Constant asthma attacks?

Question

I do not understand what is causing them, i take my preventative medicine every day and strangely one night i am fine the next i am up through out the night to take my emegancy inhaler, which makes my heart go too fast and i cant sleep. It does not feel like the asthma attacks i had when i was young. I had 3 chest infections last year and the last one only cleared up 3 weeks ago, i cough up contantly and my chest weezes. When i go to the doc though i get told just to take my emergancy inhaler. Today i woke up breathless in a coughing fit and i felt as thou water was in my lungs, i then took a terrible attack, i look white and feel faint and couldnt get enough air to take my inhaler, i am worried i will have another attack, they are worse when i try to lie down or after i eat. The health services seem to just want rid of me, they wont give me a lung scan, just fill me up with steriods. I am off work again, i really cant live like this....i feel very congested and sore

Answer 1

Asthma is inflammation and narrowing of the airways (called the bronchial tubes).

SYMPTOMS

The symptoms of asthma vary from person to person. The most common symptoms are difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath, a feeling of tightness in the chest, wheezing and troublesome coughing.

Not all of these symptoms are necessarily present at same time.

TRIGGERS

There are different things which may trigger asthma attacks. The most common is viral infections.

Other triggers are allergens such as house dust mite, pollens and moulds, Food additives, colourings and flavourings. Sudden changes in temperature and weather can also trigger an asthma attack.

Tobacco smoke is a dangerous trigger for people with asthma.

http://www.umm.edu/non_trauma/asthma.htm

http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/asthma_in_adults.html

Answer 2

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Answer 3

I'm a doctor and if you are telling your doctor exactly what you are telling us and if your doctor is really ignoring all your symptoms given what you have said then he/she should be struck off. It is impossible to diagnose and treat asthma or whatever medical problem you may actually be suffering from by proxy. No one can and you should only taken everyone else's opinion with a pinch of salt. Lung scan may not be the answer. It's only useful if the diagnosis in doubt. What you should do are the following: Take the salbutamol regularly Increase the frequency of your preventer to 4 times a day if you are not already Stop smoking if you are a smoker Do regular exercise (swimming is good) Clean your bedroom (vacuum your room and new bed sheets +/- new pillows and blankets) See another doctor for a second opinion (does not necessarily need to be a respiratory physician) If you do get another attack go to an Emergency Department and let them check you out properly. I fear that given your "brittle asthma" you may not last through your next attack. Adrian (A&E Doctor)

Answer 4

I'm a doctor and if you are telling your doctor exactly what you are telling us and if your doctor is really ignoring all your symptoms given what you have said then he/she should be struck off.

It is impossible to diagnose and treat asthma or whatever medical problem you may actually be suffering from by proxy. No one can and you should only taken everyone else's opinion with a pinch of salt.

Lung scan may not be the answer. It's only useful if the diagnosis in doubt.

What you should do are the following:

Take the salbutamol regularly
Increase the frequency of your preventer to 4 times a day if you are not already
Stop smoking if you are a smoker
Do regular exercise (swimming is good)
Clean your bedroom (vacuum your room and new bed sheets +/- new pillows and blankets)
See another doctor for a second opinion (does not necessarily need to be a respiratory physician)

If you do get another attack go to an Emergency Department and let them check you out properly. I fear that given your "brittle asthma" you may not last through your next attack.

Adrian (A&E Doctor)

Answer 5

Do you have central heating on in your bedroom throughout the night. The heating could be a contributory factor. Other factors. overuse of ventolin inhaler which indicates your asthma is out of control/or a chest infection which may require a strong antibotic to clear it up. Some people with asthma can get lots of infections throughout the year. I also strongly believe the preventer inhaler which has a combined dosage of ventolin mixed is a far more effective method of treatment to use twice daily even though you might feel less of a relief at the early stages; the long term effects will pay dividends and you will feel much better with your asthma under control.My personal opinion A VENTOLIN inhaler USED WITHOUT A PREVENTER INHALER may cause people to have more problems with their asthma condition.

