Severe asthma attack but here to tell the tale

[Wheezer2018]

I’ve had the most scariest 48 hours of my life !

Last week I developed what I thought was a cold which rapidly made an impact on my secretions. I took a sputum year to the lab directly ( I’m a nurse so can do that ) and went home sick.

Saw my gp on Friday who started me on co-amoxiclav as I had growing in my sputum klebsiella infection. My peak flows were only 200 in his surgery but he refused steroids saying I’d too much of those over the last month and that my chest wasn’t wheezy.

I protested and said this was worse than wheezy but he was not to be shifted.

Over the weekend I was so tight chested I couldn’t leave the house.

Monday morning while I’m the bathroom I started having a massive coughing fit , coughing up lots of thick green sputum then vomitted copious amounts of clear stringy jelly like mucus. At the time this was happening I couldn’t get breath, couldn’t move, was stuck over the sink and felt I was about to die there and then.

The coughing stopped and I was able to recover my breath a bit and had salbutamol 10 puffs via the spacer.

I felt a good bit better having all that off my chest.

I called the gp to ask for a phone consultation - he called back and said that I needed to go to a&e for an X-ray and to go there rather than see him.

I got in my car (walking was a struggle but driving once breathing settled again was ok)

Parked as near to A & e as I could and started to walk in. As I was walking I felt my chest tightening more and more and I was finding it harder to breath, by the time I reached the reception area I could only get our single words and was using every single thing I had to get breath in.

I was taking immediately for treatment

A&E were fabulous and I think saved my life.

When I arrived my vital signs were horrific - Bp 191/100 pulse 145 and oxygen saturation 94%

Couldn’t breath !

I was given nebulisers , oxygen , steroids, bloods, X-ray , ECG snd then sent to a ward . There I continued to get that regime plus continued with antibiotics .

I eventually went home last night with a regime from the consultant to work through.

It’s not an easy regime however as I understand my asthma and a nurse he was able to discuss this with me on a mutual level

I’m now taking

40mg prednisolone daily for seven days then warning by 5mg per week until finished

Flutiform 250 inhaler twice a day

Co-amoxiclav three times a day

Salbutamol nebuliser four times a day for a week

Ipratropium bromide twice a day for a week

Checking peak flows twice a day, oxygen days twice a day and keeping a full journal of symptoms !

I bought a nebuliser from Argos on my way home from the hospital to do this otherwise I’d have been stuck in there for days .

My chest is improving slowly and it’s going to be a long journey, I have an appointment ( long awaited) at the Brompton at the end of the month for their day assessment in patient stay so I am hopeful that will give some clue as to what’s going on.

The consultant at the hospital yesterday seemed to think that as of been having lots of exacerbations of my asthma that perhaps the inflammation was not fully going away each time and that this meant any little thing just pushes it the wrong way.

Asthma is scary, it is dangerous and can take your life.

I’m sharing my story about these last few days as I could have died yesterday.

Please a plea to you all - get to know and respect your asthma, don’t push yourself too far and trust yourself more than the gp - I am kicking myself for either arguing further with the gp to get steroids on Friday or gone to the hospital directly. Monday was nearly too late and I nearly paid the price !

Get to know your drugs and read up about what they do - be empowered to discuss your regimes with the consultants you are working with. Be partners in your own care ! It’s your life they are dealing with and in asthma it can go quickly !

[starveycat]

Oh my you have had such a tough time gentle supportive hugs on their way

[HungryHufflepuff]

What an awful experience. I hope you’re starting to feel better and your new regime is helping. It was interesting (which isn’t the right word!) to read about your stringy jelly like mucus. I get this, though call it ropes rather than string. I’ve told the nurse and the doctor about it on separate occasions but they’ve said nothing at all about it. They made no reaction and I felt like i was making a fuss about nothing. I too feel like I’m going to be stuck over the sink for ever coughing this stuff up endlessly, which in turn makes me feel nauseous. It’s not a big deal I suppose, it’s just exhausting and makes me feel ill. This happens just about every evening. I thought it must just be me as both the nurse and doctor blanked it when I said (and I only said about it because it’s so unpleasant) so I got a bit excited to hear you saying pretty much the same thing. It’s only started in recent weeks / months and I have had so many changed of inhalers lately that I’m guessing it’s a side effect of one or other of them (?) Anyway, somehow I’ve made this all about me when it should be about you. Sending you all best wishes and hoping you start to feel better soon.

[Wheezer2018 in reply to HungryHufflepuff]

No this is what this forum is about - empowerment !

Make sure you read all you can as this helps you stand your ground and argue about your health.

I think that mucus stuff is made when your coughing so much and it slides down the back of your throat causing a tickle , choking kind of cough. Once it’s all gone it’s better. I’m going to bring this up with the physiotherapists at the Brompton when I go - if they have any good advice I’ll post it here !!!

