Could I possibly have asthma?

  • Thread starter Thread starter marrrasmom
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marrrasmom

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Hi all,
I came across this forum by mistake, but glad that I did. About a week and a half ago, I went jogging before work. It was pretty cool out, about low-mid 50s, which for Las Vegas, is pretty cold. I did a slow jog for about a mile, when all of a sudden, I got a really sharp pain in my chest. My chest felt really tight, almost like someone had their fist in there squeezing the center part of my chest. I had shortness of breath too. I started coughing immediately. My cough was dry, but soon after the cough, I got a lot of saliva/mucus in my mouth and throat. I did not spit up anything, and do not recall any wheezing, but I was completely freaked out by what happened, so I may not remeraber if I was. For about the next 5 days or so, my chest hurt, felt tight, and I felt periodically short of breath. My allergies were a little more aggravated those days too. I was sneezing, my eyes itched. Today, I tried working out again. It was chilly again, about the same temperature, but really windy...too windy to run. I decided to just do some push-ups and sit-ups. After my push-ups, which I did about 40 in a minute, I started coughing. I have had tightness in my chest all day and have been coughing periodically. If I'm not coughing, I am sighing a lot. Again, no wheezing, but the tightness in my chest from earlier today, has not subsided. My husband has been a part of the medical field for 19 years and thinks it's just allergies, which I only experience seasonal ones. I am also a cancer survivor, the one drug I was given during chemotherapy can cause lung toxicity. I have had PFTs and chest x-rays, to make sure it wasn't damaging my lungs and everything came back good. Do I have asthma? I looked up exercise induced asthma, and match all symptoms, but the wheezing. Does wheezing have to exist for it to be asthma? Please if anyone could answer my questions, or offer their inputs, I would greatly appreciate it. I have an appointment next week with my doctor, but I am worried that maybe I should be seen sooner than next week!!
 
No, wheezing does not have to be present for it to be asthma (I really wonder why people seem to think this!). Have you tried antihistaimes? It may be allergies, allergy induced asthma, exercise induced asthma (EIA) or any nuraber of similar things. What kind of doctor are you seeing?
 
Titchou, thanks for your concern. I had to change my username, because something got messed up with my password. Anyways, I will be seeing an allergist on Monday. I'm sure since this will be my first visit, we will probably just discuss everything that has been going on and schedule whatever testing he thinks I may need to properly diagnose me. I feel a little bit better today, but I am really tired and my allergies are acting up a little bit. I guess I will have more come Monday!
 
I also just wanted to add that after yesterday's workout, not only is my chest tight, but my rib cage is sore to the touch...is this normal? I would ask if this is normal after an asthma attack, but I don't even know if that is what happened to me, I'm sure it was some form of it, but don't know if it's allergy or exercise induced...gosh, so many questions and no answers. I cannot wait until this is all behind me, and hopefully it's nothing serious...maybe it was all just a fluke!
 
What is your job? I can't think of anything I can't do because I have asthma...my allergies would probably be more of a hindrance than anything! I jog, work out, mow my own grass, etc...no problems....

Hope it all works out for you.
 
I went and saw my allergist, finally. He did a spirometry test on me, and my nuraber were a little low. I don't know the exact results of the test other than it was low. He than gave me an albuterol treatment and redid the spirometry test. This time my nurabers were a little better. After a series of questions, he did not diagnose me with asthma. He said, that asthma is a little more constant than what my symptoms were. He also said being that pets, and some other things don't bother me, he doesn't believe that it is asthma. He prescribed me Flonase and a Levalbuterol inhaler. The inhaler is in case this were to happen again. I am thankful for the good news, because I would not be able to do my job if I was diagnosed with asthma. I have to go back in six weeks, so I will have more information then, he did run some allergy tests, but I have not been told the results of those, and I also need to do a Pulmonary Function Test. I just hope the episode I experienced a few weeks ago was a fluke and never returns again.
 
I work for the government. I can't really explain much of what I do on an open forum like this. If I do have asthma, this will disqualify me from doing the job that I have. I know it sounRAB crazy, but it's their rules.
 
I agree. Working in some government environments can be hazardous to asthmatics. It may not be allergies but irritants that causes the problem. Floor stripping solutions, automatic deodorizers mounted on the walls, and even the scents our coworkers wear can cause some of us to have a flare up.
 
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