Asthma without Wheezing

I am always short of breath and have post nasal drip, difficulty swallowing, bloating, fatigue, etc. I"ve had panic disorder for about 13 years and I know my shortness of breath isn't related to that. I was also diagnosed a few years ago with allergies to almost all fruits & vegetables (tomatoes, carrots, peas, citrus, melons, bananas, potatoes etc), and wheat and eggs and walnuts. also diagnosed with allergies to many animals, and most trees. I'm now reacting to humidity.

Although I can cut a lot of the food out, i can't cut out everything. I also have gerd. It's frustrating because my post nasal drip started with my nose surgery for a deviated septum.  I always feel a glob in my throat and am miserable day and night. I have to push on my stomach a lot to get my food down and I feel my shortness of breath ease up a bit, but sometimes i just feel like i'm gasping for air (this is a daily thing) with all of this glue-like mucous in my throat. even when it clears, i feel still short of breath. This has been going on for about 5 years. I'm wondering if I could be suffering from asthma. The problem is, a doc told me i wasn't because i don't wheeze. I'm also worried about using an inhaler because I never have used one before and Im afraid that I might have a severe reaction.    

I have anxiety too, and I was just diagnosed with asthma yesterday.

I don't wheeze. I also have alot of allergies. Do you have an epipen?

The best thing I would think would be for you to get a methacholine challange test, I just
had one yesterday which is what helped diagnose me, and it was NOT bad at all...

I was afraid to use ventolin but, if you get that test, you will be at the hospital and
you can tell them your fears about an allergic reaction. They have all the means to deal
with that there. The ventolin helped me a TON and also, i have had no side effects to
any of the meds my speacalist prescribed. I am taking a Corticosteroid nasal spray 2 sprays each nostil once
a day, Flovent which is a inhaled Corticosteroid medication and also a Ventolin puffer for when I have symptoms.
(The flovent works over time its not a "rescue" inhaler).

Anyways, I have had similar symptoms as you for over a year and passed a pulomary function test
and refused the puffer because I was afraid of it too. That was 6 months ago, and I finally got so fed up
I marched into my doctors office and asked for a referral, she was hesitant, so I cried and begged her, and
she agreed. THANK GOD! She referred me (to a respitory doctor at a local respitory and allergy clinic),
and the first thing the resp. doctor did was order a Methacholine Challange. You should do the same, and
don't worry. If you don't have asthma, you won't react to the test, and I PROMISE it is not as bad as
they make it sound. You can ask me any questions about it. And trust me I am a huge freak about
tests!

Thanks for your replies!

I only take benadryl as it is something im not afraid to take. i also carry an epipen.  My spirometry readings were low but i cant remember what they were but they know i have a restriction. that was over 5 years ago. my oxygen levels are always about 99-100 percent so because of that, they insist im hyperventilating. My allergist wanted to do allergy shots but im too afraid of that too. sometimes i wonder, even though i have food allergies, if gerd intensifies the shortness of breath. it's very frustrating to have to focus on every single breath.

no i haven't had that test. in fact, this is the first time i've heard of it. i'll research it because i didn't know there was a way to diagnose asthma except with a stethoscope. I think i might need one of those tests. i'm afraid of dying during my testing - even at the hospital.