Someone help me 😑

[Chelseyjane]

Hello .. I've been "asthmatic" since I gave up smoking in 2009 when I fell pregnant I never actually had a proper diagnosis Until yesterday ! When they finally did a spirometer to measure my lung function ! I've had the worst year of my life with my chest wheezing constantly coughing .. coughing up the most revolting sputum .. I've had chest X-rays blood tests everything and still no one can tell me what on earth is going on .. I have been given doxycycline and predisnole almost every other month which has helped but hasn't lasted .. I'm on 3 puffs of seretide 250mgs twice a day .. and I have a salamol reliever plus Montelukast ..

the spiro test yesterday came back normal .. with just a small amount of obstruction which would indicate some asthma .. I'm thinking why am I on all this medication !! Could It be the medication mainly the seretide that's making my symptoms worse ?? My whole upper tract is so itchy and irritated that's what's making me cough so much it's such a hacking horrible cough .. I've not long had a baby and it's all she listens too ! I swear she copy's to communicate ! ..

I also suffer with nasal polyps and chronic rhinosinisitus .. which I've had operations for but still on going ..

so my symptoms ...

Constant hacking cough

Gloupy thick greenish sputum

Wheezing lower lungs

Itching/irritation upper respiratory

Someone please shed some light .. I'm so tired and run down 😞

[starveycat]

The best advice I can give is to phone the HelpLine they are very helpful and knowledgeable but i think they are only open during office hours good luck

[Hidden]

Hi coughing up coloured phlegm is a symptom of a chest infection. If you have had ab's and steroids and they haven't worked you need to ask your medical professional for a sputum test which will identify the bug and they will be able to determine which ab's you need.

[Chelseyjane in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for the reply .. yeah been having this done all year .. and plied with antibiotics the sputum is still green and the tests always come back normal 😞😞

[ChicChantal in reply to Chelseyjane]

Yeah, I have this too. Mine's green but my chest xray is fine and I've had 3 courses of antibiotics. I've recently had meds to reduce the amount of sputum, don't know if you've had anything like that

[Chelseyjane in reply to ChicChantal]

I'm on montelukast tablets ? Is that the same thing .. it's helped reduce the size of the slug like chunks I cough out but the sputum is still quite green in appearance.. they seem so reluctant to suggest anything other than up all doses on inhalers or steam it out (which does not work ) I had to fight to get montelukast! 😔

[ChicChantal in reply to Chelseyjane]

I'm currently on an inhaler called spiriva.

[Chelseyjane in reply to ChicChantal]

Do you find this helpful ? Have you tried many ? I've had the clenil mod fostair and now this seretide

[ChicChantal in reply to Chelseyjane]

It seems to help but I have only been taking it a week.

[Hidden in reply to Chelseyjane]

do get nightmares from the montlukast ?

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Incorrect

[Hidden]

Hi I would then be asking for a CT scan as this will pick up a lot more than a chest x-ray and should show definitely if anything is wrong. You might have a battle on your hands as doctors hate referring for tests (in the UK) but insist on it. It is your right.

[Chelseyjane in reply to Hidden]

Oh really yeah that could be an option .. they've never mentioned this .. I mean it's taken all this time for them to actually do a spirometer!! I've asked to be refereed to the chest specialist up the hospital but nothing 😔😔😔

I've literally been in this circle since last march

[Hidden in reply to Chelseyjane]

That's not good enough Chelseyjane. One thing I have learnt with lung problems is that you have to be proactive and continually nag doctors otherwise they won't do anything and just hope you will go away.

Can you take an assertive family member or friend with you? I always find it much easier to fight for someone else rather than for myself.

Good luck with it and let us know how you get on won't you.

[Chelseyjane in reply to Hidden]

At the moment with our surgery we have no doctors .. all I get is the advanced nurse practitioner can't get an appt with a doctor atall it's HORRENDOUs 😞 I've been going Neely 3 times a month complaining of the same symptoms .. my husband is going mad so are my family really that I've been left to battle this problem by myself all through my pregnancy etc honestly can say it's been the worst year of my life health wise

[Hidden in reply to Chelseyjane]

Change surgeries?

[Chelseyjane in reply to Hidden]

If only it were that simple 😞 I live on the Isle of Wight you wouldn't believe the problems we've had with our medical system .. our hospital here is constantly on black alert .. no beds etc it's pretty dia.. the only thing I could think of doing is writing a letter of complaint?

So far I've stopped the seretide on day 3 almost and itch irritation has almost gone ... so I'm wondering if it is in fact the medicen that's made my symptoms worse

[Hidden in reply to Chelseyjane]

Ok. Why not find them online and leave a bad review on it? I guarantee you a practise manager will answer .

[Hidden in reply to Chelseyjane]

Yes it is

[Hidden in reply to Chelseyjane]

Yes it is

[Hidden in reply to Chelseyjane]

don't bother, it won't show anything

[_Ventolin_]

Hi, I would say it some kind of pre Asthma condition. It not going to an Asthma attack but stays constantly in mild obstruction. I had treated that condition with antibiotic tablets and it goes away no faster than 1 or 1.5 weeks.

