Do i have mild asthma or could it be something worse?

[Olllie]

I am 21 years old and 2 months back i had a cold and since then have had a persistant dry cough. The cough itself isn't constant, i can go a while without coughing and it does not affect my sleep.
I got it checked out by a walk in medical centre as my own doctor is fully booked for a while and i was asked a few questions and as asthma has been known to run in my family he said it was probably that. so i got a blue inhaler and was told to use it 1-2 times every four hours. unless i am using it incorrectly which i dont think i am it doesn't seemed to have made a difference. i did have neck ache for a short amount of time and i have even noticed a small dull ache slightly to the left in the middle of my chest which would last 10 seconds at most.

so basically my questions are if a mild case of asthma can cause a sticky throat/neck pain (possibly caused due to odd sleeping position) and a slight occasional chest ache. I have only been using the inhaler since yesterday so am i being too quick to judge the affect it is/isn't having on me?

[WisconsinCousin]

Anyone?

[WisconsinCousin]

Great if someone could shed some light on the above.

I have similar concerns. Had a fire in my kitchen in late 2014, with extensive exposure to smoke and soot, but also cement dust during renovation. 4-6 weeks after the fire I got mucus hypersecretion plugging the airways (never had such thick, deep phlegm in my life!). Went to see my GP and she said I *HAD HAD* pneumonia but that it had been conquered. My son, on the other hand, was diagnosed with active pneumonia and was prescribed antibiotics. Routine pulmonary function tests (part of a full medical exam for work - desk job) showed both in early 2015 and late 2015 that I had mild, stable airway obstruction, with FEV1 around 82%, FVC around 100% (gradually increasing to 107% over the course of the year), DLCO around 100%. I never had any asthma symptoms, apart from the fact that I may have been out of breath during exertion a bit quicker than before and (according to a friend) very very minimal wheezing during exertion (which I did not notice myself). In late 2015, I was asked to start using an inhaler (Symbicort). I noticed it seemed to irritate my lungs. Very mild intermittent symptoms developed incl. slight wheezing at the end of exhalation during exertion. After a month, I forgot to use the inhaler once or twice, right at the time when I was exposed to cement dust again, and I got a serious attack, characterized mainly by intense inflammation inside the lungs (as if little cuts or scratches were being made) and mucus hypersecretion (plugging). Short of breath, couldn't do anything. Symptoms were at their worst during the first two days (horrific!), then subsided gradually over the next 5 weeks (which seems like a very long time, no?). Right now, what remains is persistent dyspnea, post-nasal drip, fatigue, coughing up yellow phlegm and chest pains - all of which only started with/after the attack. I am also, all of a sudden, terribly susceptible to cold weather and feel like I have to constantly watch out for new exacerbations.

I am wondering if the pneumonia I had in late 2014 was caused by Mycoplasma - i.e. so-called 'walking pneumonia', which is compatible with the fact that I carried on doing what I did in everyday life - which may have lingered on (as it remained untreated), causing asthma and/or possibly chronic bronchitis/COPD? Overwhelming mucus hypersecretion during the attack and very persistent dyspnea afterwards seem to point more towards chronic bronchitis/COPD?

Follow-up PFT showed the inhaler had very little effect, only pushing FEV1 up from 82 to 85%. On-the-spot bronchodilator administering prompted low (6%) improvement 2 months ago, down to zero improvement now.

Any views/comments, both on my case and Olllie's, would be much appreciated!

Many thanks