hi further to my prienious thread, i have decided to ask for a refferal, but i dont know whet to expect. if my refferal is accepted, what will the consultation be like? will i need to have all of my meds changed, or will i be told that i dont have asthma at all,
can anyone help?
Hi wendy,
I posted a reply re my experience in your other thread.
Good luck
they'll probably do some lung function tests which is just breathing into a machine so they can measure how well your lungs are doing, plus it will give them something to compare to. They might well change all your medications but probably not all at once, and you never know it may well improve your control. I was reallllllly bad as a teenager and child. When i came to uni at 18 i was sent to see a new consultant and was as apprehensive as you because i was on so much medcine that it was ruling my life. He did some tests to decide if i was an allergic asthmatic or not, and when it came back positive he placed me on antihistamines to block my allergies, and i came off nearly all my medicines. I only take two pills a day now plus my brown inhaler and last year did the great manchester run, but as a child i could barely run 100m's so you see the benefits. Consultants are much more knowledgeable and could really help you i know!! Just ask lots of questions til you are happy, he's there to help you thats his job.
Another thing to remember is don't expect too much at once. I first saw my consultant last November and it is only in the last few weeks that I have actually stabalized and got my asthma under some sort of control. Each time I went she would either increase meds or change them but she only changed 1 med each time so you could see what is actually benefiting you.
Other tests I have had done are allergy tests (skin tests) and a test to measure how much carbon dioxide I was exhaling. I don't know the name of this but it involved having two prongs up your nose, breathing normally through your nose for 2 minutes and then hyper ventilating through your nose for two minutes. Neither test hurt but the second one did make me feel very dizzy when I was hyperventilating. Do you have an appointment~? If so when is it? Good luck and keep us updated.
Love
Steph xx
thanks everyone for the information, i am going to arrange my appointment and see what my GP says, however as my local hospital is so poorly run, i think i'll get told that all of this was a nasty cold... lol
first visit to consultant
Difficult consultant
First consultant appointment pending
