Had Croaky Voice, Burning Sensation In Lungs. Facing Breathing Difficulty. Chest X-ray Normal. Advice?

Posted on Sat, 9 Feb 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 9 Feb 2013 Answered on

Fri, 1 Mar 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : I started 3 months ago when I woke up with a burning sensation in my lungs and I had a croaky voice.After a week this was replaced by a constant tickly cough and constant throat clearing and frontal sinus pressure.The cough was worse in warm buildings and totally stopped when I laid down.2 weeks ago the cough seemed to subside but the contant throat clearing is still present and the mucus is very salty and clear. I am now suffering from constant tight chestedness with breathing difficulty.I have had a chest x XXXXXXX which was normal.I also am asthmatic but after a visit to the emergency hospital the other night with breathing difficulties I blew 780 peak flow and so they ruled out asthma.These breathing problems and throat clearing go together and are starting to make me very anxious

Answered by Dr. Gyanshankar Mishra (3 hours later)

Hi,
Thanks for posting the query on XXXXXXX After going through your query, I would like to comment the following:

1. you seem to have suffered an episode of allergic rhinosinusitis with acute bronchitis.

2. Now considering your history of probable asthma and your clinical features, you need to get it evaluated in detail preferably by a Pulmonologist. Also there is a possibility of GERD induced cough.

3. Investigations that would be probably required would be Serum Ig E levels, Blood absolute eosinophil counts and pulmonary function test. In between episodes peak flow rates can be normal in patients with asthma. Also a hrct scan of the thorax may be required to rule out any lung pathology not visible on chest xray, but that will be after a detailed clinical assessment.

4. Thus you need to get yourself evaluated and assessed by a pulmonologist as advised above.

5. Medicines that you may require would be as per your evaluation reports and would include oral medications, anta acids, antibiotic and inhalers if asthma is found to be present.

I hope I have answered your query. I will be glad to answer follow up queries if any.
Please accept my answer if you have no follow up queries.

Regards

Dr. Gyanshankar Mishra
MBBS MD DNB
Consultant Pulmonologist

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar