Multiple asthma attacks
Evening,
I am not so much looking for medical advice but I would welcome advice on what I should ask of my dr and what I can expect please.
So, a little background. I was diagnosed with asthma in Dec 2021. Since then, I have had multiple asthma flare ups with no more than about six weeks in between each one. As a result, I’ve lost count of the amount of times I have been prescribed antibiotics and oral steroids on top of my regular Montelukast and Steroid inhaler.
I have recently had a cold and thought I had got away without having any chesty symptoms. However, last Sunday, I felt an asthma attack coming but managed to prevent it by turning down my heater and getting fresh air. All last week, I felt short of breath and as though I may have an attack any minute. On Friday morning, I had an asthma attack and felt very unwell all day on Friday. I finally managed to get an appointment to see someone yesterday who asked me what treatment I wanted. He begrudgingly gave me 2.5ml salbutamol nebuliser. I requested steroids as well but he said that since my chest didn’t sound crackly, he didn’t think I needed it. He did however concede that my lungs sounded much better after the neb. I came home yesterday feeling a little better and being very careful. However, this afternoon, I had another asthma attack as a pupil in my class sprayed some perfume. My lungs seem extremely twitchy. Is this just my new normal or do I need further intervention?
I feel as though I could have another asthma attack any moment. I have taken my reliever inhaler multiple times today but it doesn’t appear to be taking the edge off.
Have any of you been in this scenario before? If so, what did you do? Did you contact another dr? Or did you wait for it to pass by itself?
Thank you in advance for your feedback 😀
Hi again, Han-El, and thanks for your post and question. I know we have had a number of conversations here, since you became a member last year, and I am glad to see you are continuing to engage with the community.
While I'm hopeful others in the community will see your inquiry and respond by sharing personal experiences of their own, I also have something to contribute.
Based on what you've shared here (as well as several of our other conversations going back over the months), I would suggest you not wait to seek out a more thorough assessment from either your internist (if you can rely on him/her), or, a specialist.
When you've shared that you have not gone more than six weeks between asthma episodes (since December 2021), that is an indication that your asthma may not be as controlled as it should be. The fact that currently, you are feeling like an asthma episode might occur any moment, also speaks to inadequate control.
I would think that a complete physical assessment combined with the narrative (as you've shared here), will help the right doctor adjust your medication regimen so that better control can be provided for your specific level of disease.
What do you think?
Leon (site moderator asthma.net)
I just wanted to chime in here and say that I agree with everything that Leon said above in his comment. With the way you describe your asthma here it sounds like your asthma is not well controlled. And, being that it sounds like your current doctor is at the limits of his/her knowledge about asthma, it may be time to see a doctor whose main focus is asthma. Some asthma specialists are described in detail in this post: (https://asthma.net/search?s=asthma%20specialist). An asthma specialist should have a greater range of asthma knowledge and experience (such as having other patients just like you). Such a doctor may also have knowledge of a wider scope of treatment options that may help you gain better control of your asthma. Is this something that you would consider? John. asthma.net community moderator.
