A few weeks ago, I decided to take another run at finding answers for and getting relief from my shortness of breath. My worsening shortness of breath and post nasal drip has led to a significant decrease in quality of life over the last 6 months.
Several of my fellow patient-friends predicted that the pulmonologist visits would be a waste of time, and they were right in the end. On some level, I knew that they probably would be correct, as I've never had much luck with non-ME/CFS specialists. On the other hand, patients say you should never ignore new or worsening symptoms just in case your ME/CFS has lead to another disease. For instance, with our weakened immune systems, we are more susceptible, statistically, to certain types of cancer. So I went anyway.
The pulmonologist (Dr. S) ordered a CT scan (without contrast) and an echocardiogram, thinking that perhaps my slight pectus excavatum was pushing on the pulmonary artery. My heart and lungs checked out fine on these tests, plus the Monolukast prescription turned out to be ineffective.
As one last effort, he sent me away with a 14 day sample of an inhaler, noting that I had performed 9% better on a spirometry test after trying an inhaler. I suspect the 9% improvement was due to vagaries of the testing conditions, but the sample is free so I will try it anyway. He prescribed an Ellipta inhaler. Today, as I write this, I am on day 1 of the inhaler experiment, and am breathing well, but it's far too early to draw any conclusions.
Finally, he referred me to an allergist for a full allergy evaluation. I'm going to follow through with that evaluation. Again, it probably won't lead to any new answers, but I have to try.
@Patrick. Montelucast takes a good 12 months to lower IgE levels, I didn't feel any benefit until that point. However it dropped my 800 odd IgE levels to 150 in that time.
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