For the past six years or so I've been having a problem with my lungs. When it happens, I feel a slight pain in only one lung or the other, never both, and as I inhale the pain grows and hurts like heck (to put it lightly). After only one full inhalation the pain dissipates, however. I feel a distinct shaking or rattling feeling as I breathe in. I don't wheeze or cough when this happens, and it’s usually my right lung that acts up.

I used to have some sort of asthma when I was very young, a toddler I guess, and I grew up inhaling a lot of second-hand smoke in my household. I also have after-exercise cough. I don’t know if any of these three things contribute to the problem but I figure they’re worth mentioning. As far as the asthma goes I haven’t had any recurrences. One of my high school friends from Lebanon said she had the same problem but her doctor told her there was nothing that could be done about it. I told my own doctor about the problem a few years ago and she made an examination but said she couldn’t find anything wrong. She wrote me a prescription for Advair but I never filled it because it doesn’t happen that often (maybe once every 2-7 days), and I’m not sure if I should bother spending so much money on a medication considering just how brief the situations are. But it is painful, and I’m stumped about what is causing it and if it could mean some other problem.

Thanks for your help!