Wondering what age people on here were when they were diagnosed with Asthma? Also, did anyone develop Asthma as a direct result from smoking

[Becktoria77]

I would be really grateful to hear everyone’s comments to my question. I’m 41 and have recently been very wheezy, mainly at night and in the mornings. Very breathless with some mild chest and back aching. I’ve been prescribed the steroid and ventolin inhalers. Waiting for further tests to confirm I have Ashtma. I’m just surprised, I thought you developed Asthma in childhood? Thanks all for reading and commenting!

[EmmaF91 Community Ambassador]

Hi sorry to hear your not doing too well atm - hopefully they’ll get you sorted out and diagnosed soon

Personally I was diagnosed as exercised induced aged 12ish (national level in 3 sports = a lot of exercise 😅), first attack at 19, didn’t get really bad until I turned 23... I grew into mine 😒

I’ve heard of a lot of people who developed it later on in life so it’s not something you can only develop as a kid!

Good luck x

[elanaoali]

No asthma doesn't only occur in children. If your diagnosed with asthma then you have what is called 'adult onset asthma'. I was diagnosed at the age of 35 with wheezing and coughing perscripted ventolin for treatment. My asthma has gotten worse in the last two years now on combination inhaler. (I must stress this doesn't mean people can get worse).

The steroid your taking are rescue steroids (prednisolone) to treat a flare up for you? Ventolin is for you to revive your symptoms of wheezing and coughing. I sure you have been given instructions on how to use your inhaler.

I am sure your get plenty of Comments and help here. I hope and pray your better soon .

[hypercat54]

Hi I was diagnosed with asthma in my very early 30's. This was as a direct result of smoking though the doctor did say that it didn't cause it but it did trigger it off. x

[sarahjane12]

Hi Becktoria77 hope your ok I was diagnosed with asthma in 2016 when I was rushed in icu with life threatening asthma I was 40 then but was smoking at the time.

[CDPO16]

Hi, I was diagnosed as having asthma last year. I'm 64 and also have emphysema. I was told that late onset asthma is common. I have no idea whether a history of smoking prior to quitting was a causative factor.

[Purplejane]

Hi there, I was diagnosed with asthma when I was 29 whilst pregnant, very common according to the doctor, something to do with hormones . I have never smoked although my mother and both my grandparents, who I spent alot of time with, all did and I always wonder if that contributed to my having asthma later on.

Has only really become a problem in the last 2 years, now more difficult to control and I am on a combination inhaler and a higher dose of steriod, but I am now 55 and keep being told that my lungs are not getting any younger!

[Luinille in reply to Purplejane]

I got asthma too after pregnancy It was 1,5 years ago. I was hoping, that it would get better but it seems it only will get worse...

[Purplejane in reply to Luinille]

Mine was stable for many years and at one point I was told to stop the inhalers altogether. I had no medication for approx. 10 years but regret it now as the inflamation is always there, just not causing symptoms and I am certainly paying for it now. This winter has been really difficult and at times I think I might never be symptom free now.

[Luinille in reply to Purplejane]

Sorry to hear you are struggling. Hope you are getting well soon. My asthma is pretty persistent, I have symptoms everyday, but I wish I could stop my meds. Still dreaming of the time prior my pregnancy were I was perfectly healthy

[Scoobs87]

I was diagnosed at 24, now diagnose a few weeks ago with difficult to treat asthma.

[risabel59]

Hi there, I was diagnosed with allergic asthma at 13, however, had had awful awful coughs since I was little, so now everyone thinks I’ve had it for longer. My asthma seems to go through phases of being super unwell and then getting much better, then crashing out again.

R xx

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador]

Round 1 was aged 7, mild asthma which was well managed. I thought it had gone by the time I was at uni. In hindsight, it hadn't and it was silly to not even have a reliever inhaler!

