Sign-in to Ask A Doctor - 24x7
OR
Sign in with Google
What Do My Lab Test Results Indicate?
Question: I am looking for an additional opinion today.
Could you please help me understand what may be the cause of my Upper Lung Problem.
I smoked for approximately 23 pack years. I quit in October 2000. In 2001 I began having panic attacks later diagnosed as Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I panicked about my heart because of the sensations from the body release of stress mediators. I also began to worry about my breathing. At that time in early 2001 I had my first of 7 PFTs. the last test was March of this year. They have all been relatively the same in the results. FVC 95-108, Fev1 90-105, FVC/FEV1 75-84 Dlco 85-100 DLCO/va 95 +/- RV 103 TLC 104-117 FEF 25/75 has be variable from 49-81 after bronco test 99
The last PFT Test, the Pulmonologist looked at the test and all earlier tests, looked at the xrays and said that he couldnt find any sign of Lung Disease. Other than maybe very mild Asthma but that was not certain.
3 years ago I went through a very long period of great stress and anguish. I watched my mother die from COPD after smoking for 65 years, then to go down for 13 years with the disease. Hard to watch and think I may have it. Anyway about the time I was cleaning her house and trying to cope and run my own life, I suddenly ran into a very tight upper lung and suddenly had a hard time breathing in the upper lung.
All the drs and pulmonologists agree that panic has a hold of my upper chest and lungs causing problems, they also noticed that my reflux has found its way in to my esophagus.
I have given you considerable information, I hope you can understand this and give me an answer to what or why my upper lungs are a problem to let air in.
Oh, I have been told by Drs that there is no indication what so ever of emphysema and I do not have Bronchitis either. They did say that I have airway inflammation, so is this an asthma issue or what.
Could you please help me understand what may be the cause of my Upper Lung Problem.
I smoked for approximately 23 pack years. I quit in October 2000. In 2001 I began having panic attacks later diagnosed as Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I panicked about my heart because of the sensations from the body release of stress mediators. I also began to worry about my breathing. At that time in early 2001 I had my first of 7 PFTs. the last test was March of this year. They have all been relatively the same in the results. FVC 95-108, Fev1 90-105, FVC/FEV1 75-84 Dlco 85-100 DLCO/va 95 +/- RV 103 TLC 104-117 FEF 25/75 has be variable from 49-81 after bronco test 99
The last PFT Test, the Pulmonologist looked at the test and all earlier tests, looked at the xrays and said that he couldnt find any sign of Lung Disease. Other than maybe very mild Asthma but that was not certain.
3 years ago I went through a very long period of great stress and anguish. I watched my mother die from COPD after smoking for 65 years, then to go down for 13 years with the disease. Hard to watch and think I may have it. Anyway about the time I was cleaning her house and trying to cope and run my own life, I suddenly ran into a very tight upper lung and suddenly had a hard time breathing in the upper lung.
All the drs and pulmonologists agree that panic has a hold of my upper chest and lungs causing problems, they also noticed that my reflux has found its way in to my esophagus.
I have given you considerable information, I hope you can understand this and give me an answer to what or why my upper lungs are a problem to let air in.
Oh, I have been told by Drs that there is no indication what so ever of emphysema and I do not have Bronchitis either. They did say that I have airway inflammation, so is this an asthma issue or what.
Brief Answer:
If your pulmonary function is good, you should ignore your symptoms.
Detailed Answer:
Hello Mr XXXXXXX
Thanks for your query.
I understand that you are quite concerned about your health.
Let me reassure you, if your pft have all been essentially normal and pulmonologist did not find anything to be worrisome, in my honest opinion, you must ignore your symptoms and enjoy your life.
Get GERD treated with proton pump inhibitors such as esomeprazole, take this medicine for 2 months and see how things go.
You are fine, so stop worrying excessively.
Best regards
If your pulmonary function is good, you should ignore your symptoms.
Detailed Answer:
Hello Mr XXXXXXX
Thanks for your query.
I understand that you are quite concerned about your health.
Let me reassure you, if your pft have all been essentially normal and pulmonologist did not find anything to be worrisome, in my honest opinion, you must ignore your symptoms and enjoy your life.
