Drugs Certain medicines may have the undesirable side effect of causing pulmonary fibrosis. Check with your doctor about the medicines you are taking and ask about any possible side effects. This is not as common as the other causes listed. These theories are still being researched. There is also a familial form of the disease, known as familial idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Shortness of breath is the main symptom of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Since many lung diseases show this symptom, making the correct diagnosis may be difficult. The shortness of breath may first appear during exercise. The condition then may progress to the point where any exertion is impossible. If the disease progresses, the person with IPF may eventually be short of breath even at rest. Clubbing of the fingertips may also occur.