath. I'm not speaking about the more pronounced and well known shortness of breath ( dypsnea ) associated with LC. This is a sudden single event that occurs in a second then gone just as quickly. Someone on another message board likened this symptom to the gasp for air that a baby makes when it's crying. Also, of particular interest to me, if you had or have such a symptom did it occur BEFORE starting chemo or AFTER starting chemo or BOTH before and after ? Any experience or medical opinion about this would be welcomed.

Thanks.

~ Bill ~

SOCA · 11-15-2004, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SOCA

Anybody with LC experience intermittent episodes of involuntary gasping ? I'd describe the sensation as a sudden single gasp as in trying to catch your breath. I'm not speaking about the more pronounced and well known shortness of breath ( dypsnea ) associated with LC. This is a sudden single event that occurs in a second then gone just as quickly. Someone on another message board likened this symptom to the gasp for air that a baby makes when it's crying. Also, of particular interest to me, if you had or have such a symptom did it occur BEFORE starting chemo or AFTER starting chemo or BOTH before and after ? Any experience or medical opinion about this would be welcomed.

Thanks.

~ Bill ~

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P.S. I gather from the absence of response that this is either a very rare LC symptom or not a cancer-related symptom at all. BTW, I have been told BOTH by my wife's treating physicians.

renee_ky · 11-15-2004, 01:35 PM

SOCA- My husband did not experience this. Sorry, wish I could be of help with this.

SOCA · 11-15-2004, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by renee_ky

SOCA- My husband did not experience this. Sorry, wish I could be of help with this.

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Just another unknown with this disease that has many more questions than answers. My wife's med onc initially speculated that this might be due to a tumor irritating the diaphragm. Now ~ 6 months later he concludes that it's nothing. He doesn't even consider it a symptom. Too infrequent and not getting any worse. Maybe just a burp being misinterpreted as a gasp. The whole thing is crazy. Stage 4 NSCLC dx'd in May with mets to the brain, spine, pelvis, femurs etc. and no identifiable resp. symptoms at all. ( I don't know of anyone with a dx comparable to my wife's that has absolute NO resp. symptoms by now ). How bout you ? No brain symptoms either. Just some persistent low back, hip pain that her doctors are largely attributing to her lower spine surgery ( incl. Gemzar-induced radiation recall over one of the surgical incisions ). Factor out the surgical pain and she's essentially symptom free. But, on paper it continues to look grim and she shouldn't even be alive. Go figure. Maybe this message can give hope to others. I give up trying to get a handle on her condition. I have a 6 inch stack of plain film x-rays, CT scans, MRIs, with radiology, hematology, urinalysis reports and all of this diagnostic stuff has had very little influence on medical opinion. It always boils down to how do you feel ? How's your performance ? What are your symptoms ? And, are you gaining weight ? Favorable answers to these questions is all they need to hear to give the thumbs up. Not complaining. Just illustrating how crazy and confusing this disease can be from one patient to the next.

renee_ky · 11-16-2004, 06:08 AM

SOCA- I completely understand how you feel. I went through the same thing with my husband, except he had small cell, which grows more rapid. Other then his hip and back, he did not have pain either. His hip was how his initial diagnosis came to be, after it broke. The back pain was most likely caused by teh hip replacement, and favoring that hip when walking.With the brain mets, you would have NEVER known (until the very end) that he had brain tumors, he was sharp as a tack. He began having difficulty, but not until the last 3-4 weeks. It is a very frustrating disease. It is like the wind, it can change directions so fast. It is hard for the spuse/caregivers too, because we want to figure it all out and just make it go away, but we can't. Unfortunately, we are at the mercy of a horrible disease that we can not even understand. Hang in there, an dkeep doing what you are doing, never give up!

Renee