Summer 2013 - Suffering?

I take my preventer once in the morning and once at night, and take my reliever, on average, once to twice a week. My asthma is usually weather (cold, wet or hot!) depending, if I am getting a cold or (annoyingly) if I get too excited about something! I am loving this weather but oh my! It is making my asthma such a pain. I have taken my reliever three times today with little help, and have taken it pretty much every day since the heat started. Every night I am out of breath just walking around the house and not even exerting myself! Exercise routines are out of the window currently. I just wondered if anyone else is suffering, which I am guessing people are, so I know I am not alone!!!! I love the weather, my lungs do not apprently!

[yaf_user681_30355]

Hello Pandaspud,

Welcome to the forum.

Yes, I am the same, I come to a complete standstill And get so bored!! I love being active and not being limited physically but, as soon as the temperature hits 24'C I have to stop and find inactive things to do. I am also waiting for the grass pollen to hit 'low.'

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Hiya,

There are a few of us on here struggling due to the weather/heat/humidity/pollen!!!

I know I am ... its the worse its ever been!! I have non asthmatic friends who are struggling.

If you are concerned about reliever usage or loss of control, it might be worth going to see your GP? Perhaps consider stepping up treatment with a view to coming back down eventually?

Laura

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Posting this in solidarity with my UK asthma sufferers. Today with the humidex it hit 42C (31C before the humidity is added in) in my little corner of Canada. Environment Canada has posted a heat wave/humidex warning for the next while as temperatures are going to stay much the same for the week. I'm lucky that I have an air conditioner, but many don't, and are using cooling centers set up in public spaces to beat the heat.

If I'm outside for more than an hour my asthma bothers me. (especially when an insane neighbour decided to cut his grass in this heat! *shakes fist*)I get short of breath and start to cough. My plan is to try to stay indoors and entertain myself with as much PG Wodehouse as I can get!

To all my friends on here, stay safe, hydrated, and cool.

Sara

[Asthma-girl]

Oh I am really struggling terribly this summer with my asthma it is due to the current weather conditions and pollen count.

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I know it is silly, but it does help to know you aren't alone! One puff of my reliever is usually enough, but yesterday I had to take three. I was wired!!!!! I have upped the preventer now too but it won't kick in for a few days. It is lovely to have this weather, but when just walking about the office (no air con, windows all open) gets to you, it starts to get you down! I had taken two puffs of the blue inhaler before I even left home today at 8am! I usually have a little walk at lunchtimes but that is out, so I am left feeling a bit like a slug when really I would like to be playing frisbee (yes I am 31 and I like frisbee!). I do welcome the sun, but I wish I could get out enjoy it more!

Still, if it continues I might just go and get a check up. A colleague said her kids (teenagers) are on purple inhalers which they find excellent. I've not been offered one before so am not sure really what they are, but perhaps it is worth a bit of research. Does anyone have the purple one or know if they are just for kids?

Also, I am curious, when I take my blue inhaler it takes a good 45 mins for me to get proper relief. How long does it take for others? I don't think it has ever been instant help for me.....

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Welcome!

If your blue inhaler is taking that long to kick in, you probably should see your GP and discuss it with her/him. The blue inhaler (ventolin/sabutamol) should take 5-15minutes to start having an effect. If it isn't then (a) you may have a second problem in addition to asthma - GERD, VCD, and suboptimal breathing patterns (sometimes called dysfunctional breathing) are all possibilities (b) you may be more responsive to a different preventer (c) you may not be getting the full dose and need a review of your inhaler technique - do you use a spacer? (d) you may have too much background inflammation and perhaps should be on a higher dose of preventer on a regular basis.

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Hi Beth,

Thanks for your reply, it was very interesting. I did tell the asthma nurse it takes a while to kick in, her attitude was just to pump the blue one more and if that still fails, to go to the hospital! I think I should see a GP perhaps then to discuss it. I also do have that thing where I wake up in the night and I have stopped breathing which is not the most fun ! I don't use a spacer, no, I don't think I ever have. I think I should book an appointment actually, regardless of the weather! Food for thought though, so thanks so much for the input.

