After an acute attack

Hi

I was only diagnosed about a year ago and am still trying to get the right control medication. Had my inhaler changed a couple of weeks ago and my asthma gradually got worse resulting in needing a nebuliser yesterday which was a bit scary. I am back on my old inhaler and have been given a course of prednisolone but am not sure when I should expect to be back to ""normal"". Any advice welcome.

Thanks

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That is disappointing, if there is no support here where else is there to go.

Ho hum.

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Hey,

Sorry no one has replied to your post yet, oftern it takes time for the right person to come along who has some knowledge for you! Hopefully by the time you finish your course of prednisolone you should be back to your best, if you are not then you should pop to your Gp as you may need your course extending. I'm really sorry you've been having a tough time with you asthma, and esp having to end up in a&e, I hope your starting to feel better? I believe it differes from one person to another how long they take to fully recover from an attack, but your pred should sort you out! Can I ask what inhalers your on? and what you have tried?

Oftern on this board there is alot of very difficult/brittle asthmatics, who oftern refrain from answering/sharing their experiences of their asthma as they don't want to scare you! - but don't let this put you off! - And hopefully others will come along with lots of advice!

Hope your feeling a bit better

ally x

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Hi Anguila,

Everyone takes a different amount of time to get back to ""normal"" I know this isn't very helpful but I think that is true, for some people they bounce back fairly quickly others will take a longer time, it depends on all types of factors. Like Ally said make sure you complete your course of Prednisolone and if you still don't feel back to ""normal"" there are different things they can try to make you feel more under control so please don't worry. Just keep on eye on your peak flow readings, perhaps make notes of any changes in symptoms - positive or negative until you go to see your doctor again.

Hope this helps somewhat

simi xx

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Thanks Ally and Simi, sorry if I sounded grumpy i was just feeling very isolated.

I realise that my problems are fairly trivial compared to some of the stuff other people have to live with.

I am gradually improving, I think my biggest worry is that I am not at all confident that the clinic I have been referred to understand asthma so I was hoping I could find out a bit more about what options are out there and how much control I should expect to achieve.

Ally you asked what I have tried - I started on Symbicort 200 and went up to 400 which was nearly there but not quite. My GP put me on accolate which didn’t help and I had side effects which were quite unpleasant. He referred me to the resp clinic where the registrar I saw seemed a bit puzzled but prescribed singulair – no side effects but didn’t help. The next thing she tried was Seretide 250 which I took for 2 weeks – gradually getting worse but hoping it might work in the end! That resulted in my episode at the weekend. I am back on Symbicort 400 but am not at all sure where to go from here given that it isn’t giving me the control I think I should be able to achieve. Perhaps I am aiming to high but I don’t have any way of finding put what I really should expect in terms of control.

Thanks

Anguilla

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aw, that does sound like your've had a rough ride! Don't worry about feeling a bit isollated is completly understandable! - Hopefully your'll find loads of info and friendship on here from people who understand! Firstly finiding the right medication does tend to be very much trial and error. I believe singular can take up to 6 weeks to work to the max effect, so are you still taking it? As for the seretide 250, there is another option of taking seretide 500, which is always a possibility, but it sounds like symbricort suits you better. There is also something called theophillin that can be prescribed to you if your asthma contiunues to be uncontrolled, which i think would probablt be the next step for you. Another thing that you could do is phone the asthma nurses on this website (the numbers in the top right hand corner) they give excelent advice! Have you been taking a peak flow? And have you got another appointent to see the consultant or someone at the clinic?

ally x

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Hi Ally

Thanks for the reassurance. My next clinic appt is in about 10 days time, so fingers crossed. i am doing my peak flow and keeping a diary to take with me. I am on holiday for a week now so hoping some sea air will help!

Anguilla

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hi i have also just had a bad attack and ended up in itu for a few days then 2 weeks on ward it is hard when you get home as you just want to be back to normal but it takes time so just take each day as it comes and i'am sure you will be back to normal in no time . good luck with getting better

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Trying to stay upbeat

I had an acute attack on 10th of June 2009 and spend six days in hospital. I Spendt 4 days at home and had another attack on the 20th. But only spent the Morning in A + E thankfully. Went home for 3 days and on the 24th had another acute attack and only came out this saturday.

My doctors can not guarantee i won't experience another attack because this extreme weather is causing absolute havoc. I am on maxmimum dose of Seretide, Fluticasoe and take singular tablets. I seem to be immune to Steroids now.

I was begining to feel very isolated and annoyed. However I had a chat with a nice nurse today on Asthma UK and read your blogs. So i am not alone. Thanks for your inputs.

Luv gill