Asthma Nurse - Questions please

I'm seeing the Asthma nurse for the first time on Wednesday, obviously I have a stack of questions to ask, but I wondered if anyone had any thoughts, given your experience, on what else I should ask which I may not have thought about.

Thanks xxx

[Hidden]

Hi,

will be a good time to ask about an action plan if you dont have one.

She will see what you take and ask how you are and if she can help in any way she will.

When I met mine for the first time a month agao,I was still having problems and now

she has upped my inhalers and added a antihistamine to help take the edge off the hot weather

problems ,even though dont have hayfever she said it might help.

Im so glad have a asthma nurse and can see my doc for everything else.

good luck with your Asthma nurse ,im sure you will feel reasured like me and can see her

regularly to help control your asthma.

love Glynis xxxx

[Hidden]

make sure you find out what to do in a serious attack and if she has any info you can give family friends work colls etc, ask for an action plan and if you can have reg meetings with her to iron out any probs with your meds etc. also a really good thing to ask if if she will assess your inhaler technique so that you know you are getting the full medication from it and if she can give you a peak flow to moniter and chart how you are doing. good luck x

[Hidden]

Thanks for your replies.

Glynis, my friend has used this asthma nurse before and said she's good so I hope to get a lot of good info from her, hope she's as useful as you found yours. Definately want to get an action plan in place too. Also think I need more meds coz I'm using my salbutamol most days and think I have some hayfever symptoms!

Jay, my GP has kinda left me to it so I think a regular meeting wiht her would help me. I think I'm doing something wrong with my inhaler technique too so will def discuss this with her. I have a peak flow meter and have been monitoring it so I'll be keen to find out what it means!! Really good idea about 'what to do in a serious attack', this does worry me, and info for friends/family, hadn't thought of that.

[Hidden]

Hi, I'm seeing my asthma nurse for the first time in mid august when she is going to do spirometry so I can hopefully get a definate diagnosis. One question that crossed my mind is asking about informing any insurance companies for life insurance, holiday etc. Hope your appointment goes well.

[Hidden]

Thanks RedSonja

I had my spirometry test done by a nurse at the dcs who said, yeah its all fine theres nothing wrong .... erm yes there is something wrong, its not NORMAL to be experiencing tight chest, breathlessness etc etc!! Duh! Fortunately the asthma nurse is a different woman who hopefully has a better manner! Hopefully it will help your diagnosis though and its nothing to worry about. Just watch the revesibility bit if you have it, the nurse gave me about 20 puffs of ventolin and didn't warn me my heart would start racing and my hands shaking, was as though I'd had too much black coffee!! Oh and she only waited about 3 minutes so its unlikely i'd have kicked in properly, I usually have to wait 10mins to fully feel the effects.

Yeah I'd not thought of letting my life insurance people know, just had to buy hol insurance so did that. Good thinking! Yeah I'll ask if theres anyone else who might need to know too, and what information they'll need to know.

I'll let you know how I get on xxx

[Hidden]

Saw my asthma nurse today

I didn't have an appointment but was told to come in by the other asthma nurse to sort out prednisolone levels. She noted i didn't have an appointment but listened intently and sorted me out too. I have noticed that they handle most of my queries.

Gill

[Hidden]

I have a question for all of you. when you say you see an asthma nurse. Do you see the nurse attached to a dr surgery or one attached to your local hospitals. I have just joined a new dr surgery and i am not keen on the asthma nurse there cause ho hum i apparently didnt have anything wrong with me since my chest wasnt rattling, I am one of those that dont wheeze!! And for someone with nothing wrong she may want to explain why i ended up in hospital for a while and why i am still on antibiotics and steroids!!! And have been for nearly 8 weeks..... Was going to see how i get on with the asthma nurse at the hospital but wasnt sure if i can just refer myself to her or if i need to go through the dr surgery.

[Hidden]

My asthma nurse is the nurse at our docs who sees to other stuff also.

She is lovely and with in 4 weeks has had me on antihistomins and extra sertide and now singular,

We chatted about how I am ,how bad I get and some of the things that set my asthma off

but alot of things not yet found out.

She is monitoring me close and going to see me in two weeks and said I can phone her or see her

earlier if I need to.

She is a lovely lady and realy caring.

She will also be doing my smear test but feel ok about that as we have a lovely patient and nurse

relationship and compleate trust in her xxx

[Hidden]

Thanks for your reply Glynis, the nurses at my old surgery were brilliant they looked after me so well and when i defeated their knowledge they were happy to phone hosptial chest clinic for advice, but unfortunately they have both left my surgery. And i was really unhappy with the nurses that took over. As for GP, he really made me so angry the last time i saw him so i took the plunge and left. The docs at new surgery seem ok so far but as i said earlier i am not keen on the asthma nurse, she clearly came across as old school as in i dont follow the asthma handbook so therefore i couldnt be having any problems never mind the fact we all present in different ways, that didnt seem to bother her, so at the mo i am fighting this execerbation all on my own and i can safely say i have felt so very scared and alone on several occasions, i just dont know where to turn right now. I am currently on seretide, atrovent and singular and have been for a while now. Get put on pred and antibiotics as and when required which is all the time at the mo.

[Hidden]

Try ordering the leaflets asthma review what to expect and the asthma plan one, as these do specifically tell you what to expect and what sort of questions to ask etc.

I hope this may be of some use to you.

Good luck

Sjx

[Hidden]

Thanks wolfspirit, just need to find someone that will actually sit down with me. It takes up to 10 weeks for notes to leave an old surgery and make their way to a new one, so new surgery dont know any of my history and boy it makes for interesting reading... And cause they dont know my history they tell me they cant do anything for me!!!!!! As for trying to get appt with hospital con, yeah right, have been trying to get that sorted since i came out of hospital on the 14th - aaaggghhhhh. Which is why i was wondering if i can just refer myself to the the hospital asthma nurse. I cant carry on like this on my own for much longer its getting me down now. Guess i am back on the phone tomorrow to have a temper tantrum either with the gp surgery or the hospital.

[Hidden]

Saw the asthma nurse today, feel much better. She took plenty of time to go through things with me, answer my questions and offer advice, something the GP just doesn't have time to do. She's changed my meds to Bricanyl (from salbutamol) and has added Pulmicort. Am I likely to notice a different between the Salbutamol and Bricanyl? I hope the Pulmicort helps, been using the salbutamol most days, she said it takes about a week to kick in.

Thanks again xxx

[Hidden]

september2006mummy,

glad you went on well with the asthma nurse,

they are lovely and have lots of time to chat and sort you out.

Mine as been brilliant and helped me more than the doc and hospital.

good luck and hope your meds work soon for you love Glynis xxxx