Can't breathe...in a&e

[Miaxx]

Hi guys really need help here on wat to ask doc when he cums round to me..I rush to a&e as I couldn't breathe and I could feel my airways getting tighter and tighter and the more I coughed the tighter my airways got...I'm on antibiotics and steroids 3 days now and don't feel like I'm getting any better...I always feel tey don't believe me cause my oxigen levels are 98%..tis has been ongoing on and off since December been on 4 antibiotics...my airways in my throat just feel so tight and also I keep getting heart flutters sometimes just a jump and sometimes a clutter of them and I really can't breathe when it happens to...plz does any1 have any answers 4 me

[M-D-F]

Tell him how you feel, write it down if you can't remember, but listen to the doctor and if you need to write down what he says.

[Miaxx in reply to M-D-F]

I will thks its just so hard for them to believe u when u say u can't breathe but yet ur SATs are normal...

[Logical1966 in reply to Miaxx]

There’s more to Asthma than your oxygen level wot is your peak flow compared to your best?

[Logical1966]

My stats don’t always drop it’s only an indication I would show them is message as seeing it black and white sometimes is more credible than when you are trying to explain it also ring Asthma uk nurses in the morning as they are great I was talking to them when I was admitted last year made more sense than the so called specialist I was under

[Miaxx in reply to Logical1966]

My peak flow is 450 I don't really understand pf as never had it done befor

[Logical1966 in reply to Miaxx]

It’s another indicator of how bad your asthma is my best is 420 but if it drops below 300 it’s an ambulance for me but if it’s only dropped a bit it could be an indicator that your asthma is getting worse as far as I’m aware it measures how air is going in and out of your lungs.

Doctors will also look at how you are breathing too along with listening for any wheeze in your chest or crackles if it’s a chest infection it gives them a picture what is going on

[Miaxx in reply to Logical1966]

Thks ur very good taking ur time to explain to me hopefully tey sort me out but I don't understand why my heart flutters with it to.does tis cum with asthma to??

[Logical1966 in reply to Miaxx]

It can for at a few reasons and maybe others I don’t know about too -

one is just being scared which is very natural asthma attacks are scary just explain to them that you are scared don’t be embarrassed they’ve seen a lot worse than you being scared.

It could be the inhalers/nebulisers you are taking for example Salbutamol can increase your heart rate and even give you the shakes.

If in doubt talk to them they’re only human it may also help you get a diagnosis too

stress can also aggregate your asthma so try and relax I know it’s easier said than done i find playing a game on my phone is a good way to take your mind off it or ask for a pen and paper and write something a story or a poem it’s strange but it does help

I was in a and e 5 times last year and admitted for over a month so I’m no doctor but I’ve a lot of experience

Hope you feel better soon and again ring Asthma Uk nurses as I think you need a lot of advice about your asthma, Medication etc.

[Miaxx in reply to Logical1966]

Just had a nebulizer and ye I've the shakes lol...ye I'm just gonna tell them it frightening when ye can breathe...thks ur so gud and I'm in Ireland so can't ring UK but I will ask have tey anything like that here

[Logical1966]

Asthma Ireland think it said it was a free phone number 1800 - 44 - 54 - 64 advice line don’t know if it’s as good but worth a try

[Miaxx in reply to Logical1966]

Ok I'll try it thks alot

[Wheezycat]

Your heart flutters could be something called either extrasystoles, or ectopic heart beats. It is a normal thing, if it is that (make sure you mention it to the doctor). I first noticed having them over 40 years ago, when I had had a high temperature due to hepatitis. It really scared me, but I learned it was normal, and now I rarely notice when I have them. It can feel odd, though, like your heart is somersaulting.

[Miaxx in reply to Wheezycat]

Ye thts wat it feels like...tey told me yrs ago it was ectopic beats but just gone worse since I'm sick with my asthma

[Wheezycat in reply to Miaxx]

Make sure you mention them, but as it is the heart’s way of ‘having a quick rest’ you may have more, I suspect, when your body is under strain, like with acute asthma.

[Miaxx in reply to Wheezycat]

Ye makes sense thk u

[soniaackerman]

I had a really bad few months with my asthma recently, and on my hospital visits my oxygen levels were deemed ok and I always felt they dismissed me very quickly. But I was on antibiotics and steroids for around 4 weeks. More recently though I was diagnosed with a breathing dysfunction, I would suggest you looking in to this also. As I know now more so than before what my asthma feels like compared to the breathing dysfunction symptoms. I’m currently under a respiratory Physio for it and it’s going well.

Hope you recover soon.

[Miaxx in reply to soniaackerman]

I'm due to see resprity doc 24 may so I will definitely ask thks

That's gud ur doin ok

[Miaxx in reply to soniaackerman]

Thk u I will ask glad to see ur doin well

[Isabella9]

Exactly the same for me. Tight airways, constant cough, Im in atrial fibulation and feel washed out after 7 days antibiotics and 7 days of steroids. No change. Slightly less breathless. Propping myself up in bed so that my breathing is easier. Have come off bisoprolol for AF as the thinking is that it is making my breathing worse. Now on calcium blockers that seem not to have made any difference. I have 8 weeks before I see my heart consultant. I am reluctant to go to a&e as I know I will be there for 7 to 8 hours. Sometimes they just leave me to go back into a sinus rhythm and sometimes they give me drugs. Many people manage with AF and as long as I keep an eye on it I will manage. Peak flow around 180 which I know is not good. Nobody has any suggestions as to why my asthma is the way it is at the moment. I am taking becanaise but have been told to limit my use of ventolin as this will have an effect on my heart. Im 69. Too old to bother with I suspect. Just get on with life just a bit lower than normal.

[Miaxx in reply to Isabella9]

So sorry to hear tis it's awful I've been excatly like u for 4 mths now I'm on antibiotics and steroids now at the moment breathing is improving I'm due to see resprity doc end of tis month..so hopefully he will have answers and for the cardiologist he was quite rude and said I'm getting etopics but it's probably me breathing issue tht the cause tht I nothing tey can do...let me no how u get on with ur cardiologist I'd like to no and take care of urslf x