wrin- i just created a signature tonight, so i'll post it at the bottom and see if it works so you can have a more concise overview of my history...
i do have sinus problems...and i'm on nasonex and allegra for it but lately i've been having problems with additional sinus swelling, along with the "itching ears" i mention below...
and i do have very bad GERD...thats why i asked about it complicating things, cause i was diagnosed with GERD several years ago, and asthma a couple of months ago...plus i've had some choking problems lately...stuff going into my lungs and such...so my problem may actually be more than just asthma...
as far as heart and pulmonary function tests...nope neither one...but i'm feeling rather overwhelmed with myself lately, b/c, as you can see, my heartburn is starting to recur, i'm having some swallowing problems, i'm having trouble with asthma and sinuses, and my back is being a pain in the neck, and butt, and everywhere inbetween...none of this was caused by stress, i'm sure...i life has been a haven these past couple months cause of the end of school and graduation...i'm in heaven! it just makes me feel bad when i have to keep taking my parents money to pay for appts, drugs, tests, and other medical related crap. i hope someone has a suggestion for this!
i think kellie was right about the chronic hyperventilation thing, which is why the albuterol doesn't work for shortness of breath, but only for the phlegm...but the advair does help, just not quite the whole way, which is why my doc upped it...
i can't help but think that i'm headed for a specialist for this, but i also have that feeling about my back probs and sinus probs...is there a doctor that can manage asthma probs and sinus probs too??? what is their title??? lemme me know if you know of anything that might help me!! thanks!!
rach
------------------ Thought This Might Be of Use...Since Alot of Others Have It:
August 1999: diagnosed with GERD and IBS...put on zantac, then aciphex September 2000: hospitalized for failure to thrive due to malnutrition and dehydration; fed with ng tube for 3 months, put on prilosec 2001-02: developed chronic sinusitis/rhinitis from NG tube, put on nasonex and allegra January 2002: switched GI's, diagnosed with hiatal hernia, switched to nexium, added peppermint oil, put on bentyl PRN for pain, zoloft for nausa March 2003: IBS getting worse, switched PRN bentyl to BID levbid ER May 2003: diagnosed with asthma from GERD, put on advair and singulair, albuterol PRN May 2003: back pain and limited mobility, caused by 2002 car accident and dance injury, unidentified April-June 2003: minor ear irritation and hearing problems, and extra sinus swelling, unidentified May-June 2003: heartburn recurring even with meds!
this is especially to kellie, but responses are welcomed from ANYBODY!! [img]http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
i was reading up about chronic hyperventialation syndrome, and it sounded JUST LIKE ME...
however, the only thing that bothered me about the sites i looked at, is, in addition to breathing exercises, the only "drugs" that were supposed to treated in were antidepressants/anti-anxiety...but i don't have any problems with EITHER of those two problems, nor do i have any other mental health problems...
is it possible that i could have HVS induced by several years of untreated asthma?? cause one of the websites made it sounds like HVS was a RESULT of mental disorders involving fear and anxiety, and i know thats not the problem...
any ideas or comments? thanks! rach
------------------ Thought This Might Be of Use...Since Alot of Others Have It: Updated on 6/18/02
August 1999: diagnosed with GERD and IBS...put on zantac, then aciphex Spring 2000: diagnosed with TMJ...have lower splint September 2000: hospitalized for failure to thrive due to malnutrition and dehydration; fed with ng tube for 3 months, put on prilosec 2001-02: developed chronic sinusitis/rhinitis from NG tube, put on nasonex and allegra January 2002: switched GI's, diagnosed with hiatal hernia, switched to nexium, added peppermint oil, put on bentyl PRN for pain, zoloft for nausa March 2003: IBS getting worse, switched PRN bentyl to BID levbid ER May 2003: diagnosed with asthma from GERD, put on advair and singulair, albuterol PRN May 2003: back pain and limited mobility, caused by 2002 car accident and dance injury, unidentified April-June 2003: minor ear irritation and hearing problems, and extra sinus swelling, unidentified May-June 2003: heartburn recurring even with meds!- GI put me on 40mg Pepcid Rx at bedtime...Let's see if it works! :p
well, guys, my chest x-ray showed that my lungs were in excellent condition (i assume i still need the inhalers though, b/c they did do a little bit, and they're not harming me...if i took them and didn't need to, wouldn't that cause problems???), and that something about my heart was a "little bit small", but i don't know exactly what it was or what it meant....
