Ever felt you were going to die due to asthma ?

[ihatesteroids]

Has happened to me on some occasions,as my breathing nearly stopped.Have you ever felt close to death ?

[EmmaF91 Community Ambassador]

Hi

I’ve had a few incidences of ‘bad calm’, the worst being when they were talking intubation (I was very chilled and amused by almost everything). At the time I was fine, afterwards discharge tho I had a bit of an emotional fall out cause realised how bad it actually had been. Luckily I was being referred to a spec hosp and had my first appt not log afterwards. Haven’t been that bad since due to bio injections, and touch wood that won’t change!

[ihatesteroids in reply to EmmaF91]

Happy for you.

[Junglechicken]

My attacks in themselves have never been so bad that I felt that way but when I was having severe attacks every other day that was very worrying for me.

[ihatesteroids in reply to Junglechicken]

So there is room for optimism for you.

[Junglechicken in reply to ihatesteroids]

There’s room for optimism in all of us. Never give up, never surrender 🙂

[Hidden]

Hi there, yes there have been quite a few times when I felt I was going to die due to the severity of the asthma attacks. The worst one was when I went to hospital & was in majors where they did the usual thing of back to back nebulisers , magnesium loads of times (so much of it that my husband said I was bright red) & then they realised it was so bad and nothing was working so I wound up in resuscitation unit where they gave me a huge bolus of aminophylline together with something else in their attempts to get my airways open. However the arterial blood gases showed that I had acidosis & they told my poor husband in the relatives room that my body was starting to shut down as I was going into multiple organ failure. He was told it was important that our grown up children make their way to the hospital immediately to say their goodbyes. A miracle occurred when a senior consultant appeared & as an absolute last resort told them there was nothing to lose at this point & to try another huge amount of aminophylline together with something else which my husband can’t recall the name of - needless to say it worked but I was still very poorly for a couple of weeks afterwards.

I have also had some VERY close calls at home & it’s only by the grace of God that I’m still here.

Am finally about to commence treatment with Benralizumab as I was advised that mepolizumab would have exacerbated other health problems which I have.

Here’s hoping!!!

[ihatesteroids in reply to Hidden]

Yes,hope is all important in such a situation.

[Ayeup]

My Mum told me that when I was 7 and I had bronchial pneumonia the doctor who came out to see me said if I didn't get to hospital asap I'd be dead within the hour. Strangely- (and I cant remember this at all) I started to sing hymns 😟. Must have scared my parents to death! We're not religious and I have no idea why I did that.

[ihatesteroids in reply to Ayeup]

And since then,no close calls ?

[Ayeup in reply to ihatesteroids]

Thankfully not like that but it does make you think when your PF goes under 50%. Its a scary disease and can be unpredictable.

[ihatesteroids in reply to Ayeup]

No doubt,changes all the time.

[Hidden in reply to ihatesteroids]

Yes I have had several close calls since then unfortunately. I had a massive heart attack in 2016 - LAD was completely occluded and they told me later it was what they term “the widow maker” (for obvious reasons) & I was incredibly lucky to have survived it as it’s the classic one where the person will clutch their chest and sadly drop down & nothing can be done. The following year I had another heart attack and this time it was the right coronary artery that was completely blocked.

I have never smoked in my life, am not overweight and no history of heart disease in my family. I also had to have cataract surgery done privately as the NHS waiting list was over 2 years. I was almost blind with these bilateral posterior subcapsular cataracts which were directly caused by all the steroids they have thrown at me for years for the SREA. I have also been diagnosed with Churg Strauss/EGPA.

Stay safe and stay well.

[hilary39]

I worry about this all the time!

[ihatesteroids]

Just like me !

[Catsncrochet]

Waking up choking with really thick phlegm almost completely blocking my airways.

These days I sleep with a block of wood lifting the head of my bed and take carbocysteine to thin it.

[ihatesteroids in reply to Catsncrochet]

Sorry to hear that,hope you get better soon.

[asthmatim]

Yes I offern feel like I am going to die from my asthma. For example this last attack that I had had a few weeks ago. I was at PRP and it came