breath-rite

For the past week, I've been having this really bothersome (and annoying) sensation where my lungs feel like they aren't filling up. Every 4th or so breath, I have to take a really, super deep breath in order to fill my lungs, and even then I still barely feel like I'm getting enough oxygen.

On top of that, my chest right at my sternum has been really sore, especially when taking those deep breaths. Kind of like I've been punched in the chest or the way your chest/lungs are sore after you've been coughing for weeks on end. But I haven't been coughing.

On top of that on top of THAT, I've been feeling a really strong heart beat or two in that same sternum area like 10 times a day. That's what has freaked me out the most.

Last night it peaked and I had a hard time breathing while I was trying to fall asleep, and I freaked out.

So I finally went to MedCheck this morning. Apparently I (finally) had good timing there, because there were only 2 people ahead of me. By the time I left, they were telling people that there were 8-10 people ahead of them, plus there were people in the waiting room waiting for rooms.

They listened to my lungs and did all of the usual stuff. The doctor didn't hear anything in my lungs, so it wasn't pneumonia or bronchitis (thankfully). They took my blood oxygen levels and then did a breathing machine treatment on me that should have de-constricted my airways, but the post treatment numbers weren't really better.

Finally the doctor explained that there is something causing my airways to close, very similar to people who have asthma. He prescribed me an inhaler for that.

He explained that the pain in my chest was from inflammation of the joint where my ribs come together at my sternum. Apparently, a lot of women get this and mistake it for heart attacks or something. And this inflammation explains the heart beats I kept feeling. So he prescribed me a prescription-strength anti-inflammatory for that.

So I don't feel better yet...but I should in the next couple of days. I'm SO glad that it's not an actual illness of some sort that would really knock me out and make working really difficult.

Man, what a fun way to spend my day off. Actually, it wasn't so bad, because my mom and I went shopping for some clothes (with this summer's work in mind) as a Valentine's present for me. That was pretty fun.