Asthma vs lung Mets

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Mom2fourplusmore
Mom2fourplusmore Member Posts: 183
edited December 2019 in Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned

I’ve had asthma all my life. I can’t tell if My asthma is becoming worse or if I should be concerned about lung Mets. I have a nasty cough that’s so violent I shake and almost vomit. I can’t get the cough to go away. It does produce a small bit of phlegm which makes me not think lung Mets. But my normal asthma response is wheezing and dry cough. This has been progressively gotten worse in the last 4 months. My kids say I sound like my mother who has end stage emphysema. Can’t see my primary until January.( no openings). Anyone have lung Mets and know if it can produce a violet cough with phlegm? Thanks

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  • acceptinglife
    acceptinglife Member Posts: 14
    edited November 2019

    January? I would go to an Emergency Care Center. They could at least take an XRay to see if your lungs are clear from fluid. They will prob send you to ER where they will do a CT scan. I think waiting until January is too long, even if it is just the asthma. good luck

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  • KBeee
    KBeee Member Posts: 5,109
    edited November 2019

    You need to call your oncologist or go to urgent care.

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  • FineGina
    FineGina Member Posts: 5
    edited November 2019

    Hi OP, how did it go? Do you know what's going on? My mom had the exact same cancer you did and in fact she was diagnosed the same year you were. She's had COPD for the last ten years due to having been a heavy smoker and recently she's been fighting off bronchitis (I am attending university so of course I am bringing home that garbage to her). Her breathing has been bothering her quite a bit and her doc sent her in for pulmonary tests in, guess what, JANUARY! She didn't say it but the horrible thought of 'oh god what if this is lung mets?' popped into my head.

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  • Mom2fourplusmore
    Mom2fourplusmore Member Posts: 183
    edited November 2019

    FineGina, I’m so sorry about your Mom. Still not sure what my issue is. I tried calling everywhere including my oncologist to no avail. Unless I went into an ER I wasn’t going to fix it. Luckily I had a GYN appointment and I had a UTI. Because of the UTI, they gave me amoxicillin. That helped but didn’t clear it completely. I had been given prednisone in April for a bad asthma attack and I had a few left over. That ended up helping a ton. I must have had something like bronchitis or pneumonia. Not sure what. I still have the cough but it’s not violent. I’m hoping this holds up until I can get seen in January. With COPD your Mom is very susceptible to pneumonia. I know my Mom is. That could be what’s going on. I hope she can get something to help. Not breathing sucks.

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  • FineGina
    FineGina Member Posts: 5
    edited November 2019

    Hi, thank you so much for your reply. If strong medicine is helping you feel better then most likely it is bronchitis or pneumonia you are dealing with. My mom's regular doc immediately said it was a rotten case of bronchitis and I think the pulmonologist people are just covering all the bases when they asked about her cancer. She doesn't seem worried at all, I just get scared easily. Thanks again and happy holiday if you celebrate!

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  • Mom2fourplusmore
    Mom2fourplusmore Member Posts: 183
    edited December 2019

    update: asthma(?) issues came back with a vengeance. Nasty nasty cough that I couldn’t catch my breath. Went to urgent care and X-ray is clear. No idea why I’m so bad. Gave more prednisone and hoping it works but it didn’t work long last time so not sure what happens next. Anyone know if lung Mets always show up on cray or if you need other scans

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  • Alicethecat2
    Alicethecat2 Member Posts: 105
    edited December 2019

    Hello Mom

    From one asthma sufferer to another, I'm sorry you're going through this. I went through something similar while on chemo and shortly after getting off a flight. Very severe wheezing.

    Unless you have a medical contra-indiction against it, I'd be tempted to take an aspirin to thin the blood in case it's a blood clot and call an ambulance.

    Or put your head over a steaming bowl of hot water, take asthma meds and call an ambulance.

    The things that helped me when I wasn't too bad was to drink a glass of red wine or eat lots of mints. But we really mustn't mess with asthma! If it is bad, call an ambulance.

    By the way, mine turned out to be sarcoidosis - small granular lumps that developed as a result of a reaction to the chemotherapy or Herceptin - not lung mets.

    Hoping this could be the same for you!

    Alice

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  • Mom2fourplusmore
    Mom2fourplusmore Member Posts: 183
    edited December 2019

    Alice, thanks for the reply. I appreciate it. I went into Urgent Care yesterday. A friend of mine died from an asthma attack on Thursday and it kinda messed with me psychologically. I’ve always been able to address my asthma and it responded well to treatments. This time it’s not. The X-ray yesterday was clear so no pneumonia and the blood test showed no blood clots present. So the big things are off the table. I didn’t have chemo nor radiation so it’s not from that. I just think it’s weird that I randomly now at 47 end up with very different symptoms. Normally I wheeze so loud you can hear it downstairs. None of that now. It’s this awful violent cough with phlegm. If it gets worse I will definitely call an ambulance but right now I get breaks in between coughing fits. Thanks for worrying about me.

