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Is a low dose CT any use?
Despite continually worsening S.O.B, low O2 sats and severe restrictive pattern on spirometry, a Pulmonologist I saw this week refused further investigations and suggested I have dis functional breathing. Again, all because they couldn’t see anything other than a tiny bronchiectasis on an HRCT last year. She recommended physiotherapy – I had been going to physiotherapy but it was doing nothing and I stopped because I pretty much don’t leave the house I’m so ill. Nothing I said – be it that I can’t walk far, that my chest feels like it’s got ropes round it, that I can’t sleep, I’m in pain, even that my sats have dropped as low as 79 – would get her to change her mind. Oh and that when I move or stand up my pulse jumps to about 125-140bmp (she even saw that in surgery but said it’s anxiety). I’m not questioning her professionalism or skills and I know she obviously medically believes what she’s telling me, but I know I feel about 10% as well as I did two years ago.
I KNOW something’s significantly wrong but I’m just hitting brick walls. It’s so frustrating medics are ‘gods’ and have the final word. I get that in their eyes I’m ‘too young’ to have an ild, but I know my body. I’m not blaming it on anyone – I used to smoke (started in my teens like a fool and gave up two years ago) and I’ve lived next to a main road and set of traffic lights for 20 years. My flat was always dusty as I stupidly never looked after it properly.Now the HRCT – high resolution – last year was on the NHS. I’m in the UK where this scan has to be ordered by a senior doctor like the one I saw, so no chance there. It is possible to pay privately for a low dose CT scan – seemingly with no referral needed, according to scan.com’s website. I’m wondering whether to go down that avenue even though they’re not much more powerful or detailed than a standard x-ray. Does anyone on here know the likelihood of low dose CT spotting anything that was missed or has worsened? Or was anyone’s IPF/PF noticed on low dose CT? Advice would be gratefully received. Cheers, Gavin.
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