I am 26 years old & I live in NJ. I'm writing because I am desperate for an answer. I have had SOB for about a year & a half now. I started doing a keratin treatment on my hair around that time & a couple months into doing it, I ended up in the hospital for symptoms like shortness of breath, nausea, & no appetite. The Dr said he thought it was anxiety & I KNEW it wasn't so we did a few tests. 6 hours later they discharged me & said I was fine. Still nauseas & feeling sick they prescribed me anti-nausea meds & Xanax. I drove to my moms 4 hours away because our power was out during hurricane sandy & I couldn't walk up our stairs to the 10th floor because my breathing was so bad. After getting to my moms the hospital called me & told me to immediately come back; I had severe pneumonia. I couldn't because I was in upstate NY & picked up an anti biotic from there.
Time has gone by & my breathing has only gotten worse. I found out the treatments had formaldehyde & stopped using it months ago. I am in top notch shape. I have been an athlete and played various sports & I still workout today. I've been seeing a doctor since last September about this & they've recently decided to give up on me. They've done 4 tests; an echo, a peak flo test, a PFT & an exercise stress test. All tests have come back with decent results but I know my lungs have damage from the formaldehyde in the keratin treatment I was using and I think that's what also caused my pneumonia. My symptoms today are SOB, dizziness, occasional palpitations, and I've coughed up blood a few times.
I don't know who else to go to or what the next step is I should take. I'm frustrated beyond belief because my quality of life has deteriorated so much & I'm so irritable. I just want my normal life back.
In desperate need of your help
Kristin