Check with your doctor about the medicines you are taking and ask about any possible side effects. Connective tissue or collagen diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic sclerosis. 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 this is a symptom of many types of lung disease, 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 eventually may be short of breath even at rest. When the disease is severe and prolonged, heart failure with swelling of the legs may occur.