Hey guys,
So after a few very anxious weeks I (27M) finally saw my pulmo today. He was very happy that I quit smoking and I told him that while I know the risk of anything is slim, I'd like the peace of mind. I also told him that I'm a chronic hyperventilator due to anxiety and over breathe (30-33x minute)
He listened to my lungs, told me it all sounded good but if it'd help me sleep better, he'd order a spirometry for me. I said yes.
So: enter a hostile and disinterested tech who gave me vague directions as to how to take the test. She said breathe normally and when she counts to 3, exhale fully. I asked her if I need to take a proper/deep inhale beforehand, or if I should just exhale what's in my lungs at the time, and she told me to just exhale. So that's what I did... after 3 times she says that the test is really low and she needs to get the doctor.
Doc comes back with my results: he says it's definitely not COPD (whew) but that the results are odd. My FEV1 was 100% predicted but my FVC was abysmal. The test said my lungs were that of someone over 80. Which I know is complete BS. I think I would have felt that.
ANYWAY (sorry for the long post), is it possible that my shallow breathing disrupted the test to that extent? I thought on the 3rd attempt, I inhaled deeper but I guess not. Or could there really be some issue that would have such a big discrepancy between FEV1 and FVC? I don't have the full results, but it was like 100% FEV1 and 41% FVC.
Not sure if this makes any senses.
Thanks!