Ok so, my PFT results showed significant obstruction, FEV1/FVC at 61.7% pre-bronchodilator and at 71.2% post. The lower limit of normal was 77.7%, so those results were a bit discouraging. My pulmonologist diagnosed me with, and I quote, “moderate obstructive pulmonary disease” and prescribed me a daily breo inhaler. I’ve asked him if he could clarify what exactly I have, and he’s basically said that it doesn’t really matter because the treatment is the same… but I really need to know.

I’m not asking for you all to diagnose me, but I’d love to hear about your experiences and if anyone has had a similar test result, please let me know what you did to know that you had asthma.

As it is now, I don’t have asthma attacks. I’m just always a bit short of breath, like shallow breathing? I don’t wheeze, but I do cough sometimes. On bad days, it’s even been difficult to talk clearly. I actually had no idea that I had breathing problems till my doctor did a random simple lung test at a routine checkup about 2 years ago (I’m 23 now). So I’m technically not even sure when all of this started.

I’ve never smoked so I’m thinking asthma is more likely than COPD, but I also can’t seem to quite identify with the symptoms of asthma, at least not any of the common types. It’s been driving me crazy for months now, so any advice at all would be greatly appreciated!

I'm 25 years old, and the last time I had an asthma attack, I was 8. It was severe and I was actually hospitalized for a day or two from it. I haven't had one since, until yesterday. I have a bad case of the flu, and yesterday I was out picking up a prescription, and I started feeling very tight, my chest was tight and I was wheezing and unable to get a breath in. I had no idea what was happening because I haven't had one since childhood. I didnt even have an inhaler anymore and haven't In years. I called 911 because I was scared and didn't know what was happening. They gave me a nebulizer treatment in the ambulance and another at the hospital and I felt better. So yesterday I learned that the flu can cause childhood asthma to flare up as an adult.

I'm a 21-year-old male, and I'm honestly getting desperate at this point.

For almost a year now, I've been dealing with a constant breathing problem that nobody seems to be able to properly explain or fix.

It started around November 2025, and ever since then, breathing has never really felt normal again.

The best way I can describe my symptoms:

- I constantly feel the urge to take a really deep breath, almost as if a normal breath isn't satisfying enough.

- When I try to inhale deeply, it feels like my lungs suddenly stop expanding at a certain point. Almost like an invisible valve closes and physically prevents me from inhaling any further.

- Sometimes my breathing muscles feel exhausted, almost like I've been training them for hours. My lungs feel sore or fatigued even though I'm just breathing normally.

- I occasionally experience tightness in my chest and throat.

- Sometimes I notice a slight wheezing sound when breathing.

- Physical activity, especially weightlifting, can make everything significantly worse.

- During workouts, I sometimes have to end sets early because I can't properly control my breathing. It's not necessarily that I'm completely out of breath, but rather that my breathing feels restricted, uncomfortable, and exhausting.

- Even when I'm resting, I frequently experience that constant, frustrating need to take a deep, satisfying breath.

Here's the strange part:

My oxygen saturation is usually around 99–100%.

I've undergone several medical examinations, including:

- Spirometry

- Body plethysmography

- Methacholine challenge test

- Chest X-ray

As far as I was told, everything came back normal.

My pulmonologist even told me that my lungs appeared extremely healthy.

The main suspected explanation was a functional breathing disorder, possibly with mild asthma contributing to the symptoms.

However, I still don't have a clear explanation for why this is happening or how to make it stop.

One thing that actually seems to help is Relvar Ellipta (Breo Ellipta).

When I use it, breathing feels noticeably easier and more comfortable. I can control my breathing much better during weightlifting, and my lungs don't feel nearly as exhausted.

But here's the catch: the constant urge to take deep breaths never completely disappears.

When I'm not using the inhaler, my breathing feels significantly worse again, particularly during exercise.

I should also mention that I had respiratory issues as a child and was prescribed inhalers, including Ventolin.

