At what point do you call an ambulance?
My bp is higher than normal but it’s my pulse that’s worrying me as it’s 127 resting.
Even though I can’t breathe I really don’t have much of a wheeze. I find some doctors dismissive if they don’t hear a loud wheeze.
I spent half my childhood in icu which has left me very reluctant to go down the hospital route.
I’m exhausted.
Sorry to hear you’re not doing well!
If your pump isn’t working (or lasting 4hrs), am sorry to say you need to head in 😕. Don’t forget the 10 puff rule too (assuming you don’t have a home nebs etc). Check your PF too (50% or less definitely needs to head in!)
It may help if write down your symptoms and recent asthma history (ie how long it’s been bad, current symptoms etc) and also your current meds (including if you’re on any biologicals or waiting for one!). Also write that you’re under a consultant/specialist hospital (if you are) and explain how you normally present. Since I started doing this I started getting the treatment I need on my first hosp visit (rather than trip 2-3 of a flare). Luckily I usually wheeze and but my PF likes to to bungee jump (falls dramatically then bounces high on a neb, to then fall dramatically again... it usually takes 4-5 nebs for them to accept I need something else 🙄)
Keep calm and try not to stress too much about the HR. Mine runs at 100-110 on a normal day but will elevate to 130-160 on bad asthma days. Asthma and the struggle to breath will elevate it, and so will the salbutamol.
Go and ring for help, get the drugs you need and have a good sleep after (if the drugs don’t make you bounce for a few hours 😅😴)
Good luck and keep us updated x
Trust your gut ... Especially if you have sense of impending doom, call 911 immediately. Paramedics will check out out before they take you to er. You could be having a situation with your heart that's new ... Never self diagnose.
I am seeing a cardiologist as well right now, so I’m mid tests and wearing a heart rate monitor for two weeks.
Last night I discovered my GP has been giving me the seratide 125 instead of the seratide 250. And I didn’t even notice, so threw that one away and started back on my 250.
I have a fever right now so I know that won’t help my HR.
Right now I feel less acute so plan is to rest all weekend. Seeing my asthma specialist Tuesday.
Thank you all so much, we all know how scary asthma can be especially when alone through the night.
Well that would do it! I’d defo ring the GP on Monday and explain what happened so he puts you back on the 250. Why he didn’t tell you I don’t know - especially if you’ve been struggling recently he shouldn’t be changing drugs, alternatively it was a error (ie hitting the wrong med as 125 and 250 are next too each other) - not sure which is worse 🤔😰.
Yes the fevers probably not helping anything. Rest up but go in if you need too. Good luck on Tuesday x
Thank you, bed for the weekend with Netflix and a book. Keep hydrated and rest, the nights are always worse aren’t they.
I slept with 8 pillows last last in the v shape so slept upright a lot of the night and it helped.
I would say keep your eye on your blood/oxygen level too, Happy-51.
While sleeping/resting sitting upright helps me a lot, while using steady breathing, using your tummy muscles up to breathe in etc....I hope you’re also checking your oxygen levels. You really should get medical help urgently if in low 90s or worse....you’re risking harm to your heart and brain with low oxygen.
Also your temp, which might indicate an infection, needing antibiotics.
Your previous post said you’d gone back to Seretide 250, so that will be helping in the background, .
After all this advice, that is probably very familiar to you, you really will have to bite the bullet and call an ambulance if your breathing gets any worse at all, not pin your hopes too much on your Tuesday appointment.
But I know how you feel 💕 But I also know that asthma exacerbations can take life. Take great care 🌸 Penny
Yes Penny agreed, I guess like us all I’ve spent more than my fair share in ICU etc and was always kept in for so long.
Given I didn’t really have visitors until my dad finished work it’s left me with a fear of being abandoned. Silly at my age I know.
I don’t have an oxygen monitor but will be ordering one today.
Even though I’m less wheezy this morning, well I’m still in bed so not walked anywhere yet, I just feel like it’s more effort to breathe.
But when I breathe long and slow I’m hearing no wheeze. Yet feel like it’s more effort does that make sense.
I still have a high temp but I have zero mucus which is great.
Wheezing is no indicator, I’m afraid. Many on this site complain of less informed meds staff expecting a wheeze, when it’s not normal for them. I tend to whistle while trying to breathe, not wheeze....any noise satisfies them!
I joke but it really sounds to me as though you need more help now. You’re tiring by the sounds of it, so less able to self-med and recover.
