Question for Collapsed Lung People

[stillkicking]

So my Doc tells me that I'm at very high risk for a pneumothorax, aka collaped lung. PFT's are in the 20% range, sometimes I can get them up to the 30's. But for those of you who have had the unfortunate experience of a collapsed lung, are there any precursors to watch for? Or was it just a sudden intense pain out of the blue? I have almost constant chest pain, and some of it is very sharp and makes it hard to breathe, I monitor my sats during these episodes to make sure they don't drop (a key indicator of a collaspe). I guess I'm just wondering if there are warning signs before they blow, so to speak. I appreciate your insights and time.

 

[stillkicking]

So my Doc tells me that I'm at very high risk for a pneumothorax, aka collaped lung. PFT's are in the 20% range, sometimes I can get them up to the 30's. But for those of you who have had the unfortunate experience of a collapsed lung, are there any precursors to watch for? Or was it just a sudden intense pain out of the blue? I have almost constant chest pain, and some of it is very sharp and makes it hard to breathe, I monitor my sats during these episodes to make sure they don't drop (a key indicator of a collaspe). I guess I'm just wondering if there are warning signs before they blow, so to speak. I appreciate your insights and time.

 

[stillkicking]

So my Doc tells me that I'm at very high risk for a pneumothorax, aka collaped lung. PFT's are in the 20% range, sometimes I can get them up to the 30's. But for those of you who have had the unfortunate experience of a collapsed lung, are there any precursors to watch for? Or was it just a sudden intense pain out of the blue? I have almost constant chest pain, and some of it is very sharp and makes it hard to breathe, I monitor my sats during these episodes to make sure they don't drop (a key indicator of a collaspe). I guess I'm just wondering if there are warning signs before they blow, so to speak. I appreciate your insights and time.

 

[missT]

Hi there, I had a fully collapsed lung last May. It was a horrible experience. The day before it happend I felt a very unusual tighness in my upper chest. It felt like a pulled muscle (from my breast to my neck). I went out...went to bed that night and in my sleep I knew that my lung was collapsing. I was in a deep sleep but I could not get comfortable and felt the pain when i turned on my sides. I woke up and could not breathe...I was bent over, in massive (screaming out) pain. I was rushed to the hospital where at first an XRay said I was fine. They took a CT scan and realized it was fully deflated. My Dr couldnt understand why it didn't show up on the XRAY. Needless to say I wasn't going anywhere for awhile. My FEV1 was around 40's when it happened. My CF doc said that it "just happens" to some of us and I was the unlucky one. The worst thing for me is living in fear that it will happen again. I was lucky. My lung reinflated pretty quickly. I spent 9 days in the hospital. Good luck...I hope you are never in that boat.

 

[missT]

Hi there, I had a fully collapsed lung last May. It was a horrible experience. The day before it happend I felt a very unusual tighness in my upper chest. It felt like a pulled muscle (from my breast to my neck). I went out...went to bed that night and in my sleep I knew that my lung was collapsing. I was in a deep sleep but I could not get comfortable and felt the pain when i turned on my sides. I woke up and could not breathe...I was bent over, in massive (screaming out) pain. I was rushed to the hospital where at first an XRay said I was fine. They took a CT scan and realized it was fully deflated. My Dr couldnt understand why it didn't show up on the XRAY. Needless to say I wasn't going anywhere for awhile. My FEV1 was around 40's when it happened. My CF doc said that it "just happens" to some of us and I was the unlucky one. The worst thing for me is living in fear that it will happen again. I was lucky. My lung reinflated pretty quickly. I spent 9 days in the hospital. Good luck...I hope you are never in that boat.

 

[missT]

Hi there, I had a fully collapsed lung last May. It was a horrible experience. The day before it happend I felt a very unusual tighness in my upper chest. It felt like a pulled muscle (from my breast to my neck). I went out...went to bed that night and in my sleep I knew that my lung was collapsing. I was in a deep sleep but I could not get comfortable and felt the pain when i turned on my sides. I woke up and could not breathe...I was bent over, in massive (screaming out) pain. I was rushed to the hospital where at first an XRay said I was fine. They took a CT scan and realized it was fully deflated. My Dr couldnt understand why it didn't show up on the XRAY. Needless to say I wasn't going anywhere for awhile. My FEV1 was around 40's when it happened. My CF doc said that it "just happens" to some of us and I was the unlucky one. The worst thing for me is living in fear that it will happen again. I was lucky. My lung reinflated pretty quickly. I spent 9 days in the hospital. Good luck...I hope you are never in that boat.