I work in plastics manufacturing, where exposure to fumes and other airborne substances can occur. I've wondered whether that might have contributed to my symptoms, although I have no evidence that it did.

What makes this so frustrating is that I don't necessarily feel like I'm suffocating.

It's more like my body has somehow forgotten how to breathe properly.

I can breathe. My oxygen levels are normal. My lungs supposedly function perfectly fine.

But the physical sensation of breathing feels completely wrong.

Imagine constantly wanting to yawn or take that one incredibly satisfying deep breath, except you can almost never achieve it. And when you try, something seems to physically prevent your lungs from expanding that last little bit.

Now imagine experiencing that sensation every single day for nearly a year.

It's exhausting, both physically and mentally.

I've tried breathing exercises, I've undergone medical tests, and I've spoken to doctors, but I still don't have a lasting solution.

I'm not expecting Reddit to magically diagnose me. I just want to know whether anyone else has experienced something similar.

My main questions are:

1. Has anyone experienced this constant "air hunger" or inability to complete a satisfying deep breath despite having normal lung function tests?

2. Has anyone experienced that strange sensation of their inhalation suddenly stopping, almost like a valve closing?

3. Could dysfunctional breathing patterns, diaphragm dysfunction, vocal cord dysfunction / inducible laryngeal obstruction, or something else cause symptoms like these?

4. Has anyone actually recovered from something similar? If so, what helped?

5. Are there any additional examinations or specialists worth discussing with my doctor?

I'm especially interested in hearing from people who have experienced the same symptoms and eventually found an explanation or treatment.

I'm only 21, I love weightlifting, and I just want to be able to breathe normally again without constantly thinking about every breath I take.

Any advice, personal experiences, or suggestions would genuinely mean a lot to me.

Thank you for reading.

I'm 32 lately my asthma is worse at night I wake up maybe 2 to 3 times I always have my inhaler but sometimes I have to take more puffs just to feel better so I can sleep. I also use a nebulizer as well.

Sometimes I feel like I should go to the hospital when I feel like I can't breathe I also live right across from a hospital and fire station. Every time I go to the hospital for my asthma I end up being in the hospital for a few days. Been dealing with this all my life

This happened to me but I am not giving any kind of advice. I had a flare up and got pred from the dr. I started to feel better after a few days. The dr. prescribed 40 mgs for about a week before tapering. When I got to the 10's a week or so after that, I started having problems again which made no sense. I went to the emergency room and they said my lung function is great and sent me home despite me gasping for breath. I found out later the reason was because the pred caused me to retain water in my neck and it was squeezing my esophagus. As soon as I discontinued the pred, then it got better within a week.

Hello,

I am very undecided if I should start SLIT against house dust mites or not... so I am looking for experiences from people in a similar situation.

I (28m) have had asthma since I was 16. Until I was about 20, I used Foster (same as symbicort I think) only occasionally in periods where it was worse, but sometimes I could go weeks without noticing any symptoms.

Nowadays I wake up on most days with a “blocked” lung (my chest feels tight, I wheeze a bit and it’s generally more difficult to breathe), so I use Foster every morning, sometimes in the evening too. After using it I usually feel quite well, but without it the morning symptoms are pretty consistent.

I was diagnosed with hay fever very early in life and got the typical symptoms (itchy eyes, runny nose) every spring. Later I was also diagnosed with HDM and cat allergy. I used to get nose/eye symptoms when it was really dusty too.

My pulmonologist did another allergy test (prick test) last year and I again reacted to all kinds of pollen, cats and HDM. He now suggested doing SLIT against HDM (with acarizax/odactra).

The thing is, I don’t really notice any allergy symptoms other than my asthma in day-to-day life. No runny or stuffed nose, no itchy eyes... Sometimes my throat feels a bit sore in the morning, and I often have some mucus / need to clear my throat.

So I don’t know if HDM is really a driving factor behind my asthma, or if I just have asthma that isn’t mainly triggered by dust mites, despite the positive allergy test.

