No steroids ;-(

Made it to asthma nurse this morning, got the 'ooo theres no appointments till wednesday' until I mentioned it was my asthma and been struggling over the weekend, and hey presto 'oh it looks like theres a cancellation this morning'!

Anyway nurse not much use, said I'm complicated and she didnt know what to do. (i didn't think I was that much of a pain, just 'non-standard') Did I want to start oxis again, explined it gave me reflux and meant taking more medication to stop this so I'd rather not. She got the doc to check chest, no infection and good air entry, but reduced PF, I was still symptomatic although I did explain I'd already had 6 puffs of ventolin before leaving the house. Anyway got to double my already doubled flixotide to 4 puffs twice a day for a week, then reduce. So we'll see how I get on, bit disappointed because last time I had a flare up like this i was given steroids which worked a treat. Also frustrated seen as for the last 3 months I've hardly known I was asthmatic, then this.

How soon would I see an improvement by doubling the flixotide? Also if I'm symptomatic but air entry is good, what does this mean? Does it mean its all in my head?

Meanwhile, gobbling up blue inhalers like theres no tomorrow even while sofa surfing!!

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Ah no, it's rubbish when you're struggling and they don't think you 'need' something when you know it will help! Hope you feel better soon.

I can't really help on the air entry question...this has puzzled me too. Mainly I'm too busy thinking 'woohoo, they didn't bang on about wheeze', but both times air entry was mentioned it was 'fine' (and yes, that is a grand total of TWICE it's been mentioned though to be fair they may not have said specifically other times). So I have no idea how you can have good air entry but still be symptomatic - we all know the wheeze isn't much of an indicator but this one really gets me.

Any medics like to explain? I always feel like such a fraud esp. as when they say that it suggests they're paying attention and know the wheeze isn't the most important thing, so you can't say it's because they don't know about asthma!

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Booboo, even in the middle of a bad attack I can have good air entry but sound like a walrus as the air has problems going back out!!

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Yes I find its very hard to exhale, I have prolonged exhalation and have to use my stomach to push the air out, which I mentioned but was ignored!!

Do the doctors acknowledge your symptoms then, even if air entry is good? I'm liking the walrus reference!! Unfortunately I make very little noise, sometimes I wish I did so I didn't get made to feel like I was making it up!

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Angelica I'm glad you said that, I was beginning to worry maybe my symptoms are in my head - though I don't know how I could imagine Steve being there so much.

I have the difficulty breathing out too sometimes - esp in mornings though usually am worse in evenings, I really have to work at getting it out! Got told today at singing/voice lesson that I wasn't really breathing in at bottom/middle of ribs...which doesn't surprise me as that's where I've been feeling Steve! She was rather puzzled though till she remembered I have asthma. It was odd as if I made an effort I could push ribs out normally but it felt like I was taking too much air in when i did!

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Booboo, Drs do listen as they van clearly see the state I'm in, also I've been told that some asthmatics wheeze when they inhale and some when they exhale so I wouldn't get hung up on the whope good air entry thing, I think some Dr's say this as reassurance that things aren't too bad as this certainly is the case most times for me as it usually goes hand in hand with good oxygen saturation levels.

For me its usually only if my attack has lasted several hours thay I then have problems getting air in as well.

Philomela I know what you mean but as we know, what Dr's expect and what asthma does from person to person can be very different!! X

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definitely doesn't mean it's in your head! Just means your doctor thinks your asthma symptoms maybe controlled with upping your inhalers and wont have to put up with the vile side effect pred can have. You should feel the benefit in about 3-5 days as the steroid has a build up affect as you've already been taking it. Hope you can get over flair up soon and avoid the dreaded pred.

Good luck

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If your peak flow is down and you are needing lots of ventolin then it does sound to me as if you need steroids - in this situation my GP would have given them. However as ally says it is best to avoid them if possible so maybe that's why nurse recommended doubling preventer - if it doesn't work make sure you go back though.

I've had a similar situation with antibiotics twice - first time was the first time I had ever needed them but the second time I knew it was an infection and would end up needing antibs and if had been given them with steroids straightaway might have saved two of the three weeks' worth of illness. I do understand why they are reluctant to give too many antibs but it's not as if I asking for them all the time, only had them twice ever! Sounds as if you are the same with steroids. Hope you're feeling better soon.

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Yes I know why its best to minimise the amount of oral steroids you have, and antibiotics, like you say so as to reduce side effects etc.

Its just I know last time I had pred (for very similar symptoms) they worked brilliantly and quite quickly, and I didn't want to waste another week of being poorly to find the increased inhaler might not be enough. Also, am I'm at risk of having a severe asthma attack if I don't improve soon?

Hopefully it will work for me though, its a quite high dose I'll be on, and I can always go back to the nurse if I need to I suppose.

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Sorry if I wasn't clear BooBoo, that's exactly what I was trying to say, that it's so annoying to not get the steroids/antibs when you know yourself you're going to need them. Both times I've been to ask I've been given steroids but not antibs and had to back a week later still unwell.