Trouble Breathing: Anxiety or Medical Issue? Posted: 07-16-06 19:27pm
Hello,
I have been having problems breathing for
quite awhile. Only now it has progressed
to the point were it is extremely
uncomfortable. I'm experiencing fatigue,
dizziness, tingling in hands, head aches,
shortness of breath, and some pain right
underneath my sternum. I can never get a
full breath so what I do is I try to yawn.
Sometimes that usually will help. If I
push with my two fingers inward right
underneath my sternum, I feel a bump of
some sort. It kind of feels like scar
tissue, but not sure what it could be. I
went to emergency because I was having
problems breathing. They took x-rays of
my chest and came up with the conclusion
that it was anxiety. When they gave me my
diagnosis, I was almost sure that they
were wrong. I have deep concern and am
affraid that it might be something worse
than anxiety. I asked the doctor if they
could take some blood test just to be on
the safe side, but he refused and told me
just to go home and relax. He gave no
prescription, but did say that if I wanted
any tests to be done that I would have to
ask my physician to do it. The problem
is that I have no physician because I have
no insurance. I would have to go to a
clinic of some sort, but I just want to
know if you might think that there might
be something there more then just anxiety.
Also, what you might think could be the
problem.
|
DoctorAnswer
Doctor Answer
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General Q&A Answer A1228 Posted: 07-18-06 03:24am
According to your age, your symptoms, and
my experience I would also say that it
seems that you are highly anxious. To
confirm that and to exclude other
diseases, several diagnostic procedures
have to be done. You have already done a
physical examination and chest X-ray.
These diagnostic procedures are enough to
exclude bronchitis, pneumonia, pleurisy,
pneumotorax, lung tumor and some other
diseases that may give some of the
symptoms you’ve experienced. Because
everything was OK, the doctors in the
emergency room didn’t prescribe you
anything and didn’t perform any further
analyses. If you to, can go to your GP to
do standard blood analyses and an
ECG...these seem medically unnecessary but
can help give you ease of mind.
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