Over 40 and 50 aged asthma problems
Is there anyone out there who has suffered from asthma for a VERY LONG TIME - since childhood even- and has noticed a change in their ‘normal’ asthma symptoms?
Would very much like to hear about your experiences...
Mia
over 40 plus!
Not over 40 plus, but I think this is a great idea for a thread!
Are you sure Cath? I had you down for at least 50 :-0 lol
Sorry Mia to gate crash your thread with my weird sense of humour,couldnt resist.
Long time no see (type) , Hope you are well
julie x
Hi Mia
i'm 60 in two months. First suffered asthma after pregnancy with my 3rd child (she is now 38) I was 21. It seem to abate after about 15 years but is now back with avengence at the age of 55.
Not over 40 but not far from it 39 (almost). Had really mild asthma until a couple of years ago. So mild I was running my own business, working 16 hours days on film sets, skiing every winter, and SCUBA diving every summer both in off the UK and warmer climbs too, cheefully keeping up with 4 energentic children and running my barn of a house. Then wham bam thank you mam it all kicked off. Interestingly there is tendency to adult onset asthma in the family, everyone esle had their 1st attacks in their mid 30's where as I already had asthma you have to wonder if that is why mine went haywire.
Bex
again not over 40 but does anyone know why asthma can suddenly take a downward turn and stay like that.
Again not over 40 yet (might feel like it some days!) but I am really interested to see the answers to this thread... I'm not sure that anyone's been able to satisfactorily explain why asthma changes in this way.
My own asthma started when I was 14 (at menarche) and got worse in a gradual sort of way with ups and downs for about 13 years... got to the stage of being called 'brittle' and having frequent ICU admissions by about age 19, but always recovered quickly and was relatively well inbetween attacks, and with a struggle was able to complete university, work etc.
Since this time last year it's all gone crazy though. Completely different in the way it goes off and responds to treatment, longer, more frequent admissions, much longer intubations, and much less well in between attacks. Maybe I am deluding myself, but I somehow feel I would feel much better about it if I knew the reason why!
Just one of life's little mysteries, I guess!
Em
I am 42 and have had a similar experience. My trigger is respiratory infections and, although I would have 2 or 3 a year and needs preds and anti-biotics, my asthma was relatively well controlled throughout my 20's and 30's. However, since my mid-30's, I have had numerous hossy admissions for pneumonia / asthma exacerbations, including one intubation in ITU 3 years ago. Last year, I had three admissions for pneumonia. Up until last year, my best peak flow was 400 / 410, and now it is 300 at a push. I have another infection now, only days after finishing the preds for the pneumonia. I only had to start using a nebuliser when I was 40.
I too have struggled to find a reasonable explanation from the medics for this deterioration. It seems quite a few of us have this experience in common though, which is interesting......
Hi Mia,
I maybe over 40 with asthma, but my wigs make me look much much younger ;o)
Welcome back to AUK!
Take hair,
Derek
Hi yes I also meet your criteria on a few fronts def over 40 but with dyed red hair and sparkly bangles do not feel it at all. I have had asthma since 8 had a brittle bit in 20s and when I got to 40 another very bad patch which I seem to be pulling out of at last. Very curious why that age sets things off.
Den
Interesting thread which has made me look back for the first time & anlyse my health problems historically. I think the quoted ages are particularly interesting as I was diagnosed as asthmatic at 40 and had my first major attack at 50.
From a child I had problems with tightening of chest due to allergies and cold at that time it was a case of breathing through a scarf / hankie / hand, moving away from the trigger (usually a plant such as geraniums / lilies) and my breathing would normalise.
In my mid twenties I had pleuresy and from there on had chest infections cleared by antibiotics twice+ a year - always around November (because of the cold maybe) and May (because of pollen allergies maybe).
The pattern of the twenties carried into the thirties with the addition of unexplained pains in the joints and fatigue
I was not diagnosed as asthmatic and given inhalers until the age of 40/41 following 3/4 months of chest and sinus infections which would not shift by many different courses of antibiotics and steroid nasal inhalers. A few weeks of using asthma inhalers did the trick. Two years later had my first cataract operation and two years after that had the other eye done (I believe the result of the steroid inhalers but refuted by everyone)
At 50 had my first major / acute asthma attack (Why? I gave up smoking at age 49 after having smoked for 30+ years, why should my chest be deteriorating now? - surely it should get better not worse?). Following trip to A&E, multiple courses of pred & antibiotics I then realised what asthma was about and how serious it could be. My symptoms changed from general tight breathless feeling to include pains in the back & around the rib cage. I now have numerous triggers mainly food and chemical or scent related (the list just keeps on growing - I blame the pred for this). Since then I have also been diagnosed with arthritis, high blood pressure, borderline dibetes and cholesterol. I do have to wonder though whether the latest problems are merely age related and ask the question What will be next?
Hope I havent bored you too much
Cathy
Gosh.
Had to go a long way back to bring up this thread.
Anyway,thanks for all your replies, Cathy,Den, Maz, Clancy, Derek, Bex, EmH Katharine, Julie, Cathbear...
Often feel in the age minority on this forum. But I’m all for inclusive aged posters re both ends of the -40+ aged spectrum!
I feel quite worried about how my asthma has changed over time. For more than three decades my asthma, although sometimes for years uncontrolled, has never been chronic or with such persistent - despite strong meds – symptoms. The last three years to be precise. My physiological changes aka symptoms have been well described and documented, although nobody is able to explain why this change has happened. (Have never smoked, live a boring healthy lifestyle including lots of exercise, healthy ‘nanny state’ approved diet, plus the odd alcoholic challenge to my liver.) And I avoid all known and diagnosed triggers as much as possible.
Like you Cathy I sometimes wonder what next? Is it an age thing or something else?
Mia
PS Den got plum coloured hair atm. Makes an interesting change from that of red!
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