Well I just had a pulmonary/thoracic review. He couldn't decide if I had refractory asthma or COPD. Fev 1 was above 80%. Lung capacity 5.45 L. Fev1/fvc was 68.? post bronchodilator. I'm going from memory and I was still recovering from a nasty bout of influenza a. Anyway a few weeks later I ended up in ED again with chest/lung pain. CT revealed scattered foci of centrilobular emphysema, which I believe is earlyish stage?
Thing is I also have a moderate stretched PFO and it shunts left to right at rest. I've been having cold sweats, severe muscular pain which is mostly in legs and calf but also most of my body, shortness of breath plus congestion and most concerning left sided chest pain. Other symptoms include brain fog and a complete inability to walk for extended periods, often I start to buckle at the knees. I quit smoking a while ago, about 20 pack years plus a lot of exposure to second hand smoke both tobacco and wood fueled stove. This is especially true in my youth as most venues people smoked. Also socializing over the last seven years I smoked, as most of my friends smoked heavily and used wood fueled stoves for heating in winter, some with poor venting of smoke.
So I guess I have a few questions. Has anyone else with a PFO and COPD here and what has your experience with these two conditions been like? I'm seeing my cardiologist Friday but I'm concerned I may have early heart failure on top of COPD. How have you managed your symtoms?
The main issue I have is the pain tbh. The breathing can be bad but most times I wouldn't know I had COPD except for the leg pain/body aches and congestion in the evening and mornings. Also general body pain, loss of appetite. My thoracic specialist thinks my symptoms are out of proportion to my clinical findings and I may have some issues with my larynx so I'm seeing an ENT a fortnight before I see him again in August.
Anyone else have these co-morbidity? Is it possible to not be in pain?