Question: Hi

Starting about 3 weeks ago i noticed that i started getting breathless after smoking a cigarette. Over the weeks it gradually got worse. Last week i was having extreme breathing difficulties after smoking but the breathing difficulties did not come with any wheezing. For hours after smoking i would get a distinct feeling that i couldn't get enough oxygen in my lungs and it felt like i was breathing through something, you know when you really have to breathe in deep each time to get enough oxygen in?

Anyway it got so bad that i had to quit smoking. Its now been two days since i lasted smoked but the breathing difficulties while better are still there. I'm still needing 6 inhalations of my fostair each day when i gone years without hardly using it.

A bit of mucous came out today, it was a white ish clear colour.

Burning sensation in the chest and throat started yesterday too.

Its also relatively uncomfortable to swallow food. It feels like food gets stuck in the back of my throat when i swallow it. The first few bites are fine but after that its difficult to swallow. It really makes me anxious to eat as it feels like I'm going to choke.

Blood oxygen levels are normal so is heart rate and blood pressure. I'm just a bit concerned what is causing these breathing problems. I gone to my doctor a few weeks ago and she just said 'well its not asthma as your chest sounds clear with no wheeze, go to the emergency room if it gets worse'.

I've smoked for 2 years and i can honestly say nothing has stopped me smoking before this.

Thanks

I've just eaten some food and i feel a tightness in my throat. It also feels like the food is stuck in my throat just below the neck in the upper region of the chest.

Thank you for the detailed response.

Can i just ask, do you think this could be serious? E.g is it almost certainly not a life threatening condition?

Checked my temperature under arm pit earlier and it was 36.4c. A little higher than normal as i usually have a low body temperature of 35.5-36c but nothing that much out.

I have never had a PFT but i have had several chest x rays. My last chest x ray would be about 2 months ago and it was clear. All previous chest x rays was clear too.

What i did have for about 2 weeks was a very congested nose. It was full of mucous but i could never get the mucous out as it was thick and like glue. But that seems to have passed now and my nose is just a little runny.

I believe i do have allergies, i don't have any diagnosed allergies but i did have a strange rash about 2 months ago which my doctor said was either allergy related or the result of a strong viral infection, and i do get runny nose ect in summer time.

Can we definitely rule out things like serious stages of pneumonia?

Is this something i should go to my doctor about or do i need to go to the hospital?

As said i have not smoked in over 2 days now and my breathing is considerably better. But if i had a cigarette now it would make my breathing very bad again. I'm on nicotine patch now and don't want to start smoking again but just mentioning the smoking as its surely not right that a single cigarette suddenly causes extreme breathing difficulties and shortness of breath.

Thanks again.

Thank you doctor you have been very helpful.

But can severe pneumonia really be ruled out from a chest x ray that taken place 2-3 months ago? I mean can pneumonia not develop in 2 to 3 months?

If it was pneumonia wouldn't i have low oxygen saturation levels? fever? wheezing/rattling in lungs ect? As i have none of this would this mean i am safe?

I'm just very concerned. Because whatever this is i can take is relatively severe. As I've been a smoker for 2 years and i have smoked through chest infections, the flu ect and nothing has made me quit until this came along. Don't get me wrong I'm glad i have quit smoking now and will not go back to it!

Is it possible for any STI/STD to cause this? Because i had unprotected sex multiple times with a woman who had the Herpes Simplex Virus. This was several years ago.

I have also slept with numerous escorts and prostitutes (Escorts are legal under erotic massage here). Once i gave oral to an escort and a couple of days later my whole face swelled up. I kept blacking out with it and ended up in the ER. They treated it with metronidazole. But I've never been right since then, had multiple problems with my heart rate, suspected arrhythmia's ect.

Thank you

My breathing just seems to be gradually getting a little worse each day. But my oxygen saturation levels are completely normal.

This morning its just like a pressing sensation on my chest when breathing in and out.

Inhalers do work but not for long. Even the fostair only relieves all symptoms for about an hour then the heaviness and pressing feeling when breathing comes back.