I might have asthma?

Question

I am 21 and have never had breathing problems more serious then mild allergies. About three weeks ago I had a pretty serious case of the flu, and developed a cough and wheeze around then. Flu is gone, cough and wheeze is not so I went to my colleges health clinic (the voodoo hut), and after a nurse practicioner listened to my chest I was told I have bronchial asthma and given a steroid inhaler and a breathing treatment.

First of all, do you think its asthman? Second, what doctor should I go to for follow up?

Answer 1

If I were you,I would go to your regular doctor and have him or her check you over very carefully! I don't want to scare you,but I suffer from asthma myself,and you should always take the symptoms of asthma very seriously!! I have an asthma inhaler that I carry on me and I also wear a medical alert bracelet in case I have a severe asthma attack,the medical personnel can just check my medical alert bracelet and see that I am asthmatic! It seems to me that night time is the worst time for me,because even with an inhaler,I tend to cough alot at night! If your asthma is really severe,your doctor may prescribe a,"Nebulizer,"which is basically a breathing treatment that you inhale that has medicine in it and you breathe it in!

Your regular doctor will not only want to listen to your lungs,but he or she will probably be asking you alot of questions about your breathing,what symptoms you had,etc.... If your doctor says that you have to take medicine,PLEASE TAKE YOUR MEDICINE THAT YOUR DOCTOR PRESCRIBES FOR YOU,IT IS CRUCIAL!! If your doctor thinks that your asthma is severe and they don't have the expertise to deal with your asthma,they may send you to a specialist just for some tests to see how bad your asthma really is!

One of the MOST IMPORTANT THINGS that you can do is to stay away from people who smoke cigarettes,because that really can irritate your bronchial tubes and cause you to really start coughing uncontrollably! I would set up an appointment with your doctor,and have him or her check you over very thoroughly!! I am sending lots of ((((HUGS and PRAYERS YOUR WAY))))) Good Luck!! ;-)

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Sometimes, when you get a really bad bronchitis or upper respiratory infection, your bronchial tubes get inflamed. you could have something called asthmatic bronchitis. It is kind of a vicious cycle. the inflammation causes this mucus in your chest then the cough causes more inflammation. The breathing treatment they gave you opened up your tubes and the steroid inhaler will keep the inflammation down. Once you get rid of the mucus and inflammation, you should be OK. It was just a result of the original bronchitis you had. Just be mindful in the future if you get another bad flu that this could happen again. Be aggressive with treatment before it gets bad. Let your doc know that you have had it before so they can prescribe the right treatment. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

A doctor or a nurse practitioner can not be 100% sure of asthma unless they have more tests. The gold standard for diagnosing asthma is a pulmonary function test with bronchial challenge. With out that test, an asthma diagnosis is just a guess. I would ask for the PFT to be done.

Good luck

Answer 5

i agree with Winnie and Matthew a. i am asthmatic myself. go to your doctor and have him/her listen to your lungs and go through pulmonary tests. also ask if they can recommend an allergist (a doctor whose main practice is asthma and allergies). i don't trust "voodoo huts" as far as i can throw them! listen to a doctor not a nurse practitioner. a nurse practitioner ISN'T a licensed nurse....if you have to talk to a nurse, make sure its an rn (registered nurse). they have more knowledge than an lpn (licensed practitioner nurse). i can't diagnose you. go to a family doctor or an allergist for a follow up