Asthma?

[Traveller]

Can anyone please tell me what their asthma is like? Can you have it without wheezing? The reason I ask is that I've been fairly short of breath for a while, especially if I've walked up a few flights of stairs or something like that. Recently I've had a nasty cold and found even talking a full sentence left me short of breath. The cold is mostly gone but I have a horrible cough, especially at night, and I've had a tight feeling in my chest with lots more shortness of breath between coughing spells. DH is a tad worried it is asthma, especially as ventolin seems to ease the cough, but I have no wheeze. Could it be asthma or is it more likely to be viral? I will of course see my gp but am just interested in other people's experiences

[Tinks]

What you've described sounds exactly like my Asthma. You can definitely have asthma without wheezing, it's actually a sign that it's really bad. You need to see a dr ASAP.

[Artechim]

Ventolin can ease a cough that is not asthma related (and is sometimes prescribed as a one-off to do so). It relaxes the airways so reduces the tight chest feeling.

Could you have bronchitis?

[Traveller]

Thanks Tinks, I promise to go and see one tomorrow

[LizLemon]

I've never had a noticeable wheeze - the doctor has picked it up by listening to my chest but I can't hear it. I get a random bad cough a number of times during the year, and cough generally. To me it just feels like something is tied around my chest, and just feel really breathless.

I second that you need to see a doctor asap, asthma can get nasty very quickly

[Traveller]

Sorry Artechim I missed your comment. No I don't think it's bronchitis, I am not coughing up gunk I just kind of run out of breath and that causes a dry cough.

[Artechim]

You can get your DH to listen to your chest - I can often hear my DH squeaking in his chest well before he feels the need to take the ventolin.

[Traveller]

and then I missed your comment too LizLemon I don't think there is a wheeze at all I have listened myself with my steth and my chest sounds clear. I'm not going to a doc tonight, I have been putting up with this for weeks but I should be able to get an emergency appointment tomorrow morning. I was diagnosed with asthma as a teenage but it hasn't bothered me in years so I assumed I had grown out of it. I guess maybe I have grown back into it

[Tinks]

Trav, if you have a spacer use that to take Ventolin.

[Traveller]

Trav, if you have a spacer use that to take Ventolin.

Thanks, will do

[Arimeh]

I get a cough that doesn't go away, and when I breathe out - I cough more at the end of it. Dh suffers from asthma and he needs a preventative - he got me some Ventolin that I use sometimes when I can't stop.

Usually I blow out like I'm blowing out candles and get out all the air that I can and do that until it goes away. Works for me really well - dh discovered that trick when doing an assessment on asthma (he's in his 2nd year of nursing degree)

[Traveller]

I get a cough that doesn't go away, and when I breathe out - I cough more at the end of it. Dh suffers from asthma and he needs a preventative - he got me some Ventolin that I use sometimes when I can't stop.

Usually I blow out like I'm blowing out candles and get out all the air that I can and do that until it goes away. Works for me really well - dh discovered that trick when doing an assessment on asthma (he's in his 2nd year of nursing degree)

Yes that's exactly what my cough is like! I'll try the candle trick, thanks for the suggestion

[veus]

I used to get this incessant dry cough every now and again and especially late winter/early spring. One year I had enuf and went asked the doctor to sort it out. He basically diagnosed it as mild asthma, most likely triggered by cold/allergens (bad hayfever symptoms). So he prescribed the preventor and that worked a treat.

[Traveller]

Well I'm definitely wheezing this morning so I'm waiting to see the gp.

[Traveller]

And you guys were all right, I'm now armed with ventolin, seretide and pred. Thanks for the advice

[diannescruffy]

Hope you're feeling better soon.

Regards,
Dianne

[Traveller]

Thanks Dianne, I'm already breathing much easier now. In retrospect this has been getting worse for months and last night was probably a pretty bad asthma attack which I could have avoided if I wasn't hiding my head in the sand. All good now though

[Traveller]

Bump:

So I've gone from yesterdays happy feeling of "ok it's asthma, now I can have drugs and feel better" to being on a bit of a downer. Asthma is a pretty serious and horrible thing to have At the moment I am on a short course of prednisolone and seretide twice daily, until I can get down to not needing a reliever 3 - 4 times a day but whilst I can breathe for the first time in months, my heart is racing and it took me forever to get to sleep last night with aching legs and tachycardia. I know the heart thing is a side effect of the amount of drugs I'm on, but if I have to keep taking the seretide long term will it continue and is the insomnia related to the drugs or more likely just the diagnosis? And also is the prednisolone likely to be prescribed again if I get a cold or something, or is it just because I let things get so far out of control? I know it's early in the game but I'd love to hear from someone who has been taking these drugs a bit longer so I know what to expect. Please ignore the fact I am an almost qualified nurse, I have all the books in front of me but TBH theory and living with something are worlds apart.

The doctor I saw yesterday was a young registrar and didn't normally work in general practice so he gave me great advice for an acute attack but not so much with the long term management. I am seeing my own GP in two weeks and will hopefully get more advice then but can anyone tide me over meantime?