im having trouble breathing, what can i do??

Question

so for the past 3 weeks, at least, i have been having ALOT of trouble breathing. it feels as if i am having a constant asthma attack. i can never get deep breaths, it is as if my lungs have a block on them and i can only get in so much air, but very few times i do get a good deep breath. also whenever i breath in i get this sharp pain in my chest and it leads up to my right coller bone, and then if it does get worse, the pain goes back into my back towards my rib cage. i went to the doctor and all he did was up my inhaler dose, i am now onCombivent 14.7GM, and advair, (the middle dose in the diskis), but this is not helping at all. what else can i do? and what is wrong? also what is up with the pain? he said it had nothing to do with asthma....so what is it and why? someone please help im desperate, i can barely sleep

Answer 1

Thats a difficult question to answer from this side of the computer. But, there could be a couple of things to consider. One, you really are having an acute breathing problem that needs better medical attention. How would we know? A couple of things, your oxygen concentration, easily obtained with a standard pulse oximeter, listening to your breath sounds, ie, are you wheezing or are your breath sounds really diminished or difficult to hear, and of course your statement of how you feel.
If you are actively wheezing and your oxygen saturation is dropping, say its in the low 90's or worse, then it would seem that your meds are not working well enough and should be looked at more closely.
Have you been diagnosed with Asthma or reactive airway disease? If not, are you a smoker, been diagnosed with Emphysema or Chronic Bronchitis? Either way, if you regularly take breathing medications then you must have one of the three. And asthma is nothing to play with. Not trying to scare you, but Asthma can kill you, and do it quickly in severe cases. You have to learn your limits and learn when its time to head to the emergency department before its too late.

Lastly, you could certainly be suffering from some anxiety that stems from your breathing problems, or the anxiety could be the real cause of your breathing problems. No way to say from here. If anxiety is an issue then you should consider something like Ativan, an anti-anxiety medication that is very common.

If you are truly having a serious breathing problem its not something to mess around with. Not every physician is well versed in handling these cases. You might want to get an appointment with a specialist, a pulmonologist, the lung doctor, and let them sort it all out for you. And finally, again, if this gets serious, go to the emergency department and get treatment. Better safe than sorry.

Best of luck

Answer 2

I've had this problem too. The inhaler wouldn't help so much either. So there were some home remedies I tried for my asthma. One is boil some water in a pot and inhale the stream slowly until you relax a little bit for about 15 minutes. Another think you could do is drink hot herbal tea such as flower tea, if you can't find that you can chop an onion up and eat at least a forth of it. Onions are really good for the respiratory system but bad for breath. lol. If these things don't help much, when you go to the doctor tell them to put you on the machine, I'm sorry I forgot the name of it been though I've been on it so much. xP Well I hope you the best, I know how terrible you must feel. Remember you can't mess with asthma because it can kill you. If you feel it gets a lot worse you should definitely get x-rays from the doctor to look deeper into this because 3 weeks is a long time to be having this problem.
Best wishes.

Answer 3

Have you been diagnosed with asthma? If so, your doctor should have you doing spirometry readings every morning. That will help you monitor your asthma and actually prevent attacks. You need to go to a pulmonologist or a doctor who specializes in asthma. Don't wait until you get very ill; make arrangements tomorrow to see one.

In the meantime, do not go outside and breathe in frigid air. Your airways may already be irritated and that is the worse thing you could do to them!! Keep your mouth and nose covered with a scarf when you go out in this cold air. I find it greatly aggravates my lungs and causes them to feel "itchy" for hours.

Stop trying to take deep breaths. That can knock out your respiratory drive temporarily and give you the feeling of air hunger afterwards. I don't deny that you may have a resp problem, but you may also be hyperventilating and making it feel worse.

It sounds as though you need an x-ray. With the radiating pain on inspiration, you could have pneumonia, or pleursy. Call your doctor tomorrow and get checked out. But don't be satisfied with seeing a GP for asthma. There are specialists out there and very good programs for asthmatics. Some insurance companies pay for and endorse those special programs. You might want to call and see if yours does.
Good luck! :)

Answer 4

I have asthma as well and tend to have breating difficulties. Try sleeping with your window open a little bit. I know that it is winter time but the doctor told me tah the fresh air will sometimes help a persons lungs relax. It works for me and my family (all of us are asthmetic). Hopefully it will give you some relief.

Answer 5

You can go back to the doctor and ask for a chest xray. You could have pneumonia. Are you asthmatic? If you are, even if you aren't ask for a spriometry test, which would tell him/her how much airflow you are actually moving through your airways and a breathing treatment to open them up, if you are not moving air well. It's miserable not to be able to breathe, so stay on top of them.

Answer 6

I could tell you a couple of different things I think it is but the best advice I can give you is to get to another doctor. Your coming down with something and need more effective treatment than what he is giving you at this time. Don't mess around and be miserable. If you don't want to go to your doc or another doctor go to the ER. You need to get some kind of relief. You sound very desperate and lack of sleep will leave you run down to get something else. We can not give you anything but what ifs and you need treatment.

Answer 7

Definitely get a chest xray. My Husband went through the same thing and thought he had pneumonia and took antibiotics but he didn't get better. He then was diagnosed with a pulmonary fibrosis which is a lung disease which we don't know what has caused it. Insist on some answers!

Answer 8

!. go to a pulmonologist as opposed to a internal med dr they specialize in dealing with breathing problems 2. have you tried straight albuterol and a nebulizer 3 look at you ankles if they are extremely swollen that is a symptom of Congestive Heart failure get to a hospital ASAP like now immediately having the same problem but severely worse i tried the combivent and it didnt work neither did the advair so I use sttraight albuterol and occassionally atrovent but get to see a dr NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BEST WISHES gORBALIZER

Answer 9

There's some great advise here. First, go to the emergency room now to get immediate relief. You may be hospitalized to get a diagnosis. Second, dump that crappie doctor by making an appointment with a new one. Thirdly, bless you..... I know what you're going through... a nightmare.
Now go do it!

Answer 10

Go to the emergency room. You might be having other problems. You could be having heart trouble, pleurisy, or gall bladder. Just because you have asthma, it does not rule out those problems.