Get GERD treated with proton pump inhibitors such as esomeprazole, take this medicine for 2 months and see how things go.
You are fine, so stop worrying excessively.
Best regards
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Thank you for your response. I will work at stopping the worrying.
Stress-anxiety-panic have a strange and an interesting effect on the body. As I mentioned, it did give me sensations of heart problems that turned out to be nothing.
Stress-anxiety-panic have a strange and an interesting effect on the body. As I mentioned, it did give me sensations of heart problems that turned out to be nothing.
Brief Answer:
You are welcome and all the best.
Detailed Answer:
You are most welcome.
I wish you all the best.
Please close the thread if you have no further questions.
Best regards
You are welcome and all the best.
Detailed Answer:
You are most welcome.
I wish you all the best.
Please close the thread if you have no further questions.
Best regards
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
One last follow up please, I mentioned that I had a very tight upper chest that expanded very little. And had some difficulty breathing there. Is this an inflammatory response that is caused by anxiety and asthma symptoms?
Brief Answer:
Anxiety does not cause inflammation, but can cause difficulty in breathing
Detailed Answer:
Hello again Mr XXXXXXX
Anxiety does not cause inflammation of the lung the same way Asthma or any other organic cause does, however anxiety does indeed result in difficulty in breathing, the problem is in the brain, and not in the lungs.
In anxiety, your brain does not process the information the same way as it does while you are rather calm, hence you do experience multitude of symptoms that mimic a disease process affecting any part of your body because the brain perceives pain among other sensations from every other organ than itself.
This is not to say that in the long run anxiety does not cause damage to the organs, particularly the gastrointestinal, cardiovascular changes. Long standing Organic anxiety disorder does cause stress induced damage to gastric mucosa, increases the blood pressure thus causing the cascading effects of hypertension, causes palpitations etc.
In contrast, the inflammatory conditions such as asthma primarily affect the organ whose symptoms you present with, and there is structural change in these organs, and to complicate things further, anxiety can worsen asthma because anxiety results in increased stress hormone release and when these hormones are released, you would definitely experience symptoms related to the effects of these hormones, one of those manifestations is bronchoconstriction (spasm of the bronchial tree which similar to what happens in an allergen induced spasm of the bronchial tree in allergic asthma).
With this background information, I think it would be prudent to consider anxiolytic therapy to break the cycle and lead a fulfilling life without worry.
Please discuss with your treating doctor.
I sincerely hope you found this answer useful, if you have no further concerns, I would be very pleased if you close the thread and review my answer.
Wishing you a wonderful life ahead.
Warm regards
Anxiety does not cause inflammation, but can cause difficulty in breathing
Detailed Answer:
Hello again Mr XXXXXXX
Anxiety does not cause inflammation of the lung the same way Asthma or any other organic cause does, however anxiety does indeed result in difficulty in breathing, the problem is in the brain, and not in the lungs.
In anxiety, your brain does not process the information the same way as it does while you are rather calm, hence you do experience multitude of symptoms that mimic a disease process affecting any part of your body because the brain perceives pain among other sensations from every other organ than itself.
This is not to say that in the long run anxiety does not cause damage to the organs, particularly the gastrointestinal, cardiovascular changes. Long standing Organic anxiety disorder does cause stress induced damage to gastric mucosa, increases the blood pressure thus causing the cascading effects of hypertension, causes palpitations etc.
In contrast, the inflammatory conditions such as asthma primarily affect the organ whose symptoms you present with, and there is structural change in these organs, and to complicate things further, anxiety can worsen asthma because anxiety results in increased stress hormone release and when these hormones are released, you would definitely experience symptoms related to the effects of these hormones, one of those manifestations is bronchoconstriction (spasm of the bronchial tree which similar to what happens in an allergen induced spasm of the bronchial tree in allergic asthma).
With this background information, I think it would be prudent to consider anxiolytic therapy to break the cycle and lead a fulfilling life without worry.
Please discuss with your treating doctor.
I sincerely hope you found this answer useful, if you have no further concerns, I would be very pleased if you close the thread and review my answer.
Wishing you a wonderful life ahead.
Warm regards
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
Get personalised answers from verified doctor in minutes across 80+ specialties
