Just diagnosed...

[flossiew]

Had cough and wheeze for several months.

Non - smoker

Age 51

Taking one puff of salbutamol morning and evening followed by a puff of beclametasone.

Still wheezing minutes after using blue inhaler- use it up to 6 times a day, but helps peak flow- went from 370 this evening to 420.

Still coughing as well- green gunk at times, (sorry!)

Don't want to be a nuisance as neither the GP nor nurse could hear me wheezing when they sounded my chest although audible to me (& others)

X-ray required no intervention.

Not in distress but anxious re possible asthma attack...

Advice appreciated.

[flossiew]

This was my third attempt to post the above: all previous attempts disappeared, so apologies for the very sparse wording. It's not how I normally text or email!

[starveycat]

Hello Flossiew and a very warpm welcome to the site. I am no expert as only got asthma late last year, but to me you seem to be using your blue inhaler rather a lot. I think a good idea would be to phone the helpline during office hours, they wiil be able to out your mind at rest

For warpm please read warm, this dang machine types what it likes keep warm

[flossiew in reply to starveycat]

Hello starveycat!

Thanks for getting in touch. I have been thinking of calling the helpline as you suggested but I don't like troubling people though perhaps I will give them a call tomorrow to put my mind at rest and get the advice I need.

Trust you keep well ☺

[Minushabens]

Hi & welcome!

It sounds very much as though your asthma is not at all well managed at the moment, so the first bit of advice is...be a nuisance! The medics can't contol what you don't tell them about. And they ought to know that not all airway restrictions cause a wheeze.

If your peak flow is increasing by over 10% after taking your reliever that is certainly a strong pointer to asthma, so you need to start to work on a good management plan.

You say you are taking a puff of beclametasone 2x daily? Is that 100mcg? If so that is a fairly low dose so there's plenty of opportunity to increase it, & that should be the plan to get you down to minimal blue use.

The green gunk is a pointer to an infection. In theory that will sort itself out but it sounds like a course of antibiotics might help if they will give them to you. That in itself will probably help. The medics ought to work with you to get the plan right, but it might be an idea to see if they will agree to increase the beclametasone at least until the infection increases.

Keep talking to them though, don't suffer in silence.

[flossiew in reply to Minushabens]

Thanks for your advice and encouragement, and yes, the beclametasone is 100mcg.

I guess it's just a case of trial and error till they get me on the correct treatment, but it's rather disconcerting when medical professionals can't hear me wheezing when it's audible to me & others without a stethoscope- that's why I'm anxious about going back to them again... But I'm prepared to be a nuisance! I'm so glad I plucked up the courage to post here as well. Thanks so much

[Minushabens in reply to flossiew]

I'm no longer on beclametasone. It was called becotide when I had it; or becloforte which was the stronger dose (250mcg). I was on the latter taking 4 puffs a day (ie 1000mcg/day) which served me well for a long time, so you'll see there's scope to increase it. There are other good preventers to try as well.

Try not to worry too much about the wheeze; they should really be using spirometry or peak flow measurements to back up what they can hear, so if you can track your readings & show them the sequence over a few days that might help.

Although...& I doubt this is official advice, but I have always been able to force a wheeze if I need to (the kids at school loved my Muttley impersonation...Google it kids ). Even now if I know I need them to take me seriously I push quite hard as deeply as I can to force some noise. I used to get sent away sometimes & realised if I breathed gently they would often say I was fine, even when I knew I wasn't.

Good luck

[Pantani]

With regards to the green gunk you need to get s sputum sample tested asap to establish which antibiotics will work.

[gaynorlouise]

I'm in a similar situation, newly diagnosed, non-smoker and felt I didn't want to be a nuisance but I became quite poorly and was at my GP surgery every week. I also called an asthma nurse at asthma UK who was so helpful and gave me some really good advice. I've recently just finished a week of steroids and feel better than I have done in months so definitely worth keeping at your GP. You can always ask to be referred to a specialist. I was going to be referred but managed to get it under control so not yet needed.

I haven't used my blue inhaler for 11 days so definitely worth going back to your GP. Don't let them fob you off.

[flossiew in reply to gaynorlouise]

Thanks for your encouragement. I'm glad to hear that your asthma is so much better controlled now. Take care ☺

[servewithmintsauce]

Just to note that not everybody with asthma wheezes and if your nurse or doctor disagrees then it's time for a new one! I have moderate-to-severe asthma and I don't wheeze, even when I'm having an attack.