Round.2 was 23 after swine flu. Took ages to diagnose because it's weird, and it's much worse now than before, though also I have had a lot of not very good care due to people not believing it.was asthma and not treating it properly, which I think didn't help. Got gradually worse until my first admission 4.5 years ago and now definitely severe. My lungs apparently see hospital as a nice minibreak every few months.

I have never smoked (I now can't even do it passively if I wanted, it's a big trigger to be around it) and no one in my family smoked either. I do have a fairly strong family history of.asthma though and I am.pretty sure H1N1 flu is the reason it came back with a vengeance. Apparently that strain tends to attack deeper parts of the airway - may explain why I had a nasty bout of flu at 14 but it didn't make my asthma worse then, as I think the 1999-2000 strain was different.

[Minushabens]

I’ve had it as long as I can remember. I think my mum reckons that I was 2 or 3 but not sure she totally remembers. I’m 53 now so celebrating my half century! However, you’re totally correct that it can develop at any age as other people are saying.

[Wheezycat]

I was diagnosed about 4 years ago, age 64/65, but two years ago I got a persistent chest infection that made it much worse. I now have to be more aware of it all the time, always factor it in. I have never been a smoker, but given my age for much of my life I have been around smoke and smokers, not just at home but also in my work place. I think there were hints of asthma since I was young, as I always was a cougher since childhood. My father had asthma, quite badly from childhood and so did our daughter, though not as badly. I thought I had escaped it, but not so.

[anjyil]

I was diagnosed at around 33 (in 2014, I am 37 now), but both my husband and I suspect that I had it since I was young, just fell through the cracks because it wasn't "typical" asthma for that time. Without a time machine we will never know ^_^

[Hidden]

I developed asthma when I was three, but wasn’t diagnosed until I was eight and a half. My mother fought the medical profession for five years to get the correct diagnosis (there was asthma history in the family and I had had quite bad eczema for most of the first year of my life). But this was back in the 1960s and what happened to me was not unusual back then. I’ve never smoked, and although my father smoked when he was in the RAF during WWll, he stopped after he met my mother (fourteen years before I came on the scene). As one of my sons also developed asthma (also aged three) I suspect in my case we are talking about an inherited trait.

As others have pointed out though, you can develop asthma at any stage in your life and I know other people who have done so outside of those who are on this forum.

[Feb23 in reply to Hidden]

I was diagnosed in 1955 when I was 8 now days with the medication on offer i have more good days than bad days a few years ago I was told I had COPD as well joined a COPD group there where people with Asthma like me in the group as well we do seated exercises and singing wish helps.

[DeanSamson]

I was diagnosed at 6 month old apparently. This is what my mother always told me. If had asthma as long as I can remember. I can remeber being in primary school and my inhalers being number 1 and 2. Always ventolin first haha

[emmasue]

I was diagnosed at the age of 2. I was always told that I would outgrow it. I never did. I got a bit better in my 20's when I moved from America to England. But I got worse after I had kids. It is only the past year or so that I finally seem to be getting control through the right medication. Everyone is different with asthma. My mum outgrew her childhood asthma but still suffers from hay fever. I wish I didn't have any of this, but at least my kids seem to have escaped it.

[Hidden]

Hi Becktoria77

It's quite common for people to be diagnosed with asthma for the first time when they're an adult. This type of asthma is more common in women than in men.

It's difficult to say for sure what causes asthma in anyone, and we don’t know for certain why some people develop it in adulthood. But there are some factors that may be linked:

Smoking and secondhand smoke can raise your risk over time.

Female hormones can be linked to adult-onset asthma and may be one of the reasons women are more likely than men to develop it. Stressful life events, such as family illness and relationship problems, can increase your risk of adult onset asthma.

The good news is there’s a lot you can do to help yourself, so you can get on with doing the things you want to do, without symptoms getting in the way. There's more information about the diagnosis process in adults: bit.ly/2qfBfGf

Hope that helps,

Dita

[Thomas45]

I was diagnosed with asthma in 1974, aged 29 shortly after moving to Bradford (for work) from West Sussex. I had suffered from bronchitis when living in more rural parts of the country (Linconlshire and Leicestershire). It's largely controlled by inhalers but am currently on prednisolone and antibiotics to sort my lungs out again. Second episode this year, though first was caused by an "uncommon" reaction to bisoprolol.

