text: i have suddenly experienced short breath (like asthma almost) after getting over a cold.? i am a 34 year old healthy female.  i had a cold, but have been over it for a week or so.  i feel fine except i can't breathe deeply without a menthol cough drop or laying down.  this has been going on for over 24 hours now. called the doctor and they didn't seem particularly concerned and offered an appointment in a week or so.  any ideas? first of all, i would get a new family doctor. what you have, is probably pleurisy. here are the symptoms: it hurts to breath deeply or cough. you may also have severe,but one-sided,chest pain.the symptoms are accompanied by others that are associated with the underlying disorder. the pain will disappear if pleural effusion occurs as a result of pleurisy, because fluid will prevent the roughened or inflamed  layers of the pleura from rubbing against each other. if this happens, you may become breathless! you need to see a doctor, have your lungs "sounded' and a "chest x-ray" the x-ray will determine what caused this. if you are not allergic to aspirin, this is the recommendation. aspirin will ease your pain. go now and get your lungs tested. better to be safe then sorry.