 

[falbie13]

Hey,
Mine collapsed suddenly in the middle of the night. I woke up from a dead sleep in excrutiating, screaming out loud kind of pain for hours. Of course I was stubborn and refused to go to the hosptial. I got an xray the next morning after I called clinic. Luckily it was a small collapse in my upper lung and I didnt need a chest tube, just bed rest for a week. My lung never reinflated but really didnt cause any problems, my docs just kept an eye on it.

 

[falbie13]

Hey,
Mine collapsed suddenly in the middle of the night. I woke up from a dead sleep in excrutiating, screaming out loud kind of pain for hours. Of course I was stubborn and refused to go to the hosptial. I got an xray the next morning after I called clinic. Luckily it was a small collapse in my upper lung and I didnt need a chest tube, just bed rest for a week. My lung never reinflated but really didnt cause any problems, my docs just kept an eye on it.

 

[falbie13]

Hey,
<br />Mine collapsed suddenly in the middle of the night. I woke up from a dead sleep in excrutiating, screaming out loud kind of pain for hours. Of course I was stubborn and refused to go to the hosptial. I got an xray the next morning after I called clinic. Luckily it was a small collapse in my upper lung and I didnt need a chest tube, just bed rest for a week. My lung never reinflated but really didnt cause any problems, my docs just kept an eye on it.

 

[BSJCA]

I'm just curious, why are you at high risk for a collapse? Did you doctor tell you?
As far as I know, there aren't any indicators that a collapse is about to happen. I never noticed anything before any of mine. 21 years ago, when my lung function was about 98%, my lung collapsed 3 times in 6 weeks. Each time I got the chest tubes removed it happened again 2 weeks later. First time was huge - excruciating. The second time, about medium level pain and third time was pretty light. Just recently, I had another one that showed up on an xray that I didn't even feel and it resolved by itself. The doctor told me I have blebs all over my lungs, but I don't remember how he knew that. Possibly an xray?

 

[BSJCA]

I'm just curious, why are you at high risk for a collapse? Did you doctor tell you?
As far as I know, there aren't any indicators that a collapse is about to happen. I never noticed anything before any of mine. 21 years ago, when my lung function was about 98%, my lung collapsed 3 times in 6 weeks. Each time I got the chest tubes removed it happened again 2 weeks later. First time was huge - excruciating. The second time, about medium level pain and third time was pretty light. Just recently, I had another one that showed up on an xray that I didn't even feel and it resolved by itself. The doctor told me I have blebs all over my lungs, but I don't remember how he knew that. Possibly an xray?

 

[BSJCA]

I'm just curious, why are you at high risk for a collapse? Did you doctor tell you?
<br />As far as I know, there aren't any indicators that a collapse is about to happen. I never noticed anything before any of mine. 21 years ago, when my lung function was about 98%, my lung collapsed 3 times in 6 weeks. Each time I got the chest tubes removed it happened again 2 weeks later. First time was huge - excruciating. The second time, about medium level pain and third time was pretty light. Just recently, I had another one that showed up on an xray that I didn't even feel and it resolved by itself. The doctor told me I have blebs all over my lungs, but I don't remember how he knew that. Possibly an xray?

 

[Breathe4Brit]

I had my lung collapse 6 times in 2 months. My FEV1 is at 22% right now. The first initial time I felt the "pain" i thought it was my gall bladder acting up, [ which it had been & was taken out a few weeks after the chest tubes were inserted.] But my lung was collapsed for 2 days until I actually went to the hospital to get it checked out. When I got to the hospital I told them I thought it was my gall bladder / appendix, they did a CT scan, and sent me home because the pain had got better with the help of Loritabs. I was home for 3 days, and began to have such a hard time breathing, more then I had felt in the last few days. I wasnt able to walk across a room without getting dizzy from lack of oxygen. When I got to the ER they brought up m CT scan from a few days ago, and said I shouldnt have been released because the pneumo was there on the first CT...
I had thought the pain was from other organs, and maybe they were "swollen" and making it hard to breathe, but the initial pain was when I had a coughing attack. It was just kinda a spur of the moment thing. No pain leading up to it.. just after.