Answer 6

I started getting a bit asthmatic a few years ago and I was given Beclometasone Dipropionate (Bec) and Salbutamol Sulphate (Ventolin) inhalers by the specialist at the hospital. (Obviously, as you must know, the Bec is two puffs morning and night, and Ventolin as necessary throughout the day). After a month I was told I didn't need the Bec any more, but to use the Ventolin as required. Then last March I had a hip operation and didn't get out of breath again until late June, so I started on the Ventolin again, but I, like you, started to wake up absolutely gasping for breath (I was, and still am, sleeping on my back because of the hip) and eventually I started to use the Bec. As it happened, I made a note of the date - 29th June - and since then, (using the Bec in the morning and at bedtime only) I have not only NOT been short of breath at all, but neither have I had recourse to the Ventolin.... SO.... I think the moral of the story is to experiment, as things seem to change for no apparent reason. Here endeth my first lesson ! ! Hope it gives you if not any help, a bit of encouragement.

Answer 7

I am Asthmatic as well. One factor is humidity. If you have gone through a period of very low humidity, you Asthma is eased and may even vanish (this is apart from allergic reactions to pollen etc.,) When humidity increases, you can have a gradual increase in Asthmatic reaction. It can stabilise. It is why we have so much difficulty with fog.

I would see about getting a dessicator for your room to remove excess moisture. Also, make sure that your room is kep well hoovered and dusted and that bedding is hoovered and changed regularly.

Also, have you been taught relief by breathing technique? The old method was rebreathing, which involved breathing into a brown paper bag and rebreathing the air which, due to increased carbon monoxide, relaxes the airways.

Another method is to put yourself into a semi-trance state to reduce your bodies need for oxygen. This is not as loony as it sounds. Sit comfortably and relaxed. Focus on something in middle distance. If you have relaxing music and aromas, this is helpful.

Make your breathing very slow and deep - this will be a struggle at first, especially if you are having an attack at the moment. Breathe in through the nose for 10 seconds, then out through the mouth for 10. As you are able, hold your breath between these for about 10 seconds to give the air chance to circulate. After a while your breathing should return to normal.

Get someone to hold your shoulders back. We hunch up during an attack. With our shoulders held back and our head up, breathing is easier.

Let me know if this is helpful, and if you want to discuss it, feel free to send me an email.

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Early morning attacks are sometimes caused by a phenomena discovered some years back. During the day, pollen and other allergens go into the upper athmosphere carried by the rising warm air. During the early morning, they come back down and are more concentrated. So, you get a pre-dawn Asthma attack.

If you have trouble during the night, make sure your chest and head are raised up. Pillows under the back can help. You could also try sleeping in an armchair. A reclining chair is better. This makes sure fluids stay in the bottom of the lung and do not block airways.

Answer 8

tell us more, eg age, other health problems, work enviroment, etc. First I would begin with a second opinion. There are more than one type of preventer around so do shop around. Also, when you have a real bad attack, like the one you described, you really should call an ambulance and go to hospital. Once in hospital they most definitely will do an x-ray, although do understand that this may look completely noraml. X-rays can show fluid/infection etc, but won't show anything if it is just an asthma attack. This may not sound useful, but at least it will exclude other problems.

Answer 9

This is dreadful for you, my son and daughter are asthmatic so I do sympathise, it seems to me that this is not clear wether it is your asthma bothering you or an underlying infection that has not been treated. If I was looking at what I would do for my children in these circumstances then I would have to say if you get bad again through the night then I would go straight down the A & E to get this checked out thoroughly and may even give you an x ray to rule anything else out. You know yourself whether this feels like typical asthma or not, if it does not then you must push your case to the medical proffession and express this to them. I wish you lots of lcuk.

Answer 10

My son used to suffer from sever asthma attacks. Almost was the same as you, so I decide to research for myself and with help of my brother and God, my son rarely have astma attack.
1.First of all, be carefull with what you eat, make yourself a very good alergic test, and the food you are alergic avoid them!
2.Eat more eggs, beans, (is discover that asthma is also link with poor protein diets)
3.If is hot outside dont drink, cold drinks, at room temp.
4.You must have something that trigger it, you have to observe what you od different, my kids usually was not using sock, or going out late in coldy nights without protection.
5. Vit A is the best for lungs, but you have to be careful. It can be toxic in great amount. Beta caroteno is best. Vit C and E.
6. Minerals like magnesium, chrome, potasiumm are beneficial.
Avoid having stuff in your room..CARPETS are poison for astmatics, put palstic curtain in your windows ( I used the bath type), take the most of your room, only the escencial.
I can send you a m