Terrible asthma, please help!?

Question

Ugh, I've been having horrific asthma symptoms for over 2 weeks. I'm on an antibiotic for a sinus infection (which I get chronically and they always make my asthma worse), but it's not working because I'm resistant to all antibiotics from taking them so often for sinusitis. Anyway, I NEVER wheeze, and when I breathe in, deep within my chest there's like a high pitched dog-whistle sounding noise. Is that technically wheezing? For the last three days straight (despite doing my neb every 4-6 hours), I constantly feel like breathing has been extremely laborous. It gets worse when I lay down -- would that indicate mucus in my lungs? Also, I'm going to the doctor tomorrow morning, and I know that I'll be going on Prednisone (that's what always happens when my symptoms can't be conrolled by inhailed steroids and neb treatments alone). On Friday I'm also scheduled to get steroid shots in my back and neck (for an injury) with an anesthetic as well. Will that interact?

Thank you! :)

Oops, I forgot to add -- can asthma attacks cause dizziness if there's really a lack of oxygen? Because last night (and I know, I probably should have gone into the hospital, but I just did another nebulizer treatment which calmed down my symptoms), when I was wheezing, I got extremely dizzy and it went away after the wheezing and the asthma symptoms went away. I wasn't sure if I was just tired or if lack of oxygen can cause dizziness? Thanks agian!!!

Answer 1

Oh my gosh, I have the exact same problems as you. Seriously, that feels like a description of my life. I'll answer your questions one by one.

1. Yes, that is wheezing. It happens to me whenever I get sick, and I cough a ton at night when it happens. Breathe in as much as you can-does it feel like the noise gets higher pitched when you do it? Now breathe out-does the noise get lower and sound like its liquidy? This is what happens to me.

2. It can indicate that you have mucus in your lungs. Do you sniff in a lot? If you do, try not to-try to blow it out. When you sniff in, all the gunk goes to your lungs. Sometimes when its really bad, it turns out I have pneumonia (spelling?), so I would have it checked it our soon.

3. Sorry, I'm not sure a bout the shots. I've never had that before.

Feel better soon!

Answer 2

Wheezing is usually a term reserved for high-pitched small-airway narrowing. You'll need a stethoscope to auscultate your lower airways. If you hear the whistling noise at the end of expiration, it's probably asthma. You may also want to put the stethoscope up to your neck and see if the whistling is louder there. If it is, it may be an upper airway problem rather than asthma. If you're using a nebulizer regularly, you may want to get a hold of a peak flow meter to measure the change in flow before and after your nebulized medication.

If you're on a lot of antibiotics as you say, this may cause renal insufficiency (your kidneys shut down). If this happens, you may end up with fluid around the lungs in the pleural space (also called a pleural effusion). This can be ruled out with a chest x-ray. You can also do percussion on your chest wall and see if it sounds hollow, or dull. Pleural effusion can be a cause of your orthopnea (your shortness of breath lying on your back). This is why antibiotics are prescribed medications, too much can do harm. However, I do doubt your MD prescribed you enough antibiotics to cause this. It may be worth checking though.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Hi I am a mom of two boys with asthma. I really do feel for you. they are 10 and eight now. when they were aroun 1 1\2 and 3 i was really into the health benifits of food. So i ran into an article telling all the benifits of fresh fish. Helping asthma was one.They reccommended 3 ounces a week. So i started making them tuna fish with only one teaspoon of mayo and adding different veggies in it they liked . tomatoes and bits of cucumber weird as it sounds is actually good.Surprisingly my er visits were non-exsitant . I mean i cannot stess enouph how much adding this fresh fish helped these boys who were literaly taking predisone once a month and the aerosol treatmeants 4 and five times a day. all this went down dramatically! as for your treatment on friday i would call ahead and tell them what is going on so you do not make another trip to another doc who may want to wait until your off the predisone. I really hope this helps.Oh by the way the sound your making is wheezing from what i know.

Answer 4

Yes the whistle sound is from your asthma, some asthmatics get wheezy and others get tight chested. Both my sons are asthmatic and both get tight chested. If you are getting dizzy you should be going to the emergency room, it could definately mean your oxygen level is too low and that is very dangerous. You may have a pneumonia if you are having that much trouble breathing. If I were you I would be going to er tonight and not waiting to see doctor tomorrow!!!
Take care of yourself, asthma is a VERY serious illness!!
I hope you get better soon!