Interstitial Lung Disease Puns

I am seeing a pulmonologist today. I think I have pleurisy, but my bigger concern is that I suspect that I have interstitial lung disease. I have slowly developed shortness of breath during exertion over the last few years along with a dry cough. It feels the way ILD is described. I am really hoping there is no permanent scarring. Anyway, I read (in the Lupus Encyclopedia) u/LupusEncyclopedia that if active inflammation of the interstitial tissue doesn't show up on a CT scan or other test, a round of steroids may be used as a test--basically, see if the problem improves with steroid use. While I really don't want to be on steroids, I may suggest this if the tests don't turn up anything. (I had a CT scan after a blood clot recently and no abnormalities were noted. I think that if I do have inflammation of the interstitial tissue, it's minor. But I want to catch it before it gets worse or causes scarring).

Anyone know how long one needs to be on steroids to tell if the SOB and coughing is due to ILD? And whether it's a high dose?

Also, for those of you who have had ILD and active inflammation: What has worked?

Thank you!

*Update: Lung scan was clear, although the DLOC was slightly abnormal. Pulmonologist diagnosed costochondritis and said maybe pleurisy, but definitely no ILD. That is a huge relief, but the coughing and shortness of breath is still a mystery. Rheum wants me to see ENT for possible vocal chord dysfunction, but I don't know that this would explain the symptoms. Need to see GI to follow-up about possible silent reflux cause. Honestly, it feels mysterious. I'm really frustrated. Will update if I get to the bottom of it, or it goes away.

My ct results just came back and I have minimal bronchial wall and parenchymal tthickening. Anyone else dealing with the same thing? Has it resolved over time? Are there any effective treatments?

She wasn’t saying it to be alarmist. She meant, it won’t be too much of a problem for most. But this subreddit was in fact what first alerted me to interstitial lung disease and it is quite alarming when you google. Does anyone else talk to their rheumy about it?

?

If both options are given which we will choose?

My mother is on celcep (mycrophenalte) for interstitial lung disease. She’s fully vaccinated with Moderna. Is the vaccine effective with her medication please?

I could type out all of my diagnostic criterion but I'm honestly terrified someone's gonna come back and tell me I'm dying! So I'll keep this brief.

25F experiencing low oxygen levels for a little over a month. Has ranged from the high 70s to the low 90s — generally hovers around 90, and has gotten up to 98 on a few brief occasions. Steroids and antibiotics have not resolved the issue. COVID pretty definitively ruled out after 3 negative tests and a negative antibody test.

I'm impatiently waiting for my appointment with a pulmonologist in about a week but the doctors keep talking about the possibility of interstitial lung disease. This potential diagnosis has spread amongst my family and they keep texting me like I'm dying. And according to Google I may actually be dying.

But I'm 25. Interstitial lung disease is like.... really unlikely, right?

I'd probably give more details if anyone is actually curious but I'm mainly just here to see if I need to start preparing myself for death, tyia

Hey yall. I was diagnosed with sjogrens syndrome in 2017 and have not taken plaquneil for it until 15 days ago. I recently found out that my lungs are demonstrating some kind of impairment ( DLCO is low, at 67%) and some of my doctors think it is because of Sjogrens.

This year, my ANA is at 1:1280 (I know super high) and I am very positive for both SSA and SSB antibodies.... Has anyone been struggling with ILD associated to sjogrens? Has your DLCO improved upon treatment? Im kind of worried I ll be stuck like this or even die early because of this. I heard that fibrosis is difficult to treat.

I was diagnosed with Interstitial Lung Disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis back in May. Last year, about July I noticed my hands were hurting and by the end of the year I felt I had a cold I could not shake. It must have progressed fairly fast. They have me on oxygen now, and I just started taking Cellcept. Is there anyone else here in the community that has the same thing? It would be nice to have an online friend to talk to. Thanks!

https://preview.redd.it/f1e8n82z5gv61.png?width=796&format=png&auto=webp&s=4befafc1cdf9a12d0aeec0e2c82bb3239a009da2

Age: 22

Height: 176cm

Weight: 65kg

Gender: Male

Occupation: student

Ethnicity: Chinese

Never-smoker, no history of any illegal drug use.

Recently been advised to get a CT scan by my GP because she couldn't figure out what is causing my respiratory symptoms.

My symptoms are as following:

- Cough that gets worse after eating since Feburary (started out as a dry cough, but since August it became more of a wet cough with white/colourless mucus)

- Chronic throat clearing as if I always have mucus in my chest or at the back of my throat - this started at the same time when my cough became productive.

- Feels like I can't take a satisfying deep breath as if my lungs won't fill up as well as they used to (noticed this at around Feburary/March)

- Occasionally shortness of breath that seems to get worse when I speak but not when I do exercises (might be related to anxiety(?))

- I can feel that there is some rattling in my lungs when i breath especially when I'm sitting on my bed against a pillow (this is a new symptom that started around 5 days ago) but my GP couldn't hear anything in my lungs with a stethoscope upon consultation...

Chest x-ray (from September): normal. Normal spirometry (from September). No abnormal sounds heard in my lungs by any of the doctors that I've been to. No wheezing. Initially 96% oxygen saturation at rest, then my GP raised my finger a bit higher and the number rose to 98% and she said that the initial reading was due to a postural issue (?) Been on trial for asthma medication since early September (fluticasone furate/vilanterol 200/25 + montelukast) to no effect. No improvement with Omeprazole neither. Blood test for neutrophils, eosinophils...etc are all within normal range. No Covid-19 (been tested three times between July-September, all negative).

Other clinical conditions that I have: allergic rhinitis, allergic to dust mites

Further information: Between Feburary and June, I've lived in a pretty dusty accommodation because I didn't take the time to clean it as often as I should. I remember one instance in February when i accidentally inhaled some mold from a rotten orange that I left behind in a drawer when i opened the drawer and it was highly unpleasant (i coughed some but otherwise I didn't think think much of it). Then, in March, I had one instance where a shared vacuum cleaner malfunctioned and the ventilator blew the dusts that leaked from the cylinder into my face - I coughed really hard like I had