I really would get into A and E for help now. I know exactly how you feel about hospitals.....terrible....I think in fact I’m allergic to them!..... but there comes a point when it’s the only sensible option. An hour or two on a nebuliser and you may well be back home, with a course of steroids in your bag, very relieved that you’re sorted.
Your Tuesday appt will then have the results of this, to help with decisions. Otherwise you may well be posted into hospital there and then.....and stay longer for monitoring. That’s my advice anyway. Sorry. Keep us informed as you go....might help ❤️
Penny x
I agree with Penny. It does sound like you need to head in today, especially if you’re struggling whilst sitting doing nothing. Even if you can’t hear a wheeze it doesn’t mean it’s not there... I’m often told I have one when I don’t feel like I do, conversely as I deteriorate my wheeze completely disappears (usually just before I get silent chest). The earlier you going in the quicker you’ll be out!
I also only get visits after my mum gets back from work, so it can be very lonely esp if you get put in a side room and can’t make ‘friends’
O2 sats are defo more important than HR or BP for judging asthma severity. Remember 94-98 is acceptable, 99-100 suggests hyperventilation and 92 or lower is the danger zone where you must seek help!
Good luck today and look after yourself x
Just done my BP and it’s 106/67 which is low for me, RHR 97
So I think I’m going to get some bits together and call for help.
Makes me want to cry, I try everything to stay out of hospital.
That’s the right decision, Happy.
Just do it now, and get through quickly, hopefully. I say this knowing exactly how you feel about hospital. I truly sympathise.
Best of luck 😍 xx
Ok so 4.5 hours later I’m getting nowhere.
111 are useless, she said well your talking so clearly aren’t that wheezy.
And when I said look I will go see a private doctor tomorrow I got the why are you wasting our time then.
I took a Valium it’s made my bp and hr lower, still short of breath but if I get worse tonight I will simply call 999
Oh dear! I had 999 in mind earlier, and A&E.
I didn’t ask about your ability to talk...usually a struggle when hospital on the cards....hence Emma’s tip about writing things down.
How’s your breathing now? Any better at all??
Be careful about taking Valium while you’re having an asthma exacerbation....don’t go to sleep on it, it depresses breathing.
Don’t hesitate to call for an ambulance if things get worse or you feel worried....they have the oxygen on board. Can’t believe 111 let you down! Asthma is so often misunderstood.
I’m feeling worried for you now....let us know how things go, the stress won’t be helping you.
Take great care 💕 xx
I do feel let down, I feel calm but guess that’s the Valium.
I will call 999 later if it worsens and if not I will go see my Gp.
The nurse literally wouldn’t accept if she couldn’t hear a wheeze I must be fine.
So get through tonight hopefully and gp tomorrow.
Thanks you, it really does help having somewhere to just vent.
Argh! Why do people think that just because they can’t hear a wheeze you either don’t have one or aren’t having an attack... doctors use stethoscopes for a reason!!! I can’t talk even in severe attack mode (I just speak very fast so breathe every 4-6 words or so). Plus if you’re anything like me you get an adrenaline buzz when you phone for help so can come across better than you really are! (I freaked a triage GP out at a&e once... initially presented to her as moderate/severe by the time I got to majors my obs had significantly dropped... I was anxious about being thought a fraud, adrenaline spike changed my obs for 5 mins but was still wheezy. She initially only took me to majors cause was already on 40 pred for a week and had been in the day before 😅
If you feel bad in the night ring 999, not 111 (tho usually 111 panic when you say SoB 🤨)
Look after yourself x
Good plan. You really need that oxymeter. It helps me a lot, and really does help with your decision.
So 999 if gets any worse, or GP tomorrow if it doesn’t. Do hope your breathing settles but can’t pretend it has. Take that next dose of Seretide 250, plus keep count of how many reliever puffs you take. Will help whichever doctor you see.
You’re welcome to vent...it’s a big worry while like this. We’re all there sometimes xx
Can I ask which you have, as I’ve seen a few and wondered which are the better ones.
Same as PF monitors I hear you can get digital ones now?
You can get Bluetooth ones which will connect and record to your phone, but I just have a bog standard one. I went for relatively cheap £10-£20 bracket (student at the time 😉) and judged it on amazon reviews. 2 years later it’s still working ok, tho I ‘double check’ low readings (by changing fingers) cause the main complaint for mine was inaccurately low reads, and this is starting to happen to mine so I need to think about replacement. It’s no longer available on Amazon so will just read reviews again.
