Pain after Pneumothorax

Hii

I am a 16 year old boys who had 2 consecutive spontaneous pneumothorax and inserted chest drains. It was quite annoying. Now i have some hard breathing and back pain. And the same pain that you have.

Hi all. I too live with chronic upper body pain following my second pneumothorax over 5 years ago. My first spontaneous pnemothorax was almost 8 years ago and healed itself as did the second one. A CT scan showed a small bleb on the top of my left lung so I was offered an operation to remove the bleb and stick my lung to the chest cavity although I opted to not have the operation at the time. Following on from this I have had a tight chest particularly in the cold weather and heavyness as though there is a brick in my chest which becomes heavier when I pick up a virus or cold. Alongside this, I have breathing difficutlies and pain after any physical activity. Four years ago, I spent most of my days on the sofa as I had no energy to do anything and needed to rest in between doing chores. When I went to see my G.P, my oxygen levels and chest was checked which is most often ok so I would be referred for an X-ray which does not show any abnormalities so my G.P advised I have asthma and I've been given an inhaler which does help relieve the tightness.

After seeing a respiratory consultant 3 months ago (who had declined referrals from my G.P twice because he didn't think he could do anything) he has now said I should not have the operation as it has been five years since my last pneumothorax and that I should have a scan of my neck as I also have thoracic outlet syndrome to check if there could be anything causing my breathing difficulties.

My G.P has recently admitted they cannot do much because they don't really know what's wrong with me. I have to say I felt glad to hear this because at least I know where I stand!

Hey, So this just happened to me in February! I woke up one day with excruciating pain on my left side and my heart was beating uncontrollably, I thought I was having a heart attack! I went to the doctor who ordered an x-ray I was too going to get the next day but the pain was gone, so i chose not to go! 2 weeks later, I had my yearly physical and the doctor said i was in the best health of my life, 2 hours after i left there the pain came back with a vengeance. Like an idiot, I waited 3 days before my husband dragged me out of bed to the hospital, I was too weak to make it inside and was retrieved by an orderly with a wheel chair, they were unable to find my pulse it was so weak I barley was getting any oxygen which again they brought to me immediately in the waiting room of the ER and my organs had already begun to shut down and I was in sepsis! I later learned that they believe that I have had pneumonia for about a year undiagnosed and my left lung was entirely collapsed into a ball in the bottom of my chest cavity and was wrapped in infection from the pneumonia! They pumped me full of antibiotics and removed almost 4 liters of pleural fluid from my chest cavity, pushe my heart to the right side and was now effecting my right lung which was only 40% operational! In the end I had 3 chest tubes placed into it, to keep my lungs inflated, which I had for about 5 weeks total! During this entire time I received iv antibiotics but the infection won't go away, my lungs are doing better, but I too am having pain they tell me is from the scar tissue adhering to the chest cavity and such but will improve over time! I clean houses for a living and after being hospitalized for a month and out of work over 2 months, just recently returning to work! I've never been so exhausted and weak in my life, I just finally had the PICC Line removed and went onto oral medication instead of the iv meds. The pain is still bad as is the difficulty breathing after a flight of stairs or walking a distance.I'm terrified of reoccurance constantly!

Hi, can you give us an update on your health? I am 17 and had my 3rd collapse 48 hours ago, first was a year ago, second was 3 weeks ago, 20% collapse, 50% collapse and 40% collapse respectively. I spent 35 hours in hospital and got dischared 12 hours ago to come back in about 6 hours from now for surgery preparations, I am having VATS pleurodesis surgery where the surgeons stick the lung to the chest surface using an irritant or roughing up the inside of the pleura. I feel confident and I believe that will decide my fate for pain and discomfort. I expect my next few days recovering to be trash as I will take every measure to exercise the lungs and legs to help with the healing process. It is interesting how many people are suffering post-op years ahead, perhaps the surgeons accidentally fiddled with the nerves which run down your ribs and can cause permanent damage / loss of feeling. Hope you all get better soon. 