[Hay1234]

Hi ive got vcd and this sounds very much like it which would make sense as youve been worse since pregnancy vcd can be made worse by reflux so im guessing youve got both try gaviscon xx

[Chelseyjane in reply to Hay1234]

What's vcd ? .. I take lansoprazole but that's for something different x

[Hay1234]

Ive just wrote a post hun about it read that then if you have anymore questions ill answer them saves me writing it again xx

[Chelseyjane in reply to Hay1234]

Hmm at the moment it sounds similar .. I've not always been like this it's only recently the irritation in the back of the throat top respiratory like the last week .. all the rest of the time I've had just constant wheezing and coughing minor attacks the things I've coughed out have been as long as my finger almost thick green slugs me and the kids call them but the montelukast seems to have helped slightly with that now it's not so thick and easier to cough out .. I'm just clueless as to what's happening to me I'm getting to the point where I'm worried to go to far away from home incase if I have a coughing fit and then have an asthma attack .,

Yesterday was the first time in 8 years they told me I have slight obstruction from my first ever lung function test .. and I've been in and out of our surgery nearly every month this year more than once sometimes .. complaining about the same shit .. I mean they had to induce me early in the end at hospital because I was so poorly with it I thought ooo baby's come it'll all go back to normal again ...(well what I'm used to) but boy was I wrong !!

They labelled me asthmatic 8 years ago without doing any proper tests I've been plied with drugs nebulisers steroids antibiotics steroid injections inhalers anti depressants to control anxiety antihistamines lansoprazole everything !! You name it I've had it .. it's stressed me so much I've now been diagnosed with ibs so more medication for that (which I don't take ) I'm not becoming immune to antibiotics 😔😔 I just don't know what to do?? Nobody is listening 😭

[Hay1234]

Look best advice i can give i was told i had asthma for 4 years i knew something was wrong and kept saying its more my throat ask for a camera and to see speech therapist i was convinced theyd missed something they made me feel like i was making it up

[Chelseyjane in reply to Hay1234]

Thanks for responding I am taking some comfort in all these messages I'm not as daft as I sound 😂.. it's running me into the ground I've got a 5 month old daughter and all I do is cough on her .. it's so exhausting .. I'm with ENT anyway as I've got polyps and chronic rhino so when I eventually get my apt .. been waiting since DECEMBER.. I'll make them look 👀

[Hay1234]

It is a terrinle illness ive got to the point when i cant take no more but it will go i promise try changing diet no fizzy drink no junk or spicy food and no chocolate youd be suprised

[Chelseyjane in reply to Hay1234]

Yeah on slimming world 😔 Don't have anything like that plus with ibs I basically live on chicken and broccoli to sensitive for anything with any flavour 😂😂

[Hay1234 in reply to Chelseyjane]

Oh thats good

[Krcz]

I opted for private insurance cover for me and my kids with bupa as waiting for diagnosis through nhs is far far too long. I refuse to suffer for months or yrs at a time. Maybe you should ask 4 some allergy tests? And i know they not cheap but why dont you try a good air purifier, like dyson? Allergy tests are a must as asthma is most of the times allergy induced?

[Chelseyjane in reply to Krcz]

Yeah had all that I'm allergic to all sorts .. 😑 ill look into bupa

[Krcz]

Only thing with any private insurance is they dont cover you for pre existing conditions. Allergologist should be also able to give stronger allergy medicine, not just cetirizine or other kinds that you can buy over the counter. Ginkgo biloba they say is also could help with asthma. Helps with loads of things, i started to take it myself

[Krcz]

Can also try some natural anti inflammatory stuff. As asthma means inflammation

[Chelseyjane]

I've never Heard of that I'll google .. I've been on antihistamine all my life since I was a kid horrific hay fever .. I now take 180mg of fexofenodine however you spell it ..

I did read that about the conditions so I guess that I wouldn't qualify my husband calls me a medical marvel 😑

[Krcz]

Another thing you could try is cut out dairy completely. Dairy produces mucus

[Hidden in reply to Krcz]

Hi dairy doesn't produce more mucus but makes it more sticky and harder to cough up. The answer is to cut down some and drink more water which thins it down.

One of my sisters had a bad cough for years (no health problems) so cut out all dairy then introduced items one by one. She found out she was intolerant to cows milk and ice cream. She cut those out and her cough went completely. It's never come back!

[Chelseyjane in reply to Hidden]

I said this to the doc ... could food intolerance make me cough so bad she was like hmmmm nahhh .. I mean I don't drink milk and don't have dairy anyway because of my ibs so I hear what your saying totally .. and I agree that shit does disagree with a lot of people but seriously I literally eat chicken and rice once a day with litres of water .. I drink Diet Coke a bit maybe twice a week .. I don't drink I've not smoked for 2 years I dunno what else there is left

[runnerwithasthma2559]

Hello Chelseyjane,

Sometimes asthma gets worse after giving up smoking. It was that way for me. Please find a doctor who understands asthma. Then read the book, "asthma free- naturally," by Patrick McKeown. The breathing exercises in that book have helped me. Bring that book to your doctor so the doctor understands about the breathing exercises you are going to do.

Yours for better breathing,

John Terry McConnell, author of "Running with Asthma: An Asthmatic Runner's Memoir"

[Mariequi]

I had the same after 1 month of trial and error from doctors and taking endless antibiotics and Prednisone,I met someone who told me to take intraconazole antifungal as it could be a fungal infection due to mold exposure...I got immediately cured,I had to take it for 6 months and am back to normal.