I have recently been diagnosed with asthma, but it's hard for me to believe I have asthma. My signs and symptons began in mid July this year, and I thought it was all heart problems. I had extensive testing done on my heart, all the way up to a heart catherization, which showed that nothing is wrong with my heart, all blood tests normal, no HIV, complete blood count good, etc. The whole 9 yards of tests came out good. The full story, and more details of symptons here:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/627044
I recently had a PFT test done to check my lungs. I did before and after tests, and the after tests were slightly better after I inhaled some formula for 5 minutes. My pulmonologist told me the results show mild asthma, but I still blew away the charts (like I still hold a lot of air etc)
I get short breathed a lot, on some days when doing physical stuff, but recently just sitting down here on the PC. My doctor prescribed me inhalers, one QVAR steroidal one for in the mornings everyday, and one Albuterol inhaler for sudden signs. I have been on the inhalers 8 days now (as of oct. 7th) and I feel as if they are not helping me one bit. The albuterol does not really help my sudden sypmtons which come. I do not have a Peak flow meter, but even when I have my shortness of breath symptons, I can still blow out a lot of air.
My main symptons are feeling short of breath, and taking in a deep breath sometimes helps, and other times I suck in all the air, but it feels like my lungs are not "satisfied." I do not have any wheezing. Sometimes my chest feels a lil tight, but nothing major. I've also been producing mucus lately which I can "suck up" by making that nasty noise with my throat. ( I believe I have a minor cold, but my mom been telling me my breath hasn't been so well for about a month now whenever I talk to her ) When my shortness of breath strikes worse, I start breathing faster and shorter mostly. I also seem to have a lot of gas buildup in my lungs that I burp out, although I don't think this is related.
My girlfriend had bronchitis for a while that she didn't know about, and it may be a possibility, but my signs are not going away at all. Like I said at the top, my symptons started back in mid-july (when I was overseas in germany), and she got a small case of bronchitis of it after I got back. (she did have it as a child she told me) I don't know if maybe I picked something up while there that was in the air. Before I left for vacation, I was perfectly fine.
Basically I feel as if I can breath just fine, not struggling for air most of the time, but rather that my lungs are not processing the oxygen well enough, causing my shortness of breath symptons, and needing to take in deep breaths.