Second opinion - Asthma?

[MaroonFlame]

Just posting for traffic! I’ve recently been to the doctors a few times with some serious health problems. One of which was undiagnosed asthma that I’ve struggled with for 6 years and had 1 emergency prescribed inhaler. I was referred to see a specialist but was never given an appointment. Old doctors surgery was awful so didn’t bother chasing it up.

I changed doctors as I moved and they seem to have ‘lost’ my medical records. Cue snotty Doctor shaking his head and smirking at me when I said I was struggling to breathe. I shared that when I breathe deeply it feels like I hit a snag in my chest and it feels tight/slightly cold. He just said ‘yeah, that’s probably because your lungs are full’ still smirking. He dismissed it as panic attacks, even though I don’t have anxiety Listened to my chest and back, said my lungs sounded clear. Realistically he should have at least used a spirometer to check my lung capacity. I’m just shocked that I’ve been referred to a specialist, given a reliever inhaler before and he just fully dismissed it. I didn’t have any energy to argue. I know my own body really well and he just made me feel stupid. I get chest pains and tightness regularly

I think you need to find a different GP ASAP! It is dangerous to ignore asthma. Even those that appear to suffer only mildly can go on to have a very severe attack. It is entirely shocking that he did not even get a peak flow reading of you. Listening to your lungs also is not actually an accurate way to rule out asthma, as some sufferers can feel really tight and struggle to breath but have a ‘silent’ chest. You need to start afresh, have a full lung capacity check, ideally also an allergy test and be looked after by a specialist respiratory team. Unless, you virtually never need an inhaler, you may also need to take a type of ‘preventer’ inhaler, rather then an immediate relief inhaler. Check out www.asthma.org.uk/ and perhaps call their nurse for advice.