Advice

I am after a little advice....

I have been having asthma attacks on a daily basis, plus have a persistant cough that won't go away, been to my GP and asthma nurse, who have reffered me to hospital nurse who I have been seeing for last 8 months. As a result found that I have allergic asthma and lots of other triggers. i have been tried on various meds so far without any helping. Currently having sessions with physiotherapist to see if that helps..... Hospital nurse wants me to be refered to a consultant to see if there are any underlying problems.... However, she is of the opinion that I may never get things under control as I have to many triggers....

My question is do I just accept that whatever happens I will not get control or do I keep battling with the drs until I find a solution that works? If anyone has been in this situation any advice would be very much appreciated....

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Both.

I think you might have to accept that you will never ever be perfectly cured, and in that respect you may resign yourself to accept whatever happens happens, but you must never stop fighting to find sense of stability and routine - something that makes you feel better even for short periods.

Surely an improvement is better than nothing?

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Hi malawi,

I am sorry to hear that you have been struggling so much over the last few months - I know it is extremely frustrating to be dealing with symptoms on a daily basis despite a lot of medication.

It is true that some people do have genuinely very difficult to control asthma, with multiple allergic triggers, and that these people may never have perfect control. However, it is also true that a great many people in this country are undertreated for their asthma, and are dealing with daily symptoms when they really don't have to be. If you have not yet seen a respiratory consultant, then it is likely that you have not tried every different asthma medication available, as some of them only tend to be prescribed by a consultant. There is hope, then, that something exists that will be able to get your asthma under better control. It may not be perfect control, but there is hope that things can be a lot better than they are at the moment.

Please do persue the issue of referral, and please do keep fighting for better control. Psychologically, I know it can be difficult to keep on battling, and you may feel that you would be better off emotionally if you could reach some level of acceptance - it is a difficult balance to strike, and obviously, continually fighting for a solution can be very tiring and even potentially damaging psychologically. Only you can know what is best for you from that point of view. Medically, though, the potential is there, so you should keep striving for that, even if you also have to achieve some level of acceptance about the way things are at the moment.

You don't mention what treatment you're on for your asthma, or what you've tried, but you may want to ask about omalizumab (Xolair), which is a new antibody treatment which directly targets IgE, which is responsible for allergic reactions in the body. It is not suitable for everyone, but for some people it is a life changing treatment.

Hope this helps

Take care

Em H