Hello everyone

I had my right lung collapsed 3 times due to pneumotorax. This all happened in April. I went back to hospital 3 times. Finally, they did CT scan of my lungs and discovered blebs which were removed on May 4th using VATS method. The surgeon did mechanical abrasion of parietal pleura. I was released after few days. I was really doing great( my lungs capacity went back to normal , walked long walks, returned to normal life pretty fast) until 3 days ago. After taking a shower I did a wierd move and since then I am short of breath. I also feel pain in my back and in my kidney on the right side. I went to ER where they did X-ray of my lungs which showed everything is completely ok. The doctor also listened to my breathing and said everything is ok. However, I am still not feeling ok and am short of breath. I feel like something is disturbing my right lung from normal expanding while breathing( like straining when I inhale). I measured my blood preassure and it was pretty high and my hearth rate was 92 per minute while I was sitting. It still hasn't changed much. I really dont know what to do.

Anyone had any similar experiences?

Not sure if anyone even checks on this anymore, but i am a 21 year old male, 5'10 and around 135 pounds. My right lung has been collapsing about once a year since I was 17 and always thought I was pulling a muscle so I ignored it. Fast forward to now and I kept getting the pain every 2-3 weeks, so i decided to go to the doctor and to my surprise was a collapsed lung. Went back to normal, then It happened again 2 weeks later so I went to a specialist and surprise surprise, he recommended vats with pleurodesis. I had the surgery about a week and a half ago. Actually am doing great so far, serious numbness and tenderness around the large tube I had in, the numbness and tenderness basically is from my upper abdomen and goes kinda in a straight line under my pectoral muscle to the chest, and then some random sharp pains but am no longer on pain meds (my choice) The other small tube I had in has no pain at that location or the incision. Worst pain of my life waking up though and I was crying out for help (literally) and they really gave me some pain meds, I was messed up for hours, though Im sure its not uncommon. Also couldn't pee and almost needed a catheter. Regardless here I am at home, had originally been sent home after 5 days with the small tube in because I had a small collapsed lung still, everything expanded, got it removed black friday. Now its monday and I woke up with the damn dreaded bubbling, I go in for an x-ray and its partially collapsed AGAIN. All my surgeon said was to get another x-ray on wednesday and got no more info, not even the percent of collapse, though the lady on the phone said it was small. I don't know what to do and am really overwhelmed. I know I read some people have recurrent ones after surgery, but really, after a week? Is this uncommon? and what happens next. I work a construction job in their prefabrication shop, and am very valued there so I hate missing work as it is. If anyone has any insight on this that would be great. Also it doesn't help that I suffer from anxiety either. Thanks in advance

Hi all

Would like to let others know Following a pneumothorax I suffered terrible pain for 5 months the Doctor was saying pain management , a friend convinced me to go to a chiropractor who said that where the lung had been down my muscles had moved allowing my rib to be displaced once he had put my rib back in the pain was so much better I have to be careful while the muscle re alignes but I am so grateful to be out of that terrible scary pain.

I hope this helps someone else

Hey, i had a left lung collapse around 3 years ago aswell. I'm 20 right now and i've recovered 100%. I also had sharp pain in my chest regularly and a lot of anxiety ( i thought it might have something to do with my heart).

I haven't had any pain nor other sign of the collapse for a year now. 

I remember that day well, i smoked a lot of weed although i never usually smoke so my body wasn't used to it and also did some drugs. The side-effects of the drugs amplified themselves so my heart was beating like 180~200 times per minute for like 12+ hours. I thought i was going to die that day, might've been really close. I couldn't sleep at all and had insane anxiety and was just desperately trying to calm myself down and control my heart beat for the whole duration.