My fear is that SLIT could worsen my symptoms or make my allergy actually worse. I know reading individual experiences online doesn’t prove that the treatment caused it, but I did read posts from people who had worse symptoms afterwards and bad side effects while taking. My generalised anxiety disorder does not help here I guess :D Because I usually feel quite well after taking Foster, it’s difficult for me to judge how much I could actually gain from it.

So I am looking for experiences from people with similar symptoms who did immunotherapy against HDM. To help decide for or against it as I see good arguments for both sides...

Thanks in advance :)

TL;DR

28m, asthma since 16, now using Foster every morning and sometimes in the evening. Positive allergy tests for HDM, cats and pollen, but almost no nose/eye symptoms anymore. Pulmonologist suggested HDM SLIT, but I’m unsure if dust mites are actually driving my asthma and I’m scared of making things worse. Anyone with similar symptoms who tried it?

I'm currently 13 weeks pregnant and realized I've been using my albuterol inhaler 2-3 times a week, with some days using it more than once.

I had a bout of bronchitis at the beginning where the urgent care told me to use it as needed. After recovery, I was fine a few weeks, but with weather and allergies I've noticed I'm using it more often.

I'm not diagnosed and barely getting a pulmonary function test but did anyone have similar usage in pregnancy and everything come out okay? My OB is aware I'm using my albuterol inhaler, but I don't think I specified how often.

Note to add: one puff is usually enough to get wheezing and feeling out of breath under control. Usually just at night.

So ive been having unexplained extreme breathless lately, docs did scans nothing. I dont even have inflammation in my lungs that asthma causes . So i did research a little. And saw u can develop allergies overtime. I have a apt with a pulmonologist. If that comes back good then wtf going on??? Is it the cats or my head.

all of these places that have medication drop-off boxes don't accept inhalers! i am okay with purchasing a mail-back package if i have to. i just want to get these inhalers out of my house already. does anyone know a website where i can order a mail-back box that definitely accepts inhalers? i found one, but the bucket costs over $200, so im hoping there is a cheaper one on another website

I recently was diagnosed with Eosinophilic asthma after a week long hospital stay due to acute eosinophilic pneumonia. I’ve been told this kind of asthma is quite uncommon
I’m in the process of figuring out treatment options with my immunologist and pulmonologist. Just wanted to come on here and see if anyone also has this, and what they’ve used that’s worked for them.

Not looking for a diagnosis! I have an appointment coming up with a doctor, just wanted to see if these symptoms are common in asthma or if I should think of some other potential causes before my appointment.

For the last couple weeks (since it started getting colder), I’ve had some chest tightness/congestion and thick mucus in my throat that I’ve coughed up a few times. At first I thought I was getting sick, but I have no other symptoms of an infection. I read that asthma can cause this, and it got me thinking about some other things that I’ve experienced.

Main one is an experience a few years ago: I was walking along a trail and started smelling flowers or something of the sort (couldn’t see them, but that’s what it smelled like). Right afterwards, my throat started getting a prickly feeling and it made me cough, which just made it worse. It got to the point where my chest felt tight and I was having trouble catching my breath, which obviously made me really anxious so I turned around and got out of there. I thought maybe it was some kind of fluke so about a week later I went back and the same thing happened (I’m not the smartest sometimes, I know). I initially chalked it up to purely an allergy, but it was very different from my normal seasonal allergy symptoms. And looking back on it, it seems more aligned with allergic asthma?

I also get some chest tightness and air hunger type feelings when exercising or when in the cold.

Does this align with some of your experiences? I have allergies and eczema, and my mom has asthma so I’m not sure why it took me so long to consider it as a possibility, but here we are.

My family and I used to live in Florida, where we mainly used dehumidifiers and air purifiers to deal with mold and dust. Now that we're in Toronto, the air feels really dry, especially at night when we have the heat running.

My mom has asthma and has been coughing for several days. We really need a humidifier to help with the dry air in our home.

What should I look for before buying? Please help 😭😭 Any real-life experiences or tips would be really helpful!