[HungryHufflepuff in reply to Wheezer2018]

Thanks for your reply, and thank you for offering to share any advice. That would be very much appreciated 👍

[Yatzy in reply to HungryHufflepuff]

Hi HHP. The clear junk you speak of happens to me every time I start a course of steroids, due to an asthma flare up...I’m presuming the pred is clearing my lungs, but quite frightening....I feel as though I’m drowning sometimes and need help...then it settles as the hours go by to a manageable situation, then goes all together by the end of the steroids....in fact I don’t stop the steroids till cleared. GP has okayed a flexible course for me.....I think it’s a case of knowing my own body, and knowing another exacerbation will be along very soon if I don’t clear properly.

[hypercat54]

Omg what an awful time you have been through and I am so glad you did make it. When I read stories like yours I always think no wonder the death rate from asthma is so high in this country as doctors clearly do not really understand it. They treat everyone the same and if you don't fit a certain criteria then you are not ill. This is rubbish as we all know and asthma is one of those diseases which is extremely individualistic and we all know our own bodies.

Doctors should listen to us instead of adopting their usual 'They are only lay people and don't know what they are talking about' attitude and 'They are exaggerating or lying to get attention'.

I don't know whether you would be better off seeing a female doctor? As a women of a certain age I find too many male middle aged doctors tend to view me as a 'neurotic attention seeking female'. This is despite the fact I rarely go to the doctors and it takes a team of wild horses to drag me there! x

[Yatzy]

Thanks, Wheezer, for all that info and advice. Your experience sounds very frightening indeed.....and a good reminder to get myself to a & e a bit sooner than I might like.

However, I have a rescue pack at home, like many of us, that usually saves the day - prednisolone and antibiotics....wouldn’t be without it.

Rest and hope to feel much better very soon. You’ve got a long list of meds to cope with! Hoping they’ll work for you.

[Red_sqirrel77]

This happens to me on a monthly basis I'm in and out of hospital frequently when I'm home I can't even walk around my house ne r mind get out of it, i dont have a car either so it's a real struggle the only time i feel well is when I'm just out of hospital, my hospital and drs are rubbish I get rushed in my ambulance and treated an in hospital for week but then I'm left to my own devices an no one is trying to get to the bottom of it, my life feels like it's not worth l have to live in my bedroom upstairs as i cant get back up the stairs, i have to rely on my 21 yo autistic son who doesn't like helping it can be a living nightmare... I started like you about 8 years ago now I can't move! Feels like I've been let down majorly! I've had appointments with the hospital which have been cancelled by then an the ones that haven't I've not been able to make because I've been unable to leave the house. Life sucks I have no energy constantly exhausted and mornings are hell

[Wheezer2018]

Wow ! That’s dreadful.

Can you ask to be reviewed at a specialist hospital.

I fought for a referral to the Royal Brompton in London as they are one of the leading places in asthma care snd research.

I’m not prepared to go with the flow of this - it’s our lives and we should not accept poor or inadequate care and living in your bedroom is no life !

Please fight - get that referral - took me s year to get it but it’s surely worthy !

I decided if someone can help me get this better and let’s me lead a normal life then I’m going to aim to run the London marathon in aid of asthma research !

Big aim as currently I can barely walk but that’s what I have in my head and if I can do it then I’ll know I’ve beaten it xxx

[Tugun]

Hi,

I understand what you mean by "worse than wheezy". I, too, had a 'silent chest'. I was sent from the doctor's knowing that there was a possibility that I was in danger of "not making it". Luckily I found another doctor who was able to help me. Perhaps you could get a consultant to write a letter to show to GP's that a silent, tight chest is a danger and as you say worse than a wheezy chest. When I have a bad wheeze - it's very difficult. However when it's tight and no wheeze - it's much harder to clear. I, too, thought I wasn't going to make it. I'm just glad I'm still here!

[utkmybrthawy]

Wow... what a story. Thank you so much for posting it. Those stringy cough-ups... you're the first I've heard mention them! I call them plastic, as in "I'm coughing up plastic". They are different from mucous; they are as dense as a gummy bear and just as tough.

[Kinnoo]

I can totally relate to you on this. Hugs for you. I have been through almost the same situation at least thrice. Unfortunately doctors have not been able to diagnose anything yet so fingers crossed it’s nothing serious. I’ve been coughing and wheezing since April and antibiotics make me better. But the gp didn’t give me any this Time I went to them and was adamant I take asthma treatment, I suspect these treatments are going to help me, they’re just wasting my time and energy... can you read my post and see if you can help?

Xx

[Sudhirdhir7]

Thanks. At times the Gp simply seems to want to get rid of you.He has ticked his boxes,he has done his bit. He is going to get paid. But it is your health. We have to do our bit. Good luck.