My wife, born in 1944, was diagnosed with asthma at age 15. She used prescription inhalers since then with several trips to the ER over the years. Major attacks came after being emotionally upset. She was active physically taking dance lessons, able to walk miles and miles, bu...
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FYI
Rick Frea
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 11:20 AM
It sounds like your wife has been through the medical ringer. I'm glad to hear she's finally feeling better.
To be fair to your wife's doctors, it is possible she had asthma as a child, as stress can trigger an asthma attack. Likewise, if your wife had fluid in her lungs that too can trigger an asthma attack. And while asthma rescue medicine won't resolve the cardiac issue, it will help the asthma issue.
However, it's also possible it was a cardiac issue all along. I have found a great article that might be of interest for you at the MayoClinic.com. It explains how cardiac diseases can easily be confused with asthma. I'll link to it here.
Basically, it states that cardiac problems can cause fluid to build up in your lungs, increasing the pressure in there, and this causes the fluid to squeeze the air passages making them wheeze (cardiac wheeze). Because she is short of breath and wheezing, the illness mimics asthma.
Thanks to modern wisdom and technology, it seems your wife is finally on the track to good breathing.
Heart or Asthma?
allynnc
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 04:40 PM
Thanks for the Mayo link. My wife's asthma was probably seen by 20 or more doctors over the years. She was diagnosed by her own family doctor. College doctors. After college she moved across the state and saw different doctors. Because I was the USAF she saw a variety of military but mostly civilian doctors as I moved around the world. Then we retired and same diagnosis...same symtoms. After the heart surgeries, she no longer has symtoms of asthma. Apparently it was a genetic small vessel to the heart that caused all of the symtoms. Now that the heart fixed, no symtoms... over two years now without a single breathing problem and no need for an inhaler that she had needed for the previous 47 years.
She used to get a cold and it went right to her lungs???? She has had several colds since the surgery without any serious lung problems. Total relief from asthma. I just wonder how many other people may have the same heart problem misdiagnosed.
It sounds like your wife has been through the medical ringer. I'm glad to hear she's finally feeling better.
To be fair to your wife's doctors, it is possible she had asthma as a child, as stress can trigger an asthma attack. Likewise, if your wife had fluid in her lungs that too can trigger an asthma attack. And while asthma rescue medicine won't resolve the cardiac issue, it will help the asthma issue.
However, it's also possible it was a cardiac issue all along. I have found a great article that might be of interest for you at the MayoClinic.com. It explains how cardiac diseases can easily be confused with asthma. I'll link to it here.
Basically, it states that cardiac problems can cause fluid to build up in your lungs, increasing the pressure in there, and this causes the fluid to squeeze the air passages making them wheeze (cardiac wheeze). Because she is short of breath and wheezing, the illness mimics asthma.
Thanks to modern wisdom and technology, it seems your wife is finally on the track to good breathing.