[lakelover]

I was diagnosed aged 58. I've never smoked but my Dad did when I was little. Knowing what I know now I think I had asthmatic tendencies all my life. I always coughed after a cold & I always felt a difference when visiting family in industrial towns (we lived at the seaside). I was a premature baby, & I could be wrong but I think I read somewhere that that increased your chances of developing it.

[Tracey1972]

18 months old

[Bdawn]

I was first diagnosed at age 23. This seemed to be triggered by a hamster I got for my kids but I didn't realize it at the time. My asthma at that time was mild and easily relieved by thel use of Ventolin maybe once or twice a week. Hamster died when I was 25 and over the next 6 months my asthma almost completely disappeared. I would have forgotten that I even had it but when I would get the flu or a cold I would end up needing ventolin for a few days. At 31 I spent about 15 minutes playing with a friends new hamster and had the worst asthma attack of my life. That was the first time I realized that my initial diagnosis was triggered by an allergy to our hamster. So my asthma remained as pretty mild and easy to control and I smoked the entire time. At 48 I quit smoking. At 51 my asthma suddenly took a turn for the worse. Now I use a preventative inhaler everyday and still need ventolin frequently. In my case the worsening of my asthma appears to have been triggered by menopause. There is a correlation of declining hormones and asthma/allergies.

[Clanmacbeath]

Hi. Sorry to hear your not feeling great. I was diagnosed with mild asthma following a chest infection 14 years ago. I was 34 at the time. Unfortunately for me my condition has got worse over the years and I'm now a chronic asthmatic. I never smoked and neither did my family. It was just one of those things that happen. I used to be a very fit healthy person who loved the gym. Now I consider myself lucky to manage a walk with my dogs...... Just read this back and it all sounds doom and gloom!!! Lol. Ok so here is the positive bit. Lots of people develop illness as they get older, sometimes because of lifestyle sometimes out of nowhere. Medicine moves at a rapid rate these days and the majority of people will live long lives with the right care. My top trips are be positive, eat healthiy, exercise to the best of your ability and remember to enjoy life. I hope you get sorted soon.

[digg in reply to Clanmacbeath]

Love the top tips

Be Positive...Eat healthly...exercise..and really important..enjoy life.

Staying positive is my failing, it is so difficult at times when i am feeling rough.

digg.

[Clanmacbeath in reply to digg]

I understand that it's not always easy especially when your facing something like this. But there are top atheletes who have asthma and manage to win medals. Remember your not alone and there is lots of support on here. We all have to get by as best we can but it's easier when you have people who understand and can be there when you need them.

[Lynneypin]

I was diagnosed at 21 - I think it was triggered by smoking. I started smoking at 16. I was also around family members who smoked.

[Paradigm]

It can develop at any age.

Personally, I had my first asthma attack as a toddler but was diagnosed at 4.

[fallon12]

Hi, I hope the inhalers help you. I was 27 years old when diagnoised. I gave up smoking because Of pregnancy but it was a big cause of my asthma. I get exercise induced attacks and weather change affects me to and lots of other stuff to. I wish you well. Take care .

[pen5377]

I was diagnosed at 60; following colds which left me with persistent coughs, at one stage needing a course of prednisone. When I am well, my peak flow is much better than average for my age, colds and chest infections are what I have to look out for. So mostly rely on preventer 2 daily and only very occasionally use reliever. Still able to walk in mountains and go cycling. As others have said, it can start at any age, and I never had it as a child.

[Sparkles70]

Hi, i was 10 when had my first attack which left me in hospital on a ventilator! It passed during my teens then came back with a vengeance mid 20's I'm 46 now and on so much medication still seeing the consultant. Never smoked but my mum was a really heavy smoker while I was growing up.