Severe asthma

Hi. Thank you for sharing your personal experience with asthma with us. Sorry that you are having to go through this difficult asthma time despite your current treatment regimen. Glad to hear that your pulmonologist has referred you to an allergist. Hopefully this new doctor will be able to help you feel better. Are you thinking you may be allergic to something in your home environment that may be making you feel this way? All the best. John. asthma.net community moderator.

Hi , and welcome! I see you are a new member here, having joined yesterday, late in the evening. We are glad to see you already engaging with the community through this, your first post.
I also see that my good colleague, , has already responded to your post, and I concur with what he's said and asked.
I also have something to contribute. I have found that when one physician recommends that I see another physician, the wait times can be somewhat longer than one would expect. I generally will ask the referring physician to intervene on my behalf. Usually the physician to whom I have been referred, will respond to the referring physician and then I get 'squeezed in' for an earlier appointment. Do you think this might work for you?
Leon (site moderator asthma.net)

My asthma has been under control for years mainly by knowing about and staying away from my triggers….until recently. A few years ago I passed a truck on the freeway belching black diesel smoke. I immediately felt my lungs closing down and could only breathe with great difficulty. I continued to drive to the first exit as I was out in the country and knew that if I stopped on the side of the road and got another lungful of that smoke I might not make it into town. It was terrifying. I was able to open my lungs enough to breathe a bit more with albuterol and was able to get to a friend’s house 5 minutes away. This happened 3 more times and twice at airports where they don’t have jetways. The airports were the worst but at least there were people there to call 911 if the albuterol didn’t work. I discussed it with my doctor and she immediately prescribed an epi pen to use if my lungs closed down so quickly that I could not get the albuterol in. I now drive with an n95 mask by my side and at the first sight of smoky trucks or when I am in heavy traffic I shut down the outside air and slap on the mask. I have never had a trigger react so quickly or severely before and am grateful for the epi pen in my purse as I have to travel the interstate with lots of truck traffic when I leave my house to get anywhere as that is the only north south road that will get me into town. I also avoid airports without jetways and take albuterol before traveling.