Hi, I've had a horrendous chest infection for the past 7 weeks which appears to be going now. The hospital have diagnosed me with asthma and I'm a bit clueless!
They've started me on the brown and ventolin inhalers and a spacer. I've been using the preventer for 5 days. At 4am this morning I woke up short of breath seemingly without space to breath in, pressure on my lower ribs, aching in my lower ribs or stomach and panicky. Is that an asthma "attack"? I used the reliever as instructed and about an hour later I can breath relatively normally and I'm calm but feel so sleepy. Is that normal and do I need to do anything else?
Sorry for the first long lost!
Written by
affascinante
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Yes, all of what you described is pretty normal for Asthma, if you are having symptoms don't be afraid to use the reliever inhaler.
Going forward keep a record of how much reliever you are using it's useful for the doctor and how often you are having symptoms. It's difficult to remember several weeks down the line.
The brown inhaler takes quite a few days to start having an effect
I hope you have a follow up appointment booked? With your GP or the hospital? Also it's worth getting a peak flow meter and recording readings twice a day before medications
There are lots of great people on this forum and everyone will be happy to support you in your asthma journey
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