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Pain after Pneumothorax

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dee81927
dee81927

I am 28 years old athletic female.I have a very healthy lifestyle I eat well and work out 4-5 times/week.i had two spontaneous Pneumothorax 3 years ago on the left lung. I went under the surgery to fix the problem.I recovered well however I left with pain.I have sudden sharp pain on the left side it ysuly gets better after a few minutes I went back to see a doctor but they couldn't find any problem. Now I started to have pain on the right side the pain is very similar to the one during pneumothorax however it isn't as strong and it goes away within 5-15 min. I am scared if I will have a collapse lung in my right side as well now, not sure why I still have pain or if it is chronic pain. I also have chesty cough every morning for an hour or so. I don't smoke at all and I am wondering why I still haven't feel 100% after 3years.

3 likes, 109 replies

109 Replies

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  • danny92709
    danny92709 dee81927

    Posted

    I am 27 years old, 5'11" and 125 lbs - tall and skinny to say the least - and pregnant. I had a spontaneous pneumo in January during my first trimester and was in the hospital a month. They tried 3 chest tubes but my left lung would not heal on its own and kept collapsing every time they tried to take me off suction. I had VATS surgery end of January on my left lung which, as far as I was told, was successful. Months later I still feel pain, sometimes sharp sudden pain around my incisions which goes away within a minute or two, but is shocking none the less. I know I had a lot of nerve damage because I had some complications with my first 2 chest tubes, and now 5 months pregnant I am being stretched out bigger while my left side is trying to heal. I have some concerns about how I'll do with labour as a result of this. My brother had a spontaneous pneumo on both his left and right lung last year. He did not have surgery, and seems pretty well back to normal, doesn't complain much about any pain or anything. He tells me to be patient and I'll feel more normal next year. Here's hoping! 
  • bamawife
    bamawife dee81927

    Posted

    I am pretty much in the same boat as you, dee81927. I continue to have that terrible gut wrenching pain from time to pain. The only thing that has successfully "managed" the pain. Epidural blocks and Percocets, a lot of them. I can't figure out why I can't seem to put this behind me. 

         To make matters worse, I am constantly short of breath, no cough, but breathless from as little as walking 175 foot around the outside of my home, in a leasurely manner. I can't talk and walk at the same time, I get so short of breath and wheezing, I sometimes have a panic attack. I have an Abuteral rescue inhaler (does not seem to help, much), Spiriva and Symbacort. Another serious thing that has started is my mouth gets soo dry, I can't even speak.  I thought it was the inhalers, I went off all 3 for 4 weeks, no change. I used to get so anxious when I would get SOB, I would lose control of my bladder. I keep thinking it's a flare up and I'll get over it. I'm starting to think, this maybe as good as it's going to get. I don't smoke, I don't have a cough, I'm at a loss as to how/where to go from here. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

  • PandaDSP
    PandaDSP dee81927

    Posted

    I had both my lungs collapse last year , and had to have operations on both to get fixed. Since then I do get aches and pains occasionally , feel tired all the time and get short of breath. Because they messed up my second op , my left lung has always been uncomfortable and the area around the scars are numb. I'm not sure how long it fully takes to recover from the operations , but it would seem it can take a long time. 
    • s.a.m
      s.a.m PandaDSP

      Posted

      Is the operation you did called VATs?

      Im just a little concerned because my left lung collapsed once and it wasn't that big of deal because it eventually healed by itself, 6 months later my right lung collapsed and the doctor had to put a chest tube for it to expand and if it reoccurs il probably undergo surgery. I mainly want to know if your able to run, play sports or do any kinds of exercise properly or if you had ever traveled by air after the surgery?

  • julio68235
    julio68235 dee81927

    Posted

    Hi, I've had three or four episodes on my right lung before operation 5 years ago. I used to do a lot of sports and had to stop. In my expierence the pain never went away, even after 5 years. Sometimes I'm good, sometimes bad, but 2 years from now I decided to do yoga and get back to all my sports. It's helping me a lot. I still have the pain, much less in fact, but at this right moment I'm in much bigger pain because of a rhinitis/sinus condition but I'll tell you: I will not go back to see the doctor, unless I'm almost dying because the threatment is always the same. Take a rest, somehitng for the pain and wait.
  • shelly19105
    shelly19105 dee81927

