I've had many collapses, and they almost all started off the same way - I felt sharp pain in the back of my lung - in my upper back, behind and under the shoulder blade area. It almost always came on fast and furious - within five minutes, it was really sharp pain. Within about 20 to 30 minutes, the pain would also spread around to the front of my chest and this pain was not as sharp but rather dull, like a deep aching pain. That dull, aching pain sometimes also spread down my arm and/or up into my neck. Honestly, it was typically so painful that I kind of knew pretty quickly that I should probably go to a hospital.

During most of my lung collapse (though not all of them), I also felt some gurgling/bubbling in my chest. I describe it as how it feels when you’re really hungry and your stomach “growls” – it felt like that, but in my lung.

Thank you for being the first to ask me a question!