Diagnose my sore chest

pneumothorax!

Today's symptom sounds like pleurisy.

Collapsed lung

When my eldest daughter was about six, she complained of similar symptoms but I thought she was just trying to skive off school and miss a test so I sent her in anyway. Turns out it was pleurisy and I am a TERRIBLE, COLD, UNSYMPATHETIC MOTHER.

You're pregnant so immune system is pretty low. Maybe just a cold? Metallic taste? Doesn't that also refer to iron defiency?

We need to contact House MD! :-)))))

Oops!

Rumpie - you really should see a doctor! It sounds like either pleurisy or a bad infection that could quite easily turn into Pneumonia. I know someone who had almost exactly the same symptoms as you for around 3 weeks, and she ended up with a collapsed lung and needed hospital treatment. Ten years on, she still suffers from shortness of breath and pain if she gets a cough. Not trying to scare you - just see the quack, OK?

i have blood in my phlegm today

it's actually really weird, i coughed a lot but they are seldom super productive. then randomly a reasonable sized lump of quite solid phlegm will just pop out and then i'd look at it and there'll be small bits of blood in it.

dunno if that (the phlegming) is caused by the medicine i'm taking too - which is just lemsip stylee thing

the blood feels as though it's probably jut from me coughing too much cos my throat now hurts

Aaargh, thanks Dr C, that's scary. Maybe I should see a doc. I've been off work twice with the cold in the past four weeks, the first time it turned into laryngitis and I couldn't talk above a whisper for three days.

Nath, the taste seems to be less in my mouth than in my breath when I cough. It's hard to explain.

CJ, my mum is just the same, she thinks I'm the biggest hypochondriac in the world and claims that it's trapped wind. Then again, she thinks everything is trapped wind.

ken: start a "diagnose the blood in my phlegm" thread.

this is not the place to be confusing phlegms with chests.

I know, for goodness sake Ken, let's stick to the point, eh?

Although apparently it could be any of these things:

* Bleeding gums such as with gingivitis
* Blood clot in the lung
* Bronchiectasis
* Bronchitis
* Cystic fibrosis
* Esophageal cancer
* Goodpasture's syndrome
* Irritation of the throat from violent coughing
* Nosebleed
* Laryngitis
* Lung cancer (see metastatic lung cancer)
* Pneumonia
* Pulmonary aspiration (inhaling blood into the lungs)
* Pulmonary edema
* Systemic lupus erythematosus
* Tuberculosis
* Wegener's granulomatosis

Alternatively, trapped wind.

(googling "phlegm" and "blood" - apparently I will do anything to avoid work)

i've seen that page already :(

i hope it's goodpasture's syndrome. it sounds pretty

Drink some fizzy water, have a good burp, and that will eliminate the trapped wind possibility.

But really, why won't you go and see a medical professional? It's not just about what you want - THINK OF THE BABY :))

I had the same experience as Dr. C's friend. I only went to the hospital at a friend's urging, because I was convinced that my chest pain was really bad, chronic heartburn (the coughing was nothing new because I smoked a lot at the time).

What I'm curious about though is "trapped wind"? Sounds like a Native American folklore.

Wegener's granulomatosis is pretty cool name for a disease too, but since it only affects one in ten million people it seems unlikely.

x-post

Trapped wind - I've only ever had it lower down. I once went home from work with agonising stomach cramps to discover it was only trapped wind. needless to say I didn't tell my colleagues of the fact. But it can hurt, a lot, and there are drugs for it - deflatine, I think, is one of them.

deflatine sounds like that kind of thing that WOULD give you a collapsed lung

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Pneumonic plague - just wait for the buboes

no buboes with pneumonic plague :(

Maybe they're on the inside

Bronchitis seems to me the most likely cause, with pluerisy a less-likely second place. If it is bronchitis you will need antibiotics. I was tempted to say 'stat', but really it isn't quite that urgent. Try to get to a doctor today or tomorrow.