Sunday, May 19, 2013

Monday, September 19, 2011 marras_mom asks

Q: False negative on methacholine test

I have been tested for asthma, but my results came back negative. My doctor has ruled out all other possible conditions that could be a cause for my symptoms. I have all the symptoms for asthma, but they are mild. Is it possible I got a false negative because my asthma is not that severe? I did not have the 20% drop on the test, but my symptoms were present by the last vial. Confused and worried, please help!
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Answers (4)
Rick Frea, Health Pro
9/20/11 8:21am

There really is no difinitive test to diagnose asthma.  However, the methacholine challenge is a pretty significant indicator.  If you have a negative methacholine challenge chances are you don't have asthma.  The reason I can say this is because if you have asthma the challenge will make you short of breath, and a bronchodilator breathing treatment will make you feel better.  If none of these happen, chances are you don't have asthma.  A second opinion is always a good idea, however. 

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9/20/11 9:20am

I agree with Rick, you do not have asthma, but talk to a Pulmonologist or the lab where your test was done. They are the experts.

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1/10/13 1:11am

I have had moderate ashma since I was a kid. My mom, who is a doctor, took me to multiple doctors who could not find the answer for my shortness of breath. A well known pulmonologist looked at my test results and laughed because he said that I had huge lungs and that I actually had moderate ashma but it was hard to diagnose by regular measurements because you needed to compare my test results with those of a 180lb male. At 18 years old I decided on my own to stop using my daily ashma chord and I felt ok. I still used ventolin as needed (which was mostly when I was sick etc.) At 22 I took the stress test, by a different doctor. The results were on the border but not enough to warrent an ashma diagnosis. It is very frusturating because I still use my ventoline inhaler and i really believe that I couldn't manage without it sometimes. Sometimes its hard to breath and the inhalor works!

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1/10/13 1:11am

I have had moderate ashma since I was a kid. My mom, who is a doctor, took me to multiple doctors who could not find the answer for my shortness of breath. A well known pulmonologist looked at my test results and laughed because he said that I had huge lungs and that I actually had moderate ashma but it was hard to diagnose by regular measurements because you needed to compare my test results with those of a 180lb male. At 18 years old I decided on my own to stop using my daily ashma chord and I felt ok. I still used ventolin as needed (which was mostly when I was sick etc.) At 22 I took the stress test, by a different doctor. The results were on the border but not enough to warrent an ashma diagnosis. It is very frusturating because I still use my ventoline inhaler and i really believe that I couldn't manage without it sometimes. Sometimes its hard to breath and the inhalor works!

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By marras_mom— Last Modified: 01/10/13, First Published: 09/19/11