Hi all. I was in the ER in July with a panic attack. Chest pain and shortness of breath. I'm tall and thin. 6 ft 145 lbs.

After a chest x-ray, the doctor said everything was normal and sent me home. My oxygen levels were 99, I think, and my breathing rate was 16-18 bpm.

After that, in August, I visited my doctor, who mentioned nothing about my chest X-ray at all.

I smoked for 13 years. Recently I quit (about a month ago) and I started to have a lot of shortness of breath. I feel like I can't breathe deeply and that I can't exhale fully. Now I have some anxiety issues, so I calmed myself down by remembering that my x-ray was normal, etc.

Then, the other day I went and looked at it and it said: No plain film evidence for acute cardiopulmonary disease," but it also that the lungs are hyperaerated with increased retrosternal airspace and flattening of the hemidiaphragms.

I looked this up and all of the symptoms point to COPD.

I'm feeling overwhelmed and anxious, and I can't understand why no one has mentioned the results of my x-ray to me. My grandmother and great uncle died from emphasyma.

Not sure if this might mean anything but I went to the cardiologist last year and, after and EKG and echocardiogram, he said I had right branch bundle block—but he seemed completely unworried about it. I am pretty sure he looked at my lungs during the ultrasound too.

Anyways, that is all to say that I'm nervous in the face of all the uncertainty and I'd appreciate any insights.

With gratitude.