Hi Drs of Reddit,

This is quite a long post, but I'm attempting to give a thorough history.

I'm 25, male, 67 kg, 5ft 8'inches. I'm a PhD student and spend most of my time sat a computer doing calculations.

I am asthmatic, and I'm also a VERY anxious person (GAD). I think there is a little bit of depression sprinkled in somewhere too. I have suffered for many years with health anxiety too, but my health anxiety was almost non-existent from 2018 - 2020. Around 2 months ago, I had bloods done for my tiredness and inability to complete couch to 5K, and everything came back clear.

From the ages of 18 - 23 I smoked around 20 a day, and was very inactive. I didn't do sports and I wouldn't take the stairs if possible (lifts!). My anxiety has definitely been much worse since lockdowns started happening, lack of routine, going into work etc. I feel anxious quite a lot, I feel on edge quite a lot, and I feel scared quite a lot.

Since 2018, I haven't used a steroid inhaler for my asthma - I simply haven't appeared to need it. In 2019, I did Couch to 5K and took a single puff of my blue inhaler prior to running. That allowed me to get to the end of the programme. I started it again when lockdown started, and the whole way through the summer I have struggled to (i) stay consistent with going running and (ii) getting breathless towards the end of the running sections. Since this summer, I have needed a steroid inhaler due to waking up at night feeling breathless. Since then, I've taken 1 puff of Clenil Modulite in the morning and evening, and that seems to be okay. I do however feel a little bit more breathless in general when doing everything things.

I also suffer from what appears to be GERD, possibly more in line with silent reflux. I can typically manage this relatively well with diet, but some nights it feels like I have a liquid sensation in my chest and I need to belch a lot.

My main concerns are as follows:

• I'm very tired a lot. I could easily go for an hours walk, but I would feel quite tired afterwards and I feel sluggish whenever I'm in the house.
• I find stairs quite tiring. For example, it's around 50 stairs to get up to my flat. At the end of these stairs I feel a bit winded and might need a couple of minutes until I'm breathing at a 'resting' rhythm.
• If I exercise without a puff of blue inhaler, I get winded VERY easily and my recovery isn't very fast. I'm not panting and struggling to get a breath in, but I feel quite out of breath.
• I get sporadic days of dizziness. Some days I'm completely fine and other days I feel off balance throughout the day. It feels more positional e.g. when I look up, down or bend over. I've had this type of issue for a couple of years, but has been worse recently: I have a 'severely deviated septum and grade I attic retraction' as described by an ENT. I can think back as far as 2017 where I went to the doctors because I was having some form of positional vertigo.

I'm very much concerned that I have a heart or serious lung condition that is going to go unnoticed, resulting in something horrible.

I know this is a long post, but I would REALLY appreciate some replies from a trained Doctor.

Many thanks.