Undiagnosed Mid-Term Respiratory Issues (sharp pain, mucus, cough...)

[renata95]

Hi all!

This is my first post here as I'm using this website as a last resource - I've been to every doctor I possibly could and they find nothing but my symptoms do not subside.

I'm a 24 year old female, healthy (or am I), don't drink or smoke, don't take any medications and don't have any previous disease record (except for pneumonia when I was 6) or surgery history (except for wisdom teeth removal in August under local anesthesia).

Since I don't know what relates to what, I'll start from the very beginning:

Since the beginning of this year I have been getting a LOT of yellow mucus on my throat, which I managed to spit out when coughing. I went to an otolaryngologist, they made a CT of my sinuses (which were clear) and gave me anti-allergens for the mucus - which didn't help, but it wasn't bothering me that much so I let it go.

In September after coming back from a trip, I felt super sick, threw up and had diarrhea for over a week - which I did go to the doctor for and they said it could be a viral infection or food poisoning. I did a feces test and it came back clear, so they gave me no medication. Symptoms subsided after 2 weeks.

Since then I have been getting sick on and off (1 week I'm fine, the next I feel ran down, dizzy, stuffed nose, throat hurting. etc). I got 2 episodes of mild fever (37.5 degrees), but other than that I didn't get any. Then I got a super weird pain under my right shoulder blade which I thought was a pinched nerve (and this particular pain did go away after a few days), but my chest/upper back started giving me sharp pains randomly throughout my torso area and it sometimes hurts more when I breathe in.

I returned to the doctor and they said I had tracheitis (which I find unlikely since it's pretty rare and my voice was normal) and tonsillitis so they put me on antibiotics (10 days) and anti-inflammatory (3 days). During that time I felt worse and had multiple panic attacks (which I recognize I struggle with, but it had never been that bad) which took me to the ER and got sent back home with no diagnosis again and again.

Since I didn't feel better at all after the antibiotics, I insisted and visited more doctors (general, cardiologist and endocrinologist) and made a full exam (blood tests, x ray and EKG, which all came back normal), they all said I'm fine and shouldn't worry.

I then got a sore throat again and started producing more mucus (yellow), my nose is stuffy, I get shortness of breath (like I'm not breathing enough) and I'm still getting back and chest pain (the cardiologist assured it was not my lungs, even though I do not think it's muscle related - pain medication doesn't help and it feels a lot like the pain I felt when I had pneumonia), my ears feel clogged, I'm getting easily light-headed and with tingling arms and legs (this part might be anxiety, for it comes and goes) and started coughing like hell.

I understand I do have bad anxiety which may lead me to think I have a more serious condition than it actually is, but since my symptoms don't ever go away and may be getting progressively worse I don't think I could be THAT paranoid to make them all up for this long. I believe that we can tell when our bodies are not working properly, and mine definitely isn't.

I needed some help to figure out what other questions I could possibly bring up to a new doctor, what exams I should ask for and which doctor should I try to attend. It has crossed my mind it could be a lung clot, bronchitis, allergies, sinus infection... I don't even know at this point, but my other doctors assured me it's nothing serious based on the exams I took.

Sorry for the long post and hope I can get some help!

[SassyLassie]

Hello~From what I read, it sounds very much like "Candida" Here are some links to some sites that may be of help. Candida can cause ALL kinds of symptoms and you have some of them. Taking the antibiotics will only make it worse as it feeds on them:

https://www.candidasupport.org/resources/yeast-test/
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/candida-symptoms-treatment#section5
https://www.health.harvard.edu/a_to_z/candidiasis-a-to-z
I would also try to get the book called "The Yeast Connection" by Dr. Crook, it is a wealth of info that most doctors don't tell you.

I hope this helps, if the questionnaire does point to Candida, I would certainly consult your physician or an allergist, it is hard to get rid of can make your life miserable.

[Ken_PA]

The yellow argues to infection (because that means neutrophils were summoned there, and their bleach-like chemical weapons turn to yellow). However,  the lack of response to the antibiotic argues against infection; but maybe there is Abx resistance, or maybe the Abx didn't match.

Bronchiectasis is usually in older people, but then again you had childhood pneumonia. (Maybe your young age made the docs not consider bronchiectasis.)


What were the results of your sputum culture and WBCs? If there doesn't seem to be any infection, then thinking should probably switch to what Annie mentions: sterile inflammation from possible triggers.

A pulmonologist might order a High Resolution CT scan of the lungs. Careful reading of the pain article cited above might help you determine if you match the typical pain - but it doesn't have to be the typical type anyway.

[Ken_PA]

Here's one possibility, looking at this logically...


One would think that pneumonia in young, still developing lungs could result in permanent damage/complications. So we find:

Long-term effects of pneumonia in young children   2015
https://pneumonia.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.15172/pneu.2015.6/671
"Birth cohort, longitudinal, case-control and retrospective studies have reported restrictive and obstructive lung function deficits, asthma, **bronchiectasis**, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease."

Let's consider bronchiectasis (structural changes in the airways) for now.

(But first: "In particular, severe hospitalised pneumonia had the greatest risk for long-term sequelae." Were you hospitalized?)


Next up: Chest pain and exacerbations of bronchiectasis  2012
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3526875/

"Severe airway inflammation with production of large quantities of purulent [yellow/green] sputum is a standard feature of bronchiectasis."

Also, in relation to your worsening periods:
"Subjects with bronchiectasis have periodic acute deteriorations in their clinical state with increased sputum production that are classified as **exacerbations**."


Note this: "Because this chronic condition gets worse over time, it’s important to catch bronchiectasis early and treat it. That will prevent infections, slow damage, and make the condition easier to manage."
https://www.webmd.com/lung/what-is-bronchiectasis#2-6

[AnnieBrooke]

I would guess you are reacting to something in your environment.  Plus anxiety, of course.

[Emily_MHManager]

This is my first thought - something like mold in your home or at work. You can hire a company to come in and test your house or buy a kit at a hardware store for around $20 (or cheaper). If the home kit reacts, you can then hire the company to test and do mold remediation.