also, i had the EKG done yesterday, and my beat battern was very odd...at least i think so..it would do the spike for the beat, then a big hump, and then i big dip, and then the spike again...it was a real wavy beat pattern...and then i could see one of my valves, and instead of just going open-shut-open-shut, it would go open-start to shut-open again-and close....my whole heart (i could see it all most of the time) was just kinda spasmic in its beat patterns..it was very weird...i'm not *worried* but i can't see how this could be normal...oh well, i'll keep you updated!
rach
------------------ Thought This Might Be of Use...Since Alot of Others Have It: Updated on 6/18/02
August 1999: diagnosed with GERD and IBS...put on zantac, then aciphex Spring 2000: diagnosed with TMJ...have lower splint September 2000: hospitalized for failure to thrive due to malnutrition and dehydration; fed with ng tube for 3 months, put on prilosec 2001-02: developed chronic sinusitis/rhinitis from NG tube, put on nasonex and allegra January 2002: switched GI's, diagnosed with hiatal hernia, switched to nexium, added peppermint oil, put on bentyl PRN for pain, zoloft for nausa March 2003: IBS getting worse, switched PRN bentyl to BID levbid ER May 2003: diagnosed with asthma from GERD, put on advair and singulair, albuterol PRN May 2003: back pain and limited mobility, caused by 2002 car accident and dance injury, unidentified April-June 2003: minor ear irritation and hearing problems, and extra sinus swelling, unidentified May-June 2003: heartburn recurring even with meds!- GI put me on 40mg Pepcid Rx in the morning and at bedtime...Seems to be holding over till August...:p July: chest x-ray came back, found mild thoracic scoliosis, and small "heart shadowing", EKG results are coming...
thanks wrin...just an update...the EKG came out normal (well, except they saw some mild thoracic scoliosis...so THATS what's causing my back pain...its nice to finally get an answer to SOMETHING thats going wrong...haha...i think you all know what i mean...), my doc said that what he meant, was that the size of my heart in the position that the x-ray was taken in made my heart appear smaller than what they would EXPECT, but it was not outside of normal limits...so basically, the EKG was normal
i had the PFT done today, and, although no real interpretation has arrived yet, obviously, the technician said that my air limits were all within normal limits...i do have a couple of questions/comments about the test though...
#1...the first part they did was just inhaling and exhaling with force...i ended up consistent with my pattern for that...the tech did that part 3 times...it was kind egg shaped...however, after they gave me the breathing treatment, instead of the egg, when i would exhale that little line would start to come up earlier, forming more of a heart shaped looking thing...anyone know what that means...i don't think its a problem, i'm just curious, because obviously the treatment changed SOMETHING, no matter how little the change be...
#2...that part where you breath normally, take a deep breath, and breath out as long as you can...w/o treatment, i did about 30-35 seconds blowing out, and with it i reached almost 55 seconds....yet the tech said that was within normal limits....????? that just seems strange...i mean, if my peak is 55, then wouldn't 35 be considered kinda, uh, not so good???? just asking, cause alot of you guys know so much more about this than i do....
also, the tech said that everything w/ and w/o treatment was within normal limits...however, thats all relative, isn't it??? i mean, my peak flow at the school nurses office was 400, which is pretty good for someone complaining of breathing problems, however, i'm a meticulous musician that has spent hours and hours and days worth of time learning how to breathe in order to get the maximum usage of all the air i get squeeze into my lungs. so, 400, which is typical of a 70 year old, i believe it said, is not all that great for a 17 year old student musician...i mean, i read somewhere about someone having an asthma attack and their peak flow was like 500 or something...it was on this board...any ideas, thoughts, suggestions?? thanks for any replies, just wanted to mention i'll be leaving for europe tomorrow (july 4th), so i appreciate any responses, but i won't be able to reply until the 29 of july...thanks!
