what is pleurisy

I'm a 16 year old girl. Since Sunday, I have been having breathing problems. It has been kinda difficult to exhale. I went to the doctor on Tuesday, and had a blood test for anemia, mono, and some liver thing. The tests came back negative. I went back to school on Thursday, but left halfway through the day because my breathing was bad again. I got x-rays done that day, the the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with my lungs or ribs. They said it could be pleurisy and to take advil to see if that's help. So Friday I went back to school, and my breathing seem almost normal. Last night, my breathing got bad again. I took some more advil. I laid in my bed for awhile, and next thing I know, I was gasping for air. I don't know if I had fell asleep or not. I stopped taking the advil because every time I took the advil, I seemed to have some problems.

I have no idea what I have. I'm so scared. What could be wrong? Please help.

Honestly, people on yahoo answers aren't gonna have answers. It sounds like you might need to go to the ER, they might be able to run some more thorough tests. God bless!

C.O.P.D. AKA Asthma.

i think i have it.. i randomly get chest pains and this is how it feels:

stabbing[around middle of ribcage], my back and chest gets itchy, i get tired, sweaty, it feels better if i stop breathing/hold breath. i've gone to the e.r two different times and they could never figure out what it was i think it may be this , if you have it is this whats its like?

does it sound like this

What you describe can also be hyperventilation. I have Hyper ventilation syndrome and whenever I take too much air, my chest, back itches like they are being stabbed by needles…. it is ridiculously painful.

It is usually relieved by inhaling more carbon dioxide for a while but not too much.

bruin 42701:

certainly the chest pain is the foremost symptom associated with pleurisy.Unfortunately it's difficult based on your wording to know where you are feeling that chest pain specifically.When you say around the middle of your rib cage, you have ribs on the right side, and ribs on the left side.One could consider your sternum (breastbone) to be the middle of your rib cage, or if you are referring to the head-feet direction then the middle of your rib cage is about 2-3 inches below your breasts.The stabbing sensation is a common description with pleurisy, your back and chest getting itchy is not, however.Feeling tired and sweaty is not specific to pleurisy however, something has to cause pleurisy and viruses are a notorious cause therefore the symptoms of feeling tired and sweaty might be due to the virus which is also causing the pain in your chest.I am assuming that since you have been to the emergency room they have probably done a chest x-ray to make sure that you didn't havepneumonia.The fact that you feel better if you hold your breath is something which could happen with pleurisy.If indeed this is pleurisy, and it is due to a virus there is pretty much not a lot you can do other than using anti-inflammatories.(like prescription strength Motrin/Ibuprofen)Again, this assumes that you have had a chest x-ray on one of the visits to the emergency room.If not, there is a concern that this could be pneumonia however you don't seem to mention a significant cough which you wouldexpect with pneumonia but not necessarily with pleurisy.