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I find that with multiple pumps my reliever starts working within seconds - it might not reach 'peak' for 5-15 mins, but if it took 5 minutes I'd have been dead ages ago

Not everybody responds well to salbutamol - you could ask to try an alternative.

It's definitely worth using a spacer - it means that more gets in your lungs and less in your mouth.

Cx

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it has become rather too hot

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You are also describing sleep apnoea - I would alert your GP to this as you may need a sleep assessment

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I'm surprised that i'm not suffering nearly sa much as i expected to!! I even went out and did a 2.5 mile run with the girls last night and only had minimal coughing on my return and didn't even feel the need for my reliever - that's almost unheard of when i go running!!!

*touches LOTS of wood in case of having jinxed herself* LOL

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Hi All

I am new to this so please bear with me, have been reading thru the forums and found some great advice, until recently i would have said my asthma was well controlled but after a recent throat/chest infection, 3 different courses of AB's with no improvement and weeks of little sleep, i ended up in A&E struggling to breathe, admitted to hospital, 5 nebs later still little improvement.

I managed to get home on steroid tablets (pred) 40mg for first 3weeks now down to 30mg a day but not sure how long this will continue. i am using my inhalers partic salbutomel a lot more than usual, and my preventors which i usually take morning & night, have used midday too.

In between although tired, i feel ok and have managed to get out for walks but am signed off work, which worries me, job security is a big issue, But i work in a caring role and worried about working 1:1 with people when i may struggle for breath myself, due to see Dr on Tues morning unsure wether to go back to work or not yet, perhaps just need a little more time to let meds kick in? what do you think.?

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Hi All,

Just to say, after my original post, I went to the Dr and have been given a purple inhaler now. He said it is the prevemter plus has a long lasting reliever in it, which should last all day and see me hardly use my blue inhaler, even in this weather. He said it is quite strong. FIngers crossed it works out!!!! Since it has cooled a little, I am much better.

Karrol - I am very sorry to hear you have been so poorly. If you can afford a little more time off without worry (the stress will not help you heal) I would say go for it. It's better to be as well as you can before starting to rush about again rather than go back too soon and undo any healing you have managed so far. But only if you are able to do it and it won't cause worry or additional stress... you sound like you have been through it already lately!!! Alternatively, talk to your doctor about all your worries and they should be able to tell if you are ready to go back from a medical point of view.

Just don't push yourself too much, too soon

X

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my first summer with asthma and i was doing ok up untill Tuesday.

Everytime I am up doing things or going to the gym, I get this sharp pain in my chest when i breathe! Horrific!

Hopefully it passess soon as it's so annoying and even made me cut my gym time today!

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Little-miss-JAG, a sharp pain when breathing doesn't sound good, maybe you ought to see you're gp.

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Thanks Butterfly.

It happens when I push myself too far and become stubborn and don't want to use my blue inhaler! But it seems to have passed - amazing what a little bit of rest can do!

[yaf_user681_30003]

Little_Miss_Jag, I'm with Butterfly on this. Please do not be stubborn. Please see your GP. Please use your blue inhaler. I didn't listen to the advice of one of my doctors last year and nearly ended up in very serious trouble.

AlanJ

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Its my first year with asthma only got diagnosed in January, after about a year of coughing.

Have been fine up until Monday, when I had two attacks. Can only think it was due too pollen exposure during the night as had felt fine all week.

Was really scary though, as had my blue inhaler too much and ended up getting too much oxygen into my lungs (nice for the asthma nurse too tell me about not using more than eight times). So ended up passing out.

Its freaked me out a lot especially as my chest has felt tight all week and I can't help but think about breathing and concentrating on it a lot. Have been told that I would feel a bit ropey for a while. Has anyone else felt like this after an attack? Have got an appointment with the astma nurse in a few days. But wonder what other peoples experiences are?