[melmyers1107]

I am a 31 year old woman who smokes and has severe bipolar. I also get severe chest pains. everyone always tells me its anxiety and blah blah blah. I am so sick of going to doctors who keep telling me there is nothing wrong. there is obviously something wrong if my chest hurts most of the day. I always get urges to call the hospital then it goes away. I wonder if pain pills would make it better or worse. I tried exercising for a while that was going well for first few weeks then this week my lungs had trouble breathing in enough air. it feels like I am suffocating almost. any ideas besides seeing a doctor?

How much do you smoke per day and how long have you smoked? We aren't in a position to give medical advice, but did your doctors not mention smoking being a factor?

To answer your question about ideas, I recommend trying to quit smoking or at least cutting back and see how you feel. I gave up a two-pack a day habit six weeks ago and I'm breathing much easier! There is a smoking cessation sub forum in Addictions for support. The state I live in gave me a free starter pack of patches and they offer a lot of support. Smokefree dot org

I am using the Nicotine patches to titrates down to completely get off nicotine.

Pain pills will only blunt the pain. It won't make your respiratory system better and a lot of pain pills are addictive....I would tread carefully there.

Also, having your chest X-rayed may help, too.

Perhaps some others will have suggestions, too. Please don't take this as medical advice, as I'm not qualified to give medical advice. I hope you feel better soon!

[Bolivar83]

Melmyers1107 - like rainday107 wrote, I have absolutely zero medical qualifications. Cutting out smoking might help physically, but know how hard this can be psychologically to quit if it helps with anxiety, etc. I wonder if it might be panic attacks? I have them, and when they first manifested, I truly felt that I was having a heart attack, chest compressed so hard I could not breathe, extreme panic. After being rushed to the ER several times, the doctor finally figured out what was going on. They still scare me, but I'm able to deal as I have more experience now.

Seeing a doctor really might be a better option - If you don't mind my asking, do you have specific reservations about seeing one, or perhaps its a cost issue (which I can understand). Adding pain pills to the mix might just aggravate the situation....

It's been a bit since you posted - have you had any success in identifying/dealing with this? Hope you will post update, if you feel like it.

Take care