And again 😒

[Lyngal]

Once again back on antibiotics and steroids after yet another chest infection and flare up I just seem to get over one and get another... feeling very fed up.😔

[Hidden]

Hi Lyn sorry to hear you are having a chest infection again.

Time to ask for referral and get your meds checked. Obviously your asthma is not under control or your immune system is tired you need to have a specialist looking into it.

Asthma UK 's helpline is open today till 4 pm, I would give them a call for tips and reassurance.

Take care xx

[healthwish in reply to Hidden]

I was the same antiobotics and steriods every month.I demanded to be referred to speciaist asthma clinic and finally got appt. Immediately on my first appt they found i had ensinophillic asthma. Got different inhalers and on 5mg prednisolone maintenance dose. At last i feel.i hav got help my asthma is not giving me bother for the past 4 months. My consultant said inhaled steriods alone for me did not work. Hope u get help and good health.

[Matman in reply to healthwish]

Hi Healthwish, got some questions for you if you've got time to reply.

Like Lyngal (and so many others) I get frequent respiratory exacerbations due to regular chest infections.

My current - most likely - diagnosis is Severe Eosinophilic Asthma.

I'm back on yet another oral steroid burst 40mg per day (10 Days) and - after several similar bursts this year - wondering if I'd be better off stopping these Bursts and instead moving to a permanent lower daily dose of oral steroids. (Really don't want to put myself on daily steroids permanently, but it's beginning to look like I may have to bite that bullet).

**Questions for Commentor ''Healthrisk''

1. Before you went on the 5mg Oral Steroids Daily, were the previous Steroids you were taking with your antibiotics, 'pill' form oral steroids, or were you taking only Inhaled Steroids with those antibiotics?

2. If you were on oral steroid pill bursts (like me) roughly how many times over the year were you prescibed those bursts before you were switched to daily 5mg oral steroids?

3. How soon after switching to 'daily' 5mg steroid Pills did you start to notice a benefit? (I note from your remarks that you've been a lot better for 4 months, but how quickly did you begin to feel an improvement once you started on 5mg a day of oral steroids? (Month? Two Months?)

4. Are you also taking daily steroids via Inhaler, along with your daily 5mg steroid pill? If so what Inhaler and what dose?

5. Finally, how often are you now needing to use a Rescue Inhaler (if at all)?

Thanks in anticipation. Hope you continue to stay 'improved'.

If anyone else reading this has progressed from Steroid Pill Bursts to Daily Oral Steroid Pills and wants to share their experience of doing that too, please feel free.

.

[healthwish in reply to Matman]

To make this clear. I took asthma 4 yrs ago. First 2 yrs only needed steriods and ventolin about 3 times a year. Then the past 2 yrs asthma was happening more often eg. Needing antiibotics, ventolin, , montelukast, loratadine, duoresp inhaler and steriod tablets nearly every month. I had emergency oral steriods at home. Needed oral steriods 13 times over the past year. Not happy getting too many flare ups. Iwas referred to an asthma specialist clinic and they immediately diagnoused me with ensinophillic asthma. They done a feno test my result was high at 68. They gave me a seretide 500 preventor inhaler and 10mg oral prednisolone for 58 days. When tested on day 58, my feno was now 19. Was told that inhaled steriod alone was not helping me so i needed oral steriods. I was then reduced to 5 mg daily aling with my seretide 500. I feel so good the past few months. Havnt needed rescue inhaler at all. I hope i stay this good and iam happy to share my story hoping it will help others. Always seek doctors advice never stop taking your medication without consulting your doctor. The aim fir myself is to try to reduce steriods altogether. Said i might be a candidate for the injection olizumab unsure of spelling. Wont know till my next appointment. Hope this answers yr questions and i hope all asthmatics are listened too and given all the available tests. For a time doctors were telling me asthma was caused by anxiety. My reply was i am.fine but when doctor appt and i canf breathe of course at i will appear anxious. Make doctor listen to u. I asked a few time to be referred to a specialist clinic but got nowhere. Then i wrotw letters to my gp and consultant and i finally got appt. Wishing all asthmatics a happy healthy christmas.

[healthwish in reply to healthwish]

Also due to taking so many oral steriods i had a bone scan which shows ostopenia ( thinning of bones) so i hav to take calcium tablet. This page is great since we all hav similar experiences that we can share and hopefully help each other.

[Matman in reply to healthwish]

Thanks very much Healthwish. Appreciate your taking time out at this busy time of year to provide a detailed reply. My story has several parallels with yours. Think your info is going to prove most useful. I've got a Specialist Asthma Clinic coming up in Feb 2017 so am trying to decide what Tests and Investigations I want to push hardest for. Already had FeNO back in August (Score 135) - Consultant was staggered it was so high. Think one thing I now want is second CT Scan (last one was Spring 2016). Not sure about these newer Biological Treatments. Worries me a bit that they've not been in use that long and that certain issues and side effects may still materialise. Still, sometimes controlled risks need to be taken. Will be writing-up my medical wish list in Jan. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

[lishapartington]

Hi Lyn,

This sounds very familiar! I am actually in the pharmacy now waiting for a prescription of prednisolone and antibiotics for a chest infection and widespread wheeze. Hope you start to feel better soon.

[su-mo]

Hi Lyn See my posts elsewhere. Healthy eating with supplements including serrapeptase & probiotic capsules mean that I have not had a chest infection for 2 years so no asthma after 40 + years of 4/5 chest infections per year 72 years young never felt fitter.