constant chest pressure, hemoptysys, tight throat, Hoarseness,chronic dry cough

[sonyc]

Hello.
I had a dry cough for about 2 months now. i smoke on the weekends occansionally and drink heavily on the weekends. when the dry cough started, i had a tingly feelingin my chest. about a month later, it turned in to pressure. there is constant pressure in my chest now ( from the minute i wake up to when i sleep., also about a month after the dry cough started, i have a tight thoat and Hoarseness. i also started seeing blood in my phelm and when i blow my nose. the blood is bright red. i had a chest xray done and it came back with out any abnormalities. my dr. thinks its gerd and i have been on antacids for about 2 weeks. i have no relief as of yet. my doctor said it could take months for relief. i told my doctor about the blood and he thinks its from the sinuses. in the morning when i blow my nose, i do have dried blood coming out. i also started to have chest pains which are intermittant and last seconds. the pain is mild and dull. usually along the breast bone and near the left rib cage.

any ideas what this could be? i am very worried about this.
thanks for your time.

[dentono]

A related discussion, I am 34 and have really bad problems was started.

[bl286]

A related discussion, problems from the flu was started.

[alexisntx]

I would not discount an environmental exposure.  Many chemical/toxin exposures can cause ILD. Have you changed residences or jobs during the year prior to the onset of your problems?

[National Jewish]

Experiencing what you describe as, "constant pressure in my chest" is definitely abnormal.  Often this is not due to a lung problem.  It can be from your heart or a sign of musculoskeletal strain.

Sounds like the blood is coming from your nose and/or sinuses.  If so, you need treatment for the inflammation of your nose and sinuses that is often accompanied by infection.  If you continue to see blood in your phlegm, you will need a more thorough evaluation of your lungs, despite the reported normal chest x-ray.

[EROS]

This sounds like two combined problems, sinus problems as indicated by the blood when you blow your nose, this could be something as simple as dry air drying out the thin mucosal layer in your nasal cavity.

GERD could also be causing your tight throat and chest discomfort. Gerd can also cause lung scarring in the upper lobes, it could be worthwhile discussing this with your doctor.

In restrictive diseases (fibrosis) PFTs generally show a pattern before CT's do. The scarring you describe on your post is most likely related to a previous infection / GERD. Someone with Fibrosis at your age would generally have an ubderlying connective tissue disease like lupus. Symptoms of this would also be evident at this stage if indeed it were pulmonary fibrosis.

Having said all this a follow up scan in 18/24 months is warranted.

Relax, walk, read, keep active and stop the binge drinking and smoking, you will feel better in time.

[sonyc]

thanks for all the comments eros.

=)

happy holidays


and God bless.

[EROS]

In a significant amount of cases lung nodules are not always cancer. You will see alot of previous posts where lung nodules show on CT / XRAY, on further investigation they are found to benign or harmless.

[sonyc]

i just took a cat scan and my dr. said i have mild lung scaring on top of one of my lungs.
i am not sure what that means?

what can cause that and should i be concerned about cancer?


thanks

matt

[EROS]

Sony,

Taking your symptoms into account you should talk to your docor about the following.

You chest irritation, pain and cough could be caused by sinus problems, this is confirmed by the blood you talk about, a sinus CT will verify this.

Chronic Bronchitis could also be a reason for your malady, talk to your doctor about this.

As a long shot you could have a rare condition PCD or ICS, see below link:

http://www.p-c-d.org/en/faq/

Most of all the most important thing you can do for both your lung and sinus trouble is stop smoking now / today. It might be also a good idea to knock the binge drinking on the head too (at least till you get the smoking under control). You are young but you are symptomatic, you cannot smoke any longer, you are causing permanent damage.

People are being diagnosed with COPD (google it) in their early 30's. Most of these would be symptomatic smokers in their 20's.

Rgds,

Eros.

[sonyc]

i did take the Pulmonary function test and everything was ok with that. the dr. said i should take the cat scan becuase of the blood in phlem/when i blow my nose.
my dr. does not think the bleeding is coming from the lung scaring but due to sinus issues.

i am still wondering what is causing the pressure i feel in my chest/ tight throat/hoarsness.
i did stop taking the antacids(as of today). maybe that wasnt a good idea? but i thought everything was related to the lung scaring.

my dr. never said i had pulmonary fibrosis, i just got that from googling. i really think google made me a hypercondriac.anyone know a good lawyer? =) j/p

some more bad news..my mother was geting pretests for surgery for thyroid cancer. they took a chest xray and found 2mm nodule.
she has never smoked in her life. could this be cancer?

thanks for reading.
thanks for the reply.

[sonyc]

i did do some reading on the scarring of lungs(pulmonary Fibrosis)


can my situation get worst? my dr says not to worry, he said he didnt see the actual cat scan images yes, but just read the report. the report said i had a mild scarring on top of one of my lungs.

this is pretty frightening.

can the other symptoms all be related to this?
constant pressure in chest
blood in phlem/ when i blow my nose
tight throat/ hoarseness in voice


thanks for your time.

[EROS]

Mild scarring could be related to a past chest infection or something in childhood. It is unusual that you had a HRCT without pulmonary function test to establish if there was a restrictive pattern present. Normally an abnormal PFT leads to a HRCT.

Did your doctor say you had Pulmonary Fibrosis? this is an unusual diagnosis without a lung biopsy.

You should post on the cheshire med site,

http://www.cheshire-med.com/forums/cldforum.html

or the huff-n-puff site

http://www.huff-n-puff.net/newforum/

Some real experts here on ILD. By the way your are very young for ILD, in ILD your DCLO is lowered (shrinking lung) your have not commented on this.

[Sunny602]

Agree with John..although you are young, young people can get sick. Has your doc run any other tests..especially if he feels you have GERD then maybe more test could be done to see if you have it like an upper GI or endoscopy (docs use a camera to look down into your esophagus and stomache and look at the tone of the muscle responsible for keeping acids in your stomache). As for your sinuses, is it really dry where you are? If it is, maybe humidification..just a suggestion. I had to do that as I had that problem with dryness and blood. Talk to your doc, explain everything that is going on...when you go, write every concern you have down, that way you don't forget to ask any questions. I do that, prior to that, I would walk out, forget an important question and then have to call the doc. As for the hoarseness, could be the cigarettes, who knows...but like I said, have a really good discussion with your doc. Good luck, Sunny :)

[JohnPJR]

Did your Doctor do an EKG or any type of Heart evaluaation? Any time you have tightness in your chest it should cause you deep concern.

[sonyc]

sorry, 1 last thing.

i am 26 and weigh 155 lbs. i am 5' 10".
no prior medical issues.

[sonyc]

i also took a blood test, which came back normal. i also have this back pain. the pain is located under my left shoulder blade. it a sharp pain and i am almost positive it started after the chest pressure. i am not sure if the back pain is related at all.