Hi karen
i have chest pain almost every day. My lupus began with a severe case of pleurisy that never really went away. It has cleared up over the years,but shows up again periodically. I tried to return to work full time after not working for a long time. In that time I did fairly well. But after a few months, my chest pain got very severe. Now it is with me everyday. I have added a pulmonary doctor to my arm's length list who says it is asthma. I take three meds twice a day now as well as a steroid inhaler just to be able to breathe. And it still gets worse every few months.
Does anyone else have lung problems like this?
Sunny

Hmmm, not exactly like this, but I do have chest pains (lung, not heart) and breathing issues a lot. I get deep lung pain...Then I cough and it sounds like I could blow the house down! Lol!

I was given an inhaler for a while. Then things got worse...And I ended up on a solid dose of prednisone for two years and didn't seem to need the inhaler anymore. I have just come off the steroids (woo!) and the breathing thingie is back! I plan on talking to my rheumy and gp soon (once settled). I figure they will hand me another inhaler.

Hugs,
ladybrannon

I just started advair 250mg. You inhale it, but it is not an inhaler. It is a powder. I feel like it is helping with that heavy chest, coughing thing. I've spoken to a few other people who have taken it, and they say it has helped them. A side note from one of the experienced users, rinse, gargle and/or brush afterward or it can cause thrush, which I don't know about the rest of you, but i've had it a few times without any help.

I also have asthma, though not the serious life threatening kind.

Mia

My husband was exrayed and was told he had pleurisy and they gave him pain medication. He says its not stopping his pain. He also has emphasema what should have been done for him. He says they should have given him an atibiotic to clear up the problem. I don't know his age is 76. Please advise

I find that Lyrica and lasix helps my pleurasy pain from having Lupus since 1993. I normally take Ultram for my daily pain, but find it doesn't touch the pleurasy pain, but the Lyrica and lasix does the trick.

To KARENMOMOF3: It has been a while since your original enquiry. Have you found a solution? I hope you got a second opinion for your symptoms. You have probably discovered that "YES" pleurisy can come and go. I found out (today) that several women in my family get "this" on occasion. I am 41 and never knew this. Apparently the sharp/stabbing like pain I have been getting on and off since high school is this "Pleurisy". All I ever had to do (before) was "raise my arm over my head" for 5 minutes. The pain would ease and I then could breathe again. Sometimes, it would scare me because I could not breathe in (at all)for a full minute. Most of the other times, I could at least breathe in "short" fast breaths until it stopped. Never (before this week) has it lasted for more than 20 minutes. This time it is going on 5 days. Although it is less scary because I can breathe, it still hurts like the dickens and all the time. Can't sleep well. Hope you found a cure and got a second opinion. I believe the antibiotics is the solution.