EDIT: wrin, i totally agree about not being on meds that you don't need...i'm just a bit confused though, cause the advair and singulair seem to be working pretty well in conjunction with each other...definately got rid of that aweful racing heart i used to get....but if i don't show asthma, then why does it help?!?!?!? i'm perplexed...lemme know if you have any ideas....oh! almost forgot...one of the other problems right now is that everytime i eat or drink this mucous gathers in my throat, and i always have to spit it out...is there a method to my body's madness to choking me with mucous every time i eat?!?!? haha [img]http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img] lemme know!
rach
------------------ Thought This Might Be of Use...Since Alot of Others Have It: Updated on 6/18/02
August 1999: diagnosed with GERD and IBS...put on zantac, then aciphex Spring 2000: diagnosed with TMJ...have lower splint September 2000: hospitalized for failure to thrive due to malnutrition and dehydration; fed with ng tube for 3 months, put on prilosec 2001-02: developed chronic sinusitis/rhinitis from NG tube, put on nasonex and allegra January 2002: switched GI's, diagnosed with hiatal hernia, switched to nexium, added peppermint oil, put on bentyl PRN for pain, zoloft for nausa March 2003: IBS getting worse, switched PRN bentyl to BID levbid ER May 2003: diagnosed with asthma from GERD, put on advair and singulair, albuterol PRN May 2003: back pain and limited mobility, caused by 2002 car accident and dance injury, unidentified April-June 2003: minor ear irritation and hearing problems, and extra sinus swelling, unidentified May-June 2003: heartburn recurring even with meds!- GI put me on 40mg Pepcid Rx in the morning and at bedtime...Seems to be holding over till August... [img]http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/tongue.gif[/img] July: chest x-ray came back, found mild thoracic scoliosis, and small "heart shadowing", EKG results are coming...
[This message has been edited by rach923 (edited 07-03-2003).]
wrin, i'm out of town right now and i'm leaving for europe tomorrow night, so if my replies are a bit sporadic, then thats why...
my PFT was taken when i had the advair and singulair in my system...noone made any mention of going off it before the test...
the chest x-ray showed that my lungs are clear as far as fluid goes...not saying that the aspiration couldn't still be part of it, but its not the actual fluids themselves that are causing the breathing problems...
are you a musician??? b/c i've been playing for about 8 years now, and TRUST me, it takes alot of lung power and control to do, i'd imagine that most wind instrument players have a higher peak flow, b/c of the control it takes to play, b/c why should i feel fatigued and SOB with a 400 peak flow???
i pretty much hyperventilate after every song we do...the albuterol does NOTHING for that- everyone else just stops playing, and there i am, huffing and puffing trying to get some oxygen so i don't suffocated before the next song its over...i DON'T have any anxiety (just a little disclaimer)....also, with the advair singulair combo, i know that's not in my head either, b/c i'm no longer dizzy, with a heartbeat of 114 just from standing up and walking casually for ten yards...the heart is an involuntary muscle...it is not susceptable to the placebo effect....and besides, those meds HELP, but i'm still having ALOT of problems...hence my reason for this thread...
i have an AWEFUL laryngeal cough that has gotten worse since i began practicing for my european tour on friday, and, although my lungs are clear (BTW, my doc noticed that my lungs sounded better at my first checkup after the advair singulair addition...just another thing to let you know its not in my head) i get VERY short of breath VERY easily, especially when playing, which has NEVER happened before this school year...the CHS that kellie mentioned seems probable, now that i know its not my heart or pnemonia or anything....but i still don't know about the cough...hhhmmmm...any replies appreciated...i'll try to get back to you ASAP!!
rach
------------------ Thought This Might Be of Use...Since Alot of Others Have It: Updated on 6/18/02
August 1999: diagnosed with GERD and IBS...put on zantac, then aciphex Spring 2000: diagnosed with TMJ...have lower splint September 2000: hospitalized for failure to thrive due to malnutrition and dehydration; fed with ng tube for 3 months, put on prilosec 2001-02: developed chronic sinusitis/rhinitis from NG tube, put on nasonex and allegra January 2002: switched GI's, diagnosed with hiatal hernia, switched to nexium, added peppermint oil, put on bentyl PRN for pain, zoloft for nausa March 2003: IBS getting worse, switched PRN bentyl to BID levbid ER May 2003: diagnosed with asthma from GERD, put on advair and singulair, albuterol PRN May 2003: back pain and limited mobility, caused by 2002 car accident and dance injury, unidentified April-June 2003: minor ear irritation and hearing problems, and extra sinus swelling, unidentified May-June 2003: heartburn recurring even with meds!- GI put me on 40mg Pepcid Rx in the morning and at bedtime...Seems to be holding over till August...:p July: chest x-ray came back, found mild thoracic scoliosis, and small "heart shadowing", EKG results are coming...