The following days i felt really strange, had constant pain in my chest till i tried to lay down and i could just feel this sudden crash inside my chest, I tried to stand up but i felt a lot of pressure in my chest and it hurt a lot so i called teh ambulance. It turned out my lung had collapsed and i was diagnosed with a spontaneous pnumathorax even though it might've seemed like it was from trauma. I had all the requirements, slim body, young adult etc..

I live a very sedentary lifestyle, playing videogames and watching stuff, which helps, since i didn't strain my body and let it recover naturally. The first few months were horrible but i started working as a mailman and all the waking up early and walking for a few hours helped me recover. I didn't recover completely. I also went to the gym at the same time for like half a year till i quit doing both.

There was still some anxiety/pain left but i got rid of it when i started learning how to sing. Singing is really healthy and good for your lungs. There's actually an article which claimed a prof. singer survived a deadly pnumathorax because she had trained her lungs with singing.

I highly recommend doing breathing exercises, singing, getting a lot of fresh air to clean the lungs and also resting properly. Get all of the necessary vitamins and minerals so your body can recover itself and hopefully you'll be fine.

Hello all...

So I thought I'd share my experience and hope it helps anyone who's dealing with this issue. I am a 62 y.o , 6'6",  250 lb. man and I had my right lung collapse on August 11, 2017. I woke up @ 3:30 am with my cat yowling in the living room. She was seriously throwing a fit.That alone is weird, it's not something she has ever done but she was doing it that morning. i kept calling her but she would not come to me so I got up to get her and then I knew something was wrong. Really, really wrong...

I called 911 and walked out to the corner to wait for them. I figured if I was moving I wasn't dead yet. When the EMT's arrived they too thought I was having a heart attack (I doubted it) and they gave me both oxygen and nitro glycerin. They said I was 'gray', cold and absolutely could not breathe. When I arrived in the ER they also said it was a heart attack. By then I was at least breathing with the oxygen and told them I seriously doubted it  was a heart issue since there's no history of it in my family on either side. My dad is 92, my aunts and uncles are all in their 80's. And sure enough I was right, no heart attack, but the real cause was no better. A spontaneous lung collapse I was told. The attending ER Dr., after speaking with the lung/heart Dr., put in a tube and immediately I felt much, much better. They moved me to another area similar to ICU to keep an eye on me. Unfortunately the ER Dr. put the wrong size tube in and within the hour my lung collapsed again. By this time the actual lung/heart Dr. had arrived and he was not pleased that the ER Dr. ignored his instructions about the tube size and was forced to remove that tube and place another in in a different spot. Oh the pain. However, after a week and many, many xrays, Cat scans (I think it was cat scans...maybe another kind?) my Dr. said he was hopeful that my lung would remain inflated after removing the tube a week later. Well, it didn't. So within 2 weeks I'd had 3 collapses. I was told I had to have surgery because the blebs at the top (middle & bottom) of my lung needed to be repaired. At first he was going to use the Da Vinci surgical system. However, after reviewing all my scans. xrays, etc. he said my right lung looked like it had bunches of grapes hanging on it. He would not be able to get them all unless he did open-lung surgery.*

He said he'd never seen so many blebs. And also he said this was likely not related to smoking (I'd quit years before) or anything I had done. More heredity than anything else. Unbeknownst to me I had two cousins who'd also experienced this but they weren't as lucky. I'm lucky because I was a speed skater all my life and my lungs were otherwise in great shape. And HUGE too... that is what helped save me. My lung was collapsed 90%. I was very, very lucky indeed. I ended up being in the hospital for 3 weeks (!)

However, I had packed my car the night before and was leaving the next day on a 2500 mile road trip - one way! Had this occurred in the middle of N. Dakota or Montana on the highway who knows what would have happened. Odds are I would not be writing this now.

It's been 3 months since the surgery and my lung is working well. I've had many xrays since and things look fine so far. Naturally the thought of having another collapse scares me but my surgeon thinks it's unlikely. My case was rare in that he believes the collapse was like those that occur in much younger people. And it's possible those blebs had burst before but I'd healed on my own and never known. 