Because it’s for asthma I wouldn’t bother with getting a Bluetooth one as well only check when we’re really suffering... probs better for COPD who do have to monitor regularly.
I use an Amazon one:
amazon.co.uk/Oximeter-Displ...
Hope this link works. I change the batteries from time to time but still seems to be going well after nearly three years. So useful when you’re worried about your breathing.
I use it also through a course of steroids to check I’m better before stopping the steroids.
Less than £20, and well worth it. I used mine the wrong way up at first...your palm needs to face upwards, then attach to a finger so you can see the reading.
Hope that’s helpful. Keeping my fingers crossed for you 💞
Palm upwards really?
My Gp puts mine on the other way.
I have ordered it so should get it tomorrow
Check with your GP, maybe take it with you, but my readings are better my way....seem to have to go through your fingernail the other way, and get lower readings. I don’t wear nail varnish....not on my fingers anyway! Let me know if I’ve got it wrong. I’ve used it tonight and steady at 98....so I’m ok...for now!
Whilst theoretically it shouldn’t make a difference palm up or palm down, most oximetry are designed for palms down and reading through nail. Each time I’ve had a medic use one on me (GP, AN, PT) they’ve always insisted palm down.
Most will come with a guide (or photo) as to which way your particular oximeter should be worn as there are a couple designed for palm up. I think so long as you stick to the same finger and the same way each time, it doesn’t matter, just watch for a drop in score. Don’t forget that if your finger is particularly cold it may show a false read too!
Most home ones have a 2% error margin so your score may not actually be your score (mines shown 91 before but got to hosp and it was 93)
Thanks, Emma. I think I’ve found the palm up is most accurate for me, with my oximeter, tested against GPs etc, well and unwell. Perhaps I’m odd!
Yes, aware of cold finger prob, and plus or minus thing. Mine reads minus one generally. But it’s a guide and a lot better than nothing
Just tried mine again and 96/97 palm up and 84/85 palm down, and five lower on pulse. I think higher reading correct! Had a few scares at first tho!
Well I wear shellac on my nails but then whenever I’ve been in hospital etc that’s the same so hopefully you still get a good reading.
Update on asthma, I guess the seratide 250 is kicking in as I’m less wheezy. Not a great nights sleep but I’m planning on doing nothing.
BP though was just 90/60 and resting heart rate before getting out of bed is 117 so I have no clue what’s going on.
My cardiology appointment is actually next week not Friday so I’m going to call and see if I can get in earlier.
So still have high temp, low BP and sats hopefully I can check later.
Thanks for the update....missed it earlier, but been thinking of you. Thought the higher dose Seretide 250 might come to the rescue but I would think enough to retrieve the problem entirely. No GP appointment today??
Hope things improve tonight again.
Good luck....but do get checked out at the surgery. Penny x
Spoke to Gp and she has prescribed me Prozac and Valium to calm me. Just what’s needed more drugs.
Asthma doctor today and some tests.
Heart rate monitor has now been sent off to be read and seeing cardiologist Monday
I can actually walk and do normal things now which is lovely.
The seratide certainly was the cause I believe, coming off two-courses of steroids onto an inhaler half the strength was never going to end well.
What this has all done though is given me a huge kick up the bum, I guess I treated my asthma with contempt and had just been so stupid not getting regular check ups by a specialist.
It sounds as if you’re in a much better place now. Good. Yes, if you swap to half strength Seretide, it’s bound to lead to trouble. Was the Seretide 125 prescription a mistake or something?
Good luck with your specialist appointments. Hope your oximeter arrives soon....you’ll be set up for next time!
GP is thinking a mistake by a covering doctor. I’m as much to blame for not even noticing.
I actually had a little ten minute walk yesterday so I’m improving which is great.
Sats meter should be here today.
I will update you once I’ve seen the allergy consultant.
Sats are 95, so I can relax...wondering what they would have been Friday.
Ok
Asthma specialist was amazing, he changed me from seratide to fostair which is a new one for me.
CT scan next week to see if I have bronchiectasis which I’ve also never heard of.
See him again in 2 weeks,
I feel so much relief knowing I finally have a consultant who’s actually good.
When to call for help
Fostair not for everyone? 
Swollen throat
1st admission & trying to make sense of it all
