Breathing problem?

Question

I've always had this breathing problem, that's I can't take deep breaths and I'm always breathless. I don't smoke and I'm not fat (5.5 ft, 110 lbs.) I'm like this for as long as I can remember, but recently it started to worry me. I went to the doc for it. I had my lungs checked, everything normal. They then sent me to a cardiologist and I had my heart checked, everything normal. They then sent me to have my nose checked, and the doc told me that one of my nostrils is blocked by a bone. He said, though, it shouldn't affect my breathing that much, and I don't even have to have that bone removed. He concluded that I have psychological problems and advised me to see a psychologist!
I don't trust him, sadly. If it's psychological why have I been having this problem for so long, and why is it never going away? I'm panting whenever I go upstairs or do some activity that requires min. energy. I don't really know what to do now. I want to be able to take deep breaths. What should I do for it?

Knick thank you for the professional advice, you're right I'm still alive but still how can I be depressed since I was a kid? I'm not really ashamed of being depressed, we all are in some part of our lives. What I don't accept is I'm not depressed for life!

flower, I don't breath loudly or when I'm speaking you can't tell my nose is blocked. I only knew that I had this thing in my nose after doc told. It's nothing you can notice by yourself. But good idea, I'm really planning to see another ENT doc. Thanks.

And asthma, aaah now that scares me, but perhaps I should have a second opinion on that.

Thank you for your answers.

Answer 1

Get a second opinion. If you disagree with your doctor by all means don't stop there. They don't know everything!

A agree about the asthma part. You may need an inhaler.

Answer 2

I think your doctors are probably right. Generally, if someone has symptoms that have gone on for years, its unlikely to be serious, since a physical would have declared itself. If, for instance a person has a headache that has been there for years, it is unlikely to be a brain tumour, since other things would have happened at some point sooner which would indicate a serious cause. The same would go for breathing problems - if they have gone on for years, and you are otherwise well (not losing wt etc) it is unlikely to be a serious physical problem like cancer or heart trouble - simply because something would have shown up.

This is one of the hardest things to try to explain to people. People assume that if its gone for years, it must be serious, whereas as a doctor, I am reassured if whatever it is has gone on for a long time, for the reasons explained above.

There is no shame in having a psychological basis for physical symptoms.It is not 'all in your head' and you are not crazy. It just means that in order to treat it, a different approach needs to be taken.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I have had exactly the same problem! I think you should get some type of inhaler seen as i got an inhaler and they gave me one that didn't work then they gave me a different one which worked. I really think you should see an asthma nurse this could get worse and as i know its really annoying right? So the only thing i would recommend is to see an asthma nurse straight away.

Answer 4

Dang. This sounds like asthma to me. Exercise-type (that is, exercise brings on an attack).

Get a second opinion from a better doctor, and tell the doctor you suspect that you have asthma.

There are meds you can take to control it, and there's an emergency thing you can use when you have an attack.

You shouldn't have to live with this.

You might also try going to a medical website, searching for asthma, and see if what it says fits your symptoms.

Answer 5

Have you had a Cat scan of your sinuses? You could have enlarged adenoids or enlarged polyps causing your bone to shift. I would go back to the ENT (ear, nose, throat) doctor one more time and have scans done to be sure. If it's not related to your sinuses, not sure what else it could be. My son was born with enlarged adenoids, he used to breathe so loudly, the doctors did not discover the problem until he was 7. It is hard to diagnose without full Cat scans. Just a thought. Good luck!