Jay, powerful post man. I wish I had half that talent.

Old Rick, nice post man, assuming you ARENT a plant, get to another doctor. I am not saying it cant be from the smoking, but let me give you a rundown of what happened to my mom. March of 97, she started to get shortness of breath, went to a "specialist" He said, evil smoker, you are going to die, now you have COPD, heres O2, quit smoking and you may live a few years. I asked the man just how the hell a person healthy for all those years develops COPD in less than a month.......he looks suspiciously at me ( must have figured I was a heathen also) and says, COPD, thats what she has. We fast forward to mid Aug. she starts getting screaming headaches, finally we get her down to IU Medical center ( Indy ) There, the true diagnosis is obtained, a brain tumor, a really, really nasty one at that. Went through a craniotomy(sp?), but it was too late for total sucess. She made it to Jan of 98. Now, could she have been saved, had the Dr. not had his pre-biased views? That we will never know, but what we do know is, smoking doesnt cause brain tumors, and the rich O2 mixture she was fed by this hack sure did not stunt the growth of the tumor.
Oh yea, forgot one thing, after they cut the tumor out, she suddenly had no problem breathing, imagine that.

I've been a smoker, on and off, since I was 14. Pretty steady since I was 24...that's when I started my career in a very stressful profession. My Newports always came through when I needed them to.

I reasoned that the health effects wouldn't matter, as I was always a 1/2 pack a day, or less, smoker. Alas, of late, I have has extreme difficulty breathing, and am suffering general anxiety from lack of oxygen. I am only 42 years old.

I likely brought it on myself...I liked to take huge drags, and feel that smoke go down...it cannot have helped. Now, I cannot fill my lungs with air, and a dirty tatste covers my teeth. My doctor is baffled.

A cautionary tale for you all...I was careless, and I am paying.

Sounds more like panic attacks while fast approaching midlife crisis.
You say lack of oxygen, is that what blood gas tests tell you?
Do you tire easily with light activity?
You state your doctor is baffled, is that because all tests are normal?
Try to get a peek at the notes your doctor is writing down and see if you can find the word hypochondriac.
Let us know in 25 years how you make out.

Rick

Thanks for wishing us luck. I know we will need it. You just don't understand, because you never smoked. Smoking does do much good, even for the children. Teenage suicides will increase if cigarettes aren't avaiable, and these are children, but govt doesn't care about that. They'd rather have some healthy people, than care for all of its people. The thing you don't understand is that tobacco makes life bearable for some people. I know I'll be able to smoke all my life whenever I need to, but I sincerely care about the people following me that may be close to having a breakdown. Cigarettes may be the only hope for them. I pray that cigarettes will always be available to them. Whether I care or not about personally smoking in a bar or restaurant, I feel it is necessary for me to support all tobacco rights to ensure that this isn't the first step to tobacco prohibition.

stop smoking cancer sticks..... it is very very naughty. passive smoking kills young children - have a heart because you wont if you carry on

i dont waste my money on cancer sticks life is a gift

you Hey Now! twats stop committing suicide