What's it like now? Well, my right pectoral muscle is still numb as he!! and there's stabbing shots of pain now and again. I'm still taking both pain meds and muscle relaxers. Very few compared to in the beginning but still needed now and again. If iI need them for the rest of my life I'm fine with it. Actually the muscle relaxers do more than anything else. My regular Dr. is in touch with my surgeon and he believes the pain is due to the nerves & muscles knitting themselves back together. They say it will continue to improve. I've no idea if the pain will completely go away but for 3 months out of surgery I think I'm doing pretty darn good!

As to the cat, well, she's living the high life now. Whatever she wants, she gets. I think she knew something was up and possibly saved my life (and her meal ticket!)

Perhaps my experience will give someone some hope for the future, I'd like to think so... Thinking positive helps too, I believe.

Cheers,

Rich

PS: Thanks, Dee81927 for starting this thread!

*Actually he did not tell me he was doing the open lung surgery until 10 minutes before the actual surgery. Which was very smart, otherwise I'd have spent a week worrying about broken ribs (didn't happen) and other stuff I COULD NOT CONTROL!

I’m so glad to have found this discussion.

I am a 32 yr old female who had a spontaneous collapse twice one right after the other about 2 years ago. 

I was literally sitting in the couch and told my roommate my chest hurt, he told me it was prolly heart burn, gave me a tums and left. My boyfriend at the time thought I was over reacting as well. So I waited til the next morning and went to urgent care where they did an X-ray and sent me immediately to the ER where they put in a chest tube.

I was in the hospital a day or two, they took out the tube and sent me home...but I still had that weird feeling like something was sloshing around in my chest. I went back to the ER the next day and it had collapsed again. Another cheat tube and 3 days later I was sent home again and all was good.

I had been a smoker of weed and cigarettes for 15 years...I’ve now quit both as im afraid of another collapse but I feel like the damage has been done.

I’m fairly lazy thought since the collapse I have been eating much better and trying to exercise (when my chest doesn’t hurt) which was what i wanted to compare with you guys.

I didn’t have the surgery like a lot of people in here but I definitely still get the random stabbing pains/tightness around the incision sites which I assumed was normal..

But every so often and for the last 2 weeks I’ve had a dull and sometimes stabbing pain in the middle of my chest  Always when I take a deep breath and sometimes when I don’t.

It’s also in my right shoulder and lower right ribs.

I went to urgent care and they did and X-ray and made sure it wasn’t collapsed (it wasn’t) and said it was costochondritis which is an inflammation of the tissue connecting the sternum to the ribs. They gave me an anti inflammatory shot and sent me away. It did not help at all and a week later it’s the same pains. 

I’m scared it’s my heart but they didn’t even look at it.

I feel like that diagnosis was a cop out.

I feel like this is abnormal but no one believes me....

Anyone have any suggestions as to what this might be or have similar symptoms years after a collapse/chest tube?

The nerve damage done due to the surgery is un repairable. The muscles are also cut. They do not heal either. This surgery is one of the most severe op possible. I cannot stress enough how we just have to learn to deal with it. No pills no physio no exercises will help. Learning breathing techniques will help lower the pain.

Here's my best advice

First lock your elbow tight into base of ribs use other arm to grip it until u feel ur elbow press on the damaged lung.

Next turn away from the damaged side and exhale whilst turning.

Then once ar full rotation take 3 very deep breaths and hold each until u feel u need to exhale.

Repeat this a few times a day for a week.

Doing this will stretch everything it will hurt but it will help. Like I've stated I hold the world record on pneumothorax mine are always 100% collapse. My last I got out after 24 hrs because doctors now listen to me. They think they know more than you do trust me they do not.

There are homeopathic remedies that will help. Echanisha, magnesium and ginseng will help. Tea tree, lavender and eucalyptus oils help with pain and breathing.

Lastly we just need to woman up (man up) but women are genetically stronger than men when it comes to pain.