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Not sure if its asthma or sinus condition or COPD or some other lung condition

Posted , 6 users are following.

abhi3112
abhi3112

I am 31. Smoked for 9 yrs(Avg. 5-10 cigg per day). Had asthma and sinus issues as a child. My PFT results

FVC(L) - 4.29, FEV1(L) - 3.43, FEV1/FVC(%) - 80%

I have been having issues for past 4-5 months.  Not sure what is it ? Any ideas. I have been reading about stem cell therapy for COPD. Has anyone benefitted from it in past. Please help me. I am really scared. 

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  • robert31613
    robert31613 abhi3112

    Posted

    Hi

    Yes it is scary to have problems with breathing.

    It's difficult to be definite but it is very unusual to have COPD at your age with a short time of smoking duration. My understanding of the percentage figures from spirometry is that 80% would not necessarily indicate COPD., its usually considerably below this.

    Did they ask you to do a reversibility test that is inhale a bronchodilater and see if your scores improved. It is one of the ways to differentiate between Asthma and COPD.

    lastly it is important to be checked for a genetic cause of early onset repiratory symptoms.which require a specific treatment .

    Hope this is of some help to you but please ensure you get it checked out and your questions answered.

    Good luck and try not to worry to much new treatments are being developed all the time.

    • abhi3112
      abhi3112 robert31613

      Posted

      I had 2 PFT tests in past 4 months. Both were post broncodilator

      1st PFT :  FVC(L) - 4.04, FEV1(L) - 3.53, FEV1/FVC(%) - 107%

      2nd PFT : FVC(L) - 4.29, FEV1(L) - 3.43, FEV1/FVC(%) - 80%

      I am not sure which is better or wether they have done the test correctly. I read that the numbers depend on your age,wt and hight. I have already seen 3 docs. As far as my symptoms are concerned, I feel better then before, my breathlessness has improved, but I still wheez when I force air out of my lungs, and my chest still feels a bit tight. All 3 docs listened to my chest and said its asthma.

      Just to understand I calculated my cigg. pack years which came out to be 5 yrs or may be a 1-2 yrs more depending on the days when you smoke a little more then usual.

      I have read so much about COPD but still its really hard to differenciate between the two. I would love to know the difference between mild COPD and Mild persistant asthma(Thats what i have as per my doc).

      After all my research I have found stem cell therapy to be one of the most promising therapy. There is a lot of research going on on this. Lot of clinical trials going on. A lot is going to change in next 5-10 yrs. If you are really interested read about Dr. Shinya Yamanaka of Japan.

    • robert31613
      robert31613 abhi3112

      Posted

      Thank you . Stem cell therapy is certainly exciting and hopefully will bear fruit. It seems highly likely that you have asthma and need to be under the care of the respiratory nurse to help you manage the condition optimally. For example most of us use our inhalers ineffectively. I have benefitted greatly from using a spacer to ensure the maximum benefit. If you are having to use the reliever often then you may benefit from a long acting bronchodilaters as well as the ventolin .

  • robert31613
    robert31613 abhi3112

    Posted

    Ps It's a good idea to have a flu vaccination every year if you haven't already done so. Flu can be especially dangerous for us with respiratory conditions .
    • abhi3112
      abhi3112 robert31613

      Posted

      Thanks Robert.. I got my flu vaccine. I am taking Advair(which is a LABA) 2 puffs twice daily and a Fluticasone propionate nasal spray too for nasal congestion. 

      Do you have same symptoms like me ? I am running in 5th month with my symptoms. 

      Do you really think that 5 pack year smoking could cause serious damage to lungs ?  

    • robert31613
      robert31613 abhi3112

      Posted

      Hi

      Yes I do have similar symptoms. I am a lot older than you and smoked for 45 years about 15 daily . So approx 30 smoking pack years. I gave up 5 years ago after many attempts with nicotine replacement and zyoban, champix . I have now managed by using e cigarettesandCOPD which the Royal College of physicians report says is as good as giving up smoking. I have mild COPD which is not at all surprising given my long smoking history.

      I was a radiotherapy cancer treatment radiographer before retirement and would be extremely surprised if your smoking was the cause. However it is never too early to quit.

    • abhi3112
      abhi3112 robert31613

      Posted

      Then may be you can help me understand my radiology test, that says :

      1. The size of the cardiac silhoutte is within normal limits. 

      2. No active lung infiltrates are identified.

      3. No Pleural effusions are seen.

      4. No acute osseous abnormality is identified.

      5. No acute cardiopulmonary process is identified. 

      I really wanted to understand what all this means. If it tells anything about chronic bronchitis or emphysema.

    • ladyjack51
      ladyjack51 abhi3112

      Posted

      Hello abhi3112,

      I could break each one down but to make it simple your heart appears totally normal in size, tissue, and the way it's pumping so that great news as well. They see nothing heart related that is making your breathing labored. These are some basic tests they run as a process of elimination to narrow down what is going on with your lungs. So...it's not your heart and your heart is normal. Ladyjack51

    • robert31613
      robert31613 abhi3112

      Posted

      Hi

      How are you today ?

      First thing the results are what you would hope to see because they are all negative.

      When an X-Ray beam is focused on our bodies it is absorbed more by dense tissue than for example air filled lungs. This produces the contrast between different anatomical structures allowing us to see inside our bodies. An image is produced that reveals various useful diagnostic information.

      1 the heart sillouette is this contrast and yours shows you have a normal sized heart that has not been enlarged. The enlargement happens if our hearts have to work extra hard to pump blood to the lungs for example. So yours is ifine.

      2. Would propably mean they have not found anything infiltrating the structure of your lungs. Excellent

      3 refers to fluid in the pleura which surrounds the lungs and can cause breathlessness . Yours was fine.

      4 Osseous means of the bone so once again you're free of any problem.

      5 there are no acute problems with your heart ( cardiac ) or lungs ( pulmonary ) so things like infections would be acute rather than chronic.

      That is my understanding of these but I'm not a doctor so please ask your GP about them when you next see them.

      The tests look good.

      Hope that helps you to make more sense of them. Best wishes Robert

    • abhi3112
      abhi3112 robert31613

      Posted

      Thanks for the info...do you think I should go for any other test to get a accurate diagnostic.
    • abhi3112
      abhi3112 ladyjack51

      Posted

      Thanks Ladyjack....is there any other test that can be done to check lung infections...?
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