Non-viral pleurisy? Are all the causes awful?

[FastasleepQueenLentilWeaver]

Mum has what I think is pleurisy and has been this way since she was about 45, (she's erm.. 5...6ish lol ) every now and again she gets pains in her lungs and can't breathe and it feels like they're filling with water, which lasts for a few weeks and fades away... she always has a horrendous 'morning' cough that sounds like an animal dying as well, every morning since I remember... she smoked a lot until she was 50... do you think she might have something seriously wrong? She refuses to see a doctor due to complete insanity... her mum died a few years ago of undiagnosed lung cancer because she refused to see a doc too, in fact everyone in that side of the family that can be remembered has died of lung cancer...

My Mum is a smoker and got pleurisy last year, she was in hospital for about 3 days on anti-b's but was fine. FWIW, she also has a horrible smokers cough and strong family history of dying prematurely from smoking related disease, but will she quit ? Will she balls.

If it really is pleurisy and the stabbing pains are lasting for weeks at a time, I would say doctor straight away, but I can see that this is tricky.

There are many things that cause pleurisy as a symptom, not all of which are ghastly and/or life-threatening, but some of them are, so I'd urge you (and her) to get this checked out as soon as possible.

If a GP visit isn't going to happen, the only way that springs to mind is a trip to A&E during an 'acute' episode - at least all the tests that need doing will be done at once in short order and you'll know where you stand.

Hi FA, my Grandad died of undiagnosed Lung cancer too and MIL died recently of it. My Mum has smoked forever and has a smokers cough, she doesn't ever go to the Doctors and I really think it's because she's scared they would want to give her a check up. She is a strong, independent woman and is rarely ill but she would rather not know if she had anything nasty. I guess we have to respect the way they deal with their bodies, hard though isn't it?

I would drag her physically, but I live a long way away... am going up over Easter though, I'm now morbidly hoping for an 'episode' so I can take her to A&E!!!

On google it vaguely mentioned that it could be arthiritus? She does have that in her hands...