Flare Up Longer than 2 weeks
I am use to having a day or two of asthma then getting it under control. I am going on over two weeks right now. Any pointers?
Thank you for posting your question here. Sorry your asthma flare-up is lasting so long. As a fellow asthmatic, I can certainly empathize with your current situation, as I have been there myself more than once. Knowing so little about you over the Internet makes it difficult to know precisely what pointers to give you. I think the best advice I can give is to continue working with your doctor and to rest as much as you can until you feel better. If your asthma continues to not improve, an option may be to seek medical consultation either from your own doctor or (considering it is the weekend) a health clinic or emergency room. What do you think? John. asthma.net community moderator. would you mind describing your flare up? I am an avid runner and have been in shape for years. With pollen maybe I would get tight after run but it’s rare. This all started with burning in my middle chest after dental cleaning. My condition has been burning in left lung then it switched to burning sensation right. I had zero infection and X-rays only showed hyper inflation. Almost feels like I have an itch in lung, I am having almost zero phlem. It’s a dry cough. It’s been 18 days since initial symptom. 
Hi njensen - I am just joining this conversation now. Like my colleague, I too, am an asthmatic. Flare-ups for me (when they occurred as a younger man), generally resulted in a course of prednisone with the rescue inhaler of the era. Nowadays, my disease is under much better control.
For you to be experiencing a longer-than-two-week exacerbation with no relief, is unusual. As John has said (and I concur), you may want to reach out for your physician for some more direct/immediate medical intervention. If you determine you do not want to wait for Monday, an urgent care center or emergency department may be the right choice. I would suggest you make certain to fill them in on your athletic background and condition, the pollen season and especially your recent dental care. These will all be important for the history/physical part of your appointment.
What do you think?
Leon (site moderator asthma.net)
Thanks for all the info! I’ll just go head and provide timeline!
4/19 - burning central lungs, right in middle of chest 4 hours after extended dental cleaning (ultrasonic scaling and foam flouride)
4/21 - went to my internist. Throat was irritated and thought it was having acid reflux. Gave me cefdinir antibiotic and changed acid reflux medicine to protonix
4/22 - went to urgent care because lungs were tight and still burning. Had dry cough no phlegm. 02 98, no temp, no infection, peak flow 550. PA said lungs sounded fine but gave me steroid shot and pack of methelprednisole
Next week everyday felt like 5% better, minor brown phlegm coughed up
5/1 chest tightness returned, left lung felt like something was in it, itchy tickle feeling, no phlegm. Went to ER. Lungs sounded good, no infection, chest X-ray only showed hyperinflation, blood work fine. Told me to try and reduce anxiety
5/2 went to primary care, left lung still irritated. Heard minor weeze. Spirometer was 74%, gave me advair
5/4 went to asthma / allergist. He is pushing for me to get EOE checked out with gastro . Said lungs sounded good. Spiro was 74%. Said let’s keep on advair and the biologics could be option after EOE diagnosis. Left lung still irritated “ it’s close to sternum.
5/6 lung irritation moved from left lung to right lung. I felt the change over a few hour period. Peak flow 550-600, 02 98, no phlegm.
So!!’ My concerns are
- the burning at first worries me, were my lungs exposed to plaque from scaling and fluoride?
What is a dry irritation/itch in lung with no phlegm,
Can asthma flare up switch sides
Note: vitals have been normal entire timethanks! I’ll keep team updated!