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  • TB90
    TB90 Member Posts: 992
    edited December 2019

    Mom2four: Please take this as support and reassurance and not criticism. I have had minor asthma and major allergies. At the end of August, I developed a dry, itchy throat causing a cough. This is now December. No one seems concerned. Due to the fact that I have allergies and a history of GERD, it is most likely from that. But what if it is throat cancer. The symptoms get worse when I worry, but they also wake me up. Asthma can also be so connected to stress. I have decided unless something more concerning, like hoarseness or swollen glands present, it isn’t cancer. Do not ignore your symptoms, but the fact that your symptoms increased with your concern, sounds like me. It is so unfair that we have to go through this. We struggle with worrying about leaving it and allowing disease to progress with being a bother and ridiculous. Do what you need to do to find peace and reassurance. I will carry I with my attempt to be reasonable. It works mostly. Arghhh

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  • Mom2fourplusmore
    Mom2fourplusmore Member Posts: 183
    edited December 2019

    TB90, those are excellent words of wisdom. Very true. Can’t constantly stress. It definitely causes more issues. I’m not really worried. I’m just really sick of not sleeping and coughing my fool head off. It drives me batty. I’ve been dealing with this long enough and can’t really get any real answers so I’m trying to look at all angles. You are probably right that stressing is no good and imagining the worst case scenario doesn’t help. Maybe some basic relaxation techniques would help. Thanks for the insight

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  • KBeee
    KBeee Member Posts: 5,109
    edited December 2019

    If it is not improving, ask for a referral to a pulmonologist.

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  • LaughingGull
    LaughingGull Member Posts: 560
    edited December 2019

    I am following this since I am also an asthma/allergies person. I also worry constantly about some shortness of breath or any cough being actually lung mets. I am still seeing my MO often because I am in adjuvant treatment with Nerlynx, this will be till April next year, then I will see her less often. Every time I go with an asthma concern she says my chest is clear. My asthma is light.

    TB90, I will follow your advice, too. Monitor closely and stay calm.



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  • Mom2fourplusmore
    Mom2fourplusmore Member Posts: 183
    edited December 2019

    kbeee, ya I have a referral already but can’t get in for 6 months. Finally found where my GP sent her patients today so I can get into that Dr on Thursday. The prednisone is helping but not clearing it. That’s not normal for me so hopefully they will have some answers.


    laughinggull, I’ve talked to a few other women and they said they had more problems with their asthma after chemo and radiation. Not sure if you’ve had either one. I have not had them. So mine is totally new flare. Also the reason you are getting that response is because your talking to the wrong Dr. I have found MO really dismiss asthma. Probably because they deal with cancer in the lungs and not asthma. So go to your GP and then a pulmonologist if you need to.

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  • cedric_86
    cedric_86 Member Posts: 2
    edited December 2019

    Hi,

    These are just my thoughts. I was recently diagnosed with MBC to my lung in November. I started thinking I had pneumonia in August. I had no real symptoms other than the violent cough and I was really tired. It lasted through October. I had 2 chest x-rays and a cat-scan that showed right middle lobe infiltration. I was doing pre-op testing for breast reconstruction in November, and my doctor wanted to make sure the pneumonia cleared because it still showed on cat-scan. I ended up having an endoscopy and that is how I learned the breast cancer had come back to my lungs.

    The antibiotics helped with the cough in the beginning but the cough never cleared. I later found out because apparently, the cancer cells were blocking so the pneumonia couldn't clear. Originally, I couldn't get into seeing a lung doctor until after my scheduled surgery date, but since I was doing pre-op testing, they rushed it. So, me pushing to have the reconstruction and a persistent lung doctor turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

    I would push to have a cat scan, as the x-ray may not show if it is cancer. Not trying to scare you, but really consider being seen before January.


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  • Mom2fourplusmore
    Mom2fourplusmore Member Posts: 183
    edited December 2019

    Cedric, thank you for your response. I was wondering if anyone with lung Mets ever had these symptoms with it. I’ve heard of a mild dry cough but mine is so violent and has phlegm. It gives me a good reason to make sure I get a ctscan to see if there’s more going on. I did go to the GP yesterday and she gave me more asthma medicine. I tried explaining that this wasn’t normal for me. She said my airways were so constricted that I had inflammation and that’s why I have the phlegm. I’ve been on prednisone twice now in a couple months and it’s just not clearing it. Normally I only need one dose to help so this is weird. I’m going to ask for a ctscan. I suspect I will be dismissed but we will see. Thanks again.I’m sorry you had this happen to you.

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  • Ire293523
    Ire293523 Member Posts: 7
    edited December 2019

    What are the odds of adjuvant chemo (ACT) to damage the lungs of an otherwise healthy young woman?

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  • Mom2fourplusmore
    Mom2fourplusmore Member Posts: 183
    edited December 2019

    Ire, thanks for the response. I’m sure that chemo and radiation could damage the lungs. In my particular situation that wouldn’t be the case because I didn’t have either one. I was stage 1. Plus I’ve had nasty asthma my whole life. It just appears to have gotten worse randomly. They shoved a ton of medicine at me and it does seem to have helped. Not sure if it will reappear but right this second I’m a gazillion times better. Thanks for the response.

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