Asthma flare? Or something else?
With this Wildfire season being so great I had a flare up tonight couple puffs on the Albuterol and doing better. My question is has anybody experienced like a flash of muscle spasm? Like where the muscle contracts and releases within a second? Is that an actual bronchial spasm? I thought a bronchial spasm meant it constricted and stayed constricted? Thanks for reading! And yes I do plan on making an appointment with my doctor 😀
Hi again, Eric, and thanks for your post and question - it's a good one! I am hopeful others in the community will see your concern and respond by sharing their own personal anecdotal experiences with bronchospasms and asthma.
You may be interested in knowing that bronchospasms have been described as: " Worsening airway inflammation causes the muscles wrapped around airways (bronchiolar muscles) to spasm, constrict, and squeeze airways." This is actually a quote from my good colleague's (), article, entitled: "What Happens During An Asthma Attack?", which can be found here: https://asthma.net/living/what-happens-during-an-asthma-attack.
Should you be interested in more information, I thought this article (from the Cleveland Clinic), might provide you with some additional insight for your concerns: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22620-bronchospasm#:~:text=Bronchospasms%20happen%20when%20the%20muscles,it's%20usually%20managed%20with%20bronchodilators.
It's important to keep in mind that bronchospasm typically manifests itself through the symptoms we all know: tightness in one's chest, shortness of breath, wheezing, and coughing. Generally speaking, one cannot actually 'feel' the muscle spasm in the airways.
I am sorry to hear the current wildfires have triggered a flare up for you this evening. I am glad to hear you were able to feel some relief through the use of your rescue inhaler. Please do check back and let us know how this all turns out for you.
I am looking forward to hearing what others have to say on this topic.
All the best,
Leon (site moderator asthma.net)I messaged my doctor through my patient portal to ask him if I should take more of my maintenance inhaler or depend on the albuterol during Fire season and if I should have an appointment. He told me unless I'm using my rescue inhaler everyday for 2 to 3 weeks we wouldn't worry about raising the maintenance inhaler. So keep your albuterol handy folks during this fire season! Hi again, Eric, and thanks for providing us with this update. It sounds like your physician has provided you with prudent and practical advice during this season of environmental challenges from the wildfires in Canada. I guess you will continue to monitor yourself and your medication usage closely. Should the need arise, I would suggest reaching out to your doctor again, if necessary.
Please do keep us posted as to how you're doing moving forward.
Wishing you well,
Leon (site moderator asthma.net)
Eric, I'm not an expert, but it might be worth considering if you were experiencing a muscle cramp or maybe even simple heart palpitations -- the latter especially can be a very strange sensation. If you are already going to the doctor, it couldn't hurt to talk through that with him. -Melissa, asthma.net team
