confused is now totally confused! - Update post consultant check.

hi

I have been to the consultant finally and within the appointment he referred me for a lung function test, blood test, chest xray and another appointment with him again in 4 weeks. However he emphasised its not severe asthma as what my GP's have been saying for what 2 years. He said im on far too much medication (which i agreed!) and that im suffering more with the side effects of everything im on. He reduced my aminophylline to one pill in the evening and said i need to be reffered to the ENT unit. I did the blood test and the Chest x ray on the same day so i have those too look into.

What has me confused and worried is that - could i possibly have severely damaged my body by having unescessarily high medications for mild asthma and sinusitis? (and the six rounds of steroid tablets!) Im frustrated as this refferall has always been overdue and now im confused and honestly a bit scared. i wish he had just said something like its.....hyperventilation syndrome! And not just what he said is the stress of whats been happening.

I did join a yoga group and started meditation - im also leaving my job! I need to re-evaluate everything I do no more contract work for me, i just want everything to slow down a bit. Could the gp's have been totally wrong and its something else completly?

[Hidden]

Hi there. Sorry you've been so confused. However you are lucky that you now seem to have a consultant who seems to be sensible and to care about what's right for you. Hope it all gets sorted soon.

If it's any help, I'm not sure if my asthma symptoms would ever have happened,or been so bad, had I not been so stressed earlier in the year. Like you, I'm about to start a new job and hopefully have more time to take care of myself, hope it all works out for us!

[angievere]

Hi Confused, Pleased to hear you are now in the care of a consultant. Don't worry about all the meds you've had, I'm sure you won't have severely damaged your body by taking them.

I've said to you before that I wondered if you had rhinitis, and when you get to see an ENT specialist he/she will be able to confirm that (or otherwise) and sort you out. My son was put on Avamys nasal spray for rhinitis and it's done wonders. Good luck and try not to worry too much (easier said than done, I know!).

[Hidden]

hi

gamba your so right, for a while i never wanted to go as i was so scared to hear the consultant turn to me and agree to what the gp was saying - brittle asthma. I have been puzzled and confused for such a long period of time that i never at any stage thought this fear is causing me to stress out and make my condition worse. I sort of sit back and think now that i knew my GP's were totally wrong time and time again. I saw the consultant and he saw it instantly in me that i was fed up with this routine. He understood that all these medications were adding these side effects.

its like angeline i walked in and within minutes he checked my chest and said its crystal clear. Im totally confused now because i feel like i may have been allowing the GP's to keep me as a lab rat. I used that expression so much - i kept a peak flow diary and it was the moment that i showed that to the consultant he said that it is asthma but its asthma aggravated by something going on in my nose!

I felt like this consultant read my mind and that he knew i had a rough few years and that it was my fear of a flare up that was aggravating everything. Im so relieved to have a good consultant and not someone who ruled asthma out totally four years ago! Im also scheduled to do a lung function test and im not sure what that is. Not sure i want to investigate any more though.

Angeline, I knew he'd refer me to a ENT and i think the GP has got it wrong (yet again) to refer me to a chest physian this thing actually started with my nose!...

I hope you all stay well during the winter months!

[Hidden]

hi confused

Hi Confused,

Sounds like you have been through the wringer...glad that you may now get some relief.

With hyperventilation the symptoms are often rhinitis,stress and asthma.

Also can be insomnia, night-time toilet trips, ibs, excema, wheezing, poor circulation (like continuous mild hyperthermia), restless mind,restless body, high heart rate.

Meditation is great for this. Make sure to breathe through your nose all the time as this initially limits volume (small nostrils v big mouth) and your nose warms, moistens and filters the air to your lungs and extracts the moisture on the exhale. If find nose is blocked all the time then google buteyko nose unblocking to get free hints on line and then you will unblock your nose at any stage within 5 mins. Then if you keep breathing through it it will not block completely on you again. If you notice it starting to block then its a sign that you have been hyperventilating just before hand....

good luck.

[Hidden]

nothing scary about lung function tests - here's a link explaining what happens

lunguk.org/OneStopCMS/Core/...

the clinical physiologists who carry out the tests are usually very friendly and do their best to help you get good results

sounds as if you're in good hands now - good luck

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oops wrong link - here it is

lunguk.org/you-and-your-lun...