Thinking that my asthma will never be fully controlled..

Hi,

I am 20 years old and I have had asthma for about 5 years. It has gradually been getting worse since I started University 2 years ago and currently I take Symbicort (the SMART system) and Singulair tablets in the evening. I have just come off a 5 day treatment of 30mg of oral steroids (Presidolone?? if thats how you spell it) to treat a cough I have had for 3 weeks that got increasing worse until I was unable to sleep. I went back to the nurse today (a different surgery to the one who prescribed me the steroids) as the cough was improved by the steroids but not completely cleared and it is starting to return to its previous severity. She was really unhelpful and unsympathetic to the fact I am trying to revise for exams but can't get any sleep because of my coughing! All she could suggest was that I go to the pharmacy to get some day time cough medicine to supress the cough.

Has anyone else experienced this sort of cough where there is no chest infection? Are there any other treatments avaliable that would control my asthma better? Should I try and see someone other than an asthma nurse for this? I did have a really good nurse once but she has left unfortunately.

Thanks for listening! Im at the stage where I dont know what else to do!

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I have had similar problems while at university. Are you registered with a student health centre- I was and had so many problems with them within a term that I chose to register 80 miles away at home. I have found that during this period of the year they tend to attribute everything to exam stress, and so some extent students trying to get out of doing their work. This meant for me that instead of attributing my asthma (correctly) to a pollen allergy, they decided it was a reaction to stress and that cough supressant would be adequate to stop it. Obviously I can't see you and can't see your medical history but coughing at night is a sign of poorly controlled asthma, so they should possibly be looking to increase your asthma treatment.

In terms of things to try there are quite a few: you could take a higher dose of symbicort and revert to using ventolin as a reliever, and there are also a class of medications called theophyllines that are supposed to be particularly helpful with night-time asthma. Or at least they were in my case.

I hope that you get it sorted soon. As a final year student approaching my exams I am increasingly aware of the need to keep as fit and well as I am able to, in order to do my best in exams.

Regards

Emma

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I was on Pulmicort for a few years and then they put me on Symbicort when it came out - it is a mix of Pulmicort and the Oxis long-acting broncodilator - and my asthma got dramatically worse in a matter of days. Very breathless to the point I could not get up stairs.

I then got put on Flixotide and Servent and whilst not perfect they have, touch wood, proved to be much better than Pulmicort on its own or Symbicort. But I am very aware that the powder, used as a transport for the medicine, in the inhalers can make my cough worse or even cause it. When this happens I leave off my steroid inhaler for 24 to 48 hours and my cough goes... at which point I feel better all round... but if I stay off longer-term then the asthma gets worse.

I know that when I am stressed that I am worse. I take magnesium to relax my airways and vitamin D to activate my T-cells.

Do a search in this newsletter for 'asthma'

vitamindcouncil.org/newslet...

Hope it helps.

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My 5-year old daughter suffers from this night cough, worse this time of year and then again in October-ish...our asthma nurse suggested it was caused by allergy to the house dust mite as the dear little souls reproduce in spring and autumn and live everywhere we like to be (bedding especially; carpets; curtains; clothes; soft furnishings). She has never had a chest infection with this cough but has been forced by it to go without sleep for days on end. We have to keep on top of the dust now to ease symptoms, and even then it doesn't do enough but a little better than it was!

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I have got a very similar cough and nothing is getting rid or helping relieve the cough. In fact I am going back to my doctors next week again. I know the feeling very well of not thinking that the asthma will ever get back under control but hopefully (touching wood) it will be it is going to be a long and hard journey to get their I think

Oh and also my daughter who is not diagnosed with asthma has had a very chesty cough for over 4 weeks know that is getting worse and affecting her sleep and activity levels on a daily basics know. I think she is going to end up being the un-lucky one that is going to be informed that she has asthma on-top of her excema and hayfever. She never has a chesty cough for this long and to the degree she has got it this time

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Thank you

Thank you so much for all your help, I never thought so many people would be so kind as to reply! I went back to another doctor in the end and got ANOTHER course of the same steroids at the same dose. They cleared it up a lot more, but now, a week and bit later, its starting to return to the same severity. Ive started taking vitamin D tablets, and although I havent noticed any immediate difference, I generally feel better in myself. Im going to try and get my exams out the way and then go back to the doctors, maybe to go back onto salmeterol and qvar instead of the symbicort to see what happens.

Thanks again for all the advice, and I hope everyone with the same thing gets better soon, especially those of you who have small children. I felt like I couldnt cope with it, it must be a lot harder for them!

Laura