Frustrated Asthmatic

HI there, I wonder if anyone can help a frustrated asthma sufferer.

I have had asthma since I was a child and it has generally been well managed with inhalers. In the last five years I noticed I was getting slightly more short of breath but nothing too worry about as the inhalers did the job just fine.

However, in the last year, my asthma has got much worse. I have completely revised my inhalers and I am now taking spray inhalers using a spacer (I previously used powder ones). I have seen my doctor regularly but I'm struggling to make any progress to get back to where I was.

There reasons for my asthma getting worse could be due to too things: 1) a new cat in the house or 2) poor ventilation at work. Since I normally feel fine at home and worse at work, I feel that the ventilation is the problem. We have the air conditioning turned off, and recent air quality tests have found the CO2 levels and temperature are high whilst the humidity is low. Or could it be a slow sensitised reaction the cat? I just don't know.

I've never had problems round animals before or at work and hence my frustration! Has anyone had any similar experiences?

Gareth.

[Hidden]

Oh dear i see your dilema, i'm new too this forum (my 6yr old son has been diagnosed 4 days ago!) that's how new i am to it - but from readng info i've been given - it does sound like it could be both the cat and poor ventilation...can you ask some1 to look after your cat for a couple weeks to see if it improves your symtoms? And surely there must be something your work can do to help with ventilation, that's just not good for you, must be a health hazzard issue for you/boss to deal with?

really hope you get on ok with sorting it out!

regards Kayla

[angievere]

Could be the cat - allergy and asthma often go hand in hand. Try taking an antihistamine (available over the counter). Good luck and I hope things improve for you.

[Hidden]

My husband is asthmatic and always has problems when he goes in a house where they have a cat. Not everyone suffers with cats though, my daughter is also astmatic and they don't bother her at all.

[Hidden]

Hi gbt,

Sorry to hear you are struggling.

It could be the cat, it would be worth getting some allergy testing done (blood test for cat).

I'm allergic to cats but not dogs so it wouldn't necessarily mean all pets are off limits.

[Hidden]

MMMMMMMM difficult, well before you boot the cat out should be allergic there are a range of things you can do to help yourself. Limit where the cat goes, no admittance to the bedroom, hoover and damp dust, and keep furniture like chairs covered with throws that you can wash at a high temp to kill any allergens and dust mites. Healthy House (Online company) do a spray you can put on the animal to kill of allergens they might be carrying. Work well it has be identified that there is a problem so surely your employer should now be looking into sorting it out? Not just for your welfare but other employees too, ask them how they are going to proceed to sorting the matter out (Nicely of course). There are still things in your treatment regime that can be done, don't know what you are currently on, but give the Asthma Nurses a call at AUK they should be able to advise!