 

[Breathe4Brit]

I had my lung collapse 6 times in 2 months. My FEV1 is at 22% right now. The first initial time I felt the "pain" i thought it was my gall bladder acting up, [ which it had been & was taken out a few weeks after the chest tubes were inserted.] But my lung was collapsed for 2 days until I actually went to the hospital to get it checked out. When I got to the hospital I told them I thought it was my gall bladder / appendix, they did a CT scan, and sent me home because the pain had got better with the help of Loritabs. I was home for 3 days, and began to have such a hard time breathing, more then I had felt in the last few days. I wasnt able to walk across a room without getting dizzy from lack of oxygen. When I got to the ER they brought up m CT scan from a few days ago, and said I shouldnt have been released because the pneumo was there on the first CT...
I had thought the pain was from other organs, and maybe they were "swollen" and making it hard to breathe, but the initial pain was when I had a coughing attack. It was just kinda a spur of the moment thing. No pain leading up to it.. just after.

 

[Breathe4Brit]

I had my lung collapse 6 times in 2 months. My FEV1 is at 22% right now. The first initial time I felt the "pain" i thought it was my gall bladder acting up, [ which it had been & was taken out a few weeks after the chest tubes were inserted.] But my lung was collapsed for 2 days until I actually went to the hospital to get it checked out. When I got to the hospital I told them I thought it was my gall bladder / appendix, they did a CT scan, and sent me home because the pain had got better with the help of Loritabs. I was home for 3 days, and began to have such a hard time breathing, more then I had felt in the last few days. I wasnt able to walk across a room without getting dizzy from lack of oxygen. When I got to the ER they brought up m CT scan from a few days ago, and said I shouldnt have been released because the pneumo was there on the first CT...
<br />I had thought the pain was from other organs, and maybe they were "swollen" and making it hard to breathe, but the initial pain was when I had a coughing attack. It was just kinda a spur of the moment thing. No pain leading up to it.. just after.

 

[Melissa75]

I don't know what it feels like to have a major collapse and my HUGE sympathies go out to people who've had that. I get little ones--the kind that I suspect most of us show on CT scans. For some reason, my pulmo said something about distal airways and nerves, I am in major pain when these little ones happen.

I have noticed a trend of getting them in the middle of the night when I am already fighting an exacerbation. I chalk it up to the more shallow breathing I do at night. My FEV1 is high and my lungs are large for my size, so the floppy, damaged parts have inflation issues. I am just lucky that they are small bad areas. A lot of this is my speculation. The reason I even bother mentioning is that the Acapella (i.e. positive expiratory pressure) helps to prevent the little collapses and to fix them when they start. It is really hard to blow through the pain, but it seems to help me.

I hope this helps a little bit.

 

[Melissa75]

I don't know what it feels like to have a major collapse and my HUGE sympathies go out to people who've had that. I get little ones--the kind that I suspect most of us show on CT scans. For some reason, my pulmo said something about distal airways and nerves, I am in major pain when these little ones happen.

I have noticed a trend of getting them in the middle of the night when I am already fighting an exacerbation. I chalk it up to the more shallow breathing I do at night. My FEV1 is high and my lungs are large for my size, so the floppy, damaged parts have inflation issues. I am just lucky that they are small bad areas. A lot of this is my speculation. The reason I even bother mentioning is that the Acapella (i.e. positive expiratory pressure) helps to prevent the little collapses and to fix them when they start. It is really hard to blow through the pain, but it seems to help me.

I hope this helps a little bit.

 

[Melissa75]

I don't know what it feels like to have a major collapse and my HUGE sympathies go out to people who've had that. I get little ones--the kind that I suspect most of us show on CT scans. For some reason, my pulmo said something about distal airways and nerves, I am in major pain when these little ones happen.
<br />
<br />I have noticed a trend of getting them in the middle of the night when I am already fighting an exacerbation. I chalk it up to the more shallow breathing I do at night. My FEV1 is high and my lungs are large for my size, so the floppy, damaged parts have inflation issues. I am just lucky that they are small bad areas. A lot of this is my speculation. The reason I even bother mentioning is that the Acapella (i.e. positive expiratory pressure) helps to prevent the little collapses and to fix them when they start. It is really hard to blow through the pain, but it seems to help me.
<br />
<br />I hope this helps a little bit.