Rescue Inhaler Sometimes Makes my Wheezing worse?

Hi,

I was just wondering if anyone else noticed this? I'm in the U.S. so I take xopenex (which is very similar to albuterol). Sometimes when I take 2 puffs of my rescue inhaler, it helps quickly (usually when I'm not sick). But when I take it when I'm sick, sometimes the wheezing gets worse for a while before it gets better. Sometimes when I take it throughout the day (every 5 hours) the wheezing is much worse.

Thanks,

Bee

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Hi Bee,

Not sure - but could it be because when you are poorly the air entry is very bad, increasing the air entry with your inhaler = increasing air movement in your lungs which could mean more audible wheezing?

Fee

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Hi!

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I asked my doctor about it and he was saying something about the anatomy of the trachea, and part of it being muscle, and more collapsable, and that if I was coughing really hard it could add to the wheezing, or something like that. He confused me! The last time I saw him he said he didn't think I had asthma, and to take as little rescue medicine as possible (which I did- only took it four times in the last three months). Now he's saying to take it more. I'm confused because he wants me to avoid needing oral steroids, but that's where it always ends up if I treat every wheeze like asthma. So I thought he was trying to say that broncodillators can make wheeze worse. But it only happens when I'm really bad, so it could be that I'm really poorly when it happens.

Arggggh! So frusterating knowing what to do sometimes. Glad you're all here though. I know I'm not alone!

Bee

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this is one of those grey areas where why some wheeze and others don't or what even causes it is questionable, but a very good hypothesis was that imagine the airways are like the neck of a balloon, and if you pull that balloon to narrow the outlet you make a funny noise, and it's no reason why when we breath out that our airways couldn't resemble that model.

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Hey,

Thanks! That's a really helpful picture. It's kind of funny...but not having a correct picture of my anatomy was kind of freaking me out :).

Bee