    Posted

    I am a 45 year old female and had my right lung collapse three times before surgery about a year ago.  Since then, i still feel pain daily on my right side of my chest and my back. The pain on occasion does appear on the left side of my chest. I also feel pain in my right arm and i do feel like i am experiencing another episode fairly regularly. I have to be on pain medication everyday just to function enough to go to work every day.  Does anybody still feel this way a year later?  I know it is not that i am crazy!!!
    • lundgren
      lundgren shelly19105

      Posted

      You sure are not crazy. Let me tell you my story. I had several neumotorax 15 years ago, I had surgery then but they would still happen although much more "feeble". 2 years ago though I had a big one and surgery again (atypical resection, ie a bit of my lung was cut). Then it was all good until 4 weeks ago. I felt a sudden pain like a neumotorax but xrays showed nothing, I thought it must have been a small one causing more pain than usual. Two weeks later I was still in pain though, so I went back to ER and again xrays were negative. They told me it probably was musculoskeletal pain - whatever that is. A week ago I visited a very renown neumologist. He told me that after so many surgeries it was not uncommon to experience pain, that I may have to live with it. I was appalled. I can "feel" my lung several times every hour, sometimes its more painful, sometimes its less painful. Its in the chest, in the back, and - like in your case - also in the arm. For the moment being I have not tried doing exercise to see whether it gets worse or not but I will, eventually. I am waiting for a CT scan. Have you had one?
    • shelly19105
      shelly19105 lundgren

      Posted

      I recently went to visit with a pulminary specialist.  I do have a high resolution CT scan scheduled in December.  I was hoping i could get it done sooner.  I also "feel" my lung several times a day.  Sometimes it hurts to lie down and i can't find any relief on any side the way i used to.  I also still can't laugh or sneeze without holding my chest.  Its sounds so unfair this is a pain we may need to live with the rest of our lives.  I do exercise and it neither gives more pain or takes it away.. it is just always there.
    • andrea84741
      andrea84741 shelly19105

      Posted

      Me too: ( if it's not cramping, I'll get like a twitch where the bottom tip of my lung used to be.
    • lundgren
      lundgren shelly19105

      Posted

      Hi, I wonder how you are doing and what your CT scan showed.

      Mine did not show anything of notice for someone whos had two surgeries. And I am still in pain. Most of the time Im fine, but if I do chest stretches, exercise, or even I talk for a while, I get the pain. It is now localised in a very specific spot.

      I wonder if it might be intercostal muscle sprain but the dr. says it has to do with the surgery and that I should do exercise - although a second neumologist said it did not and if I do exercise I get pain. So with conflicting opinions and other unfortunate health issues, I still dont know what to do.

      Hope you are feeling better.

       

  • kimberly.h
    kimberly.h dee81927

    Posted

    Hi. I had a phnemotharax and chest tube a little over a year ago and had surgery. I have really bad pains every so often that last for long periods of times. Ive went and got X-rays and they can't find anything wrong. Has anyone been able to narrow down what triggers or causes the pain they have?
    • lundgren
      lundgren kimberly.h

      Posted

      As others have posted, it seems that some people experience pain after surgery. I do, my neumologist told me - after ruling out some other possibilities with a chest scan- it was likely that. Just for your information, last time I had surgery was two years ago, so I pretty skeptical about this pain disappearing at some point. Hope your pain does go away.
  • williamd123
    williamd123 dee81927

    Posted

    I am 17 and this is the 3rd time at this point I'm gonna suck it up but if it happens again then surgery maybe as I am planning on becoming a police officer and I don't want further complications

     

    • williamd123
      williamd123

      Posted

      It seems it's happened every 3 months now

       

  • Jimbro29842
    Jimbro29842 dee81927

    Posted

    How is sex life after pneumothorax?

    My Story:

    I had pneumothorax for the first time almost a week ago. The first two days I had pain that I assumed was from acid reflux. After two days I went to a clinic and was told to go to the emergency room right away as my breathing was bad. I had an x-ray at the hospital. I had a small surgery the same day and went home with a small tube. For three days after taking meds I experienced pain (obviously). However, my concern is what I did tonight. I had not masterbated for 4-5 days and today I released my self twice.I felt bubbles in the lung that collapsed but not really any pain, only soarness. I am worried about masterbating too early. Should I be?

    • andrea84741
      andrea84741 Jimbro29842

      Posted

      I think it was a couple months after before I could even think about doin it. I was in the hospital over a month though and it was bad. Anyways, take it slow first time!! It hurt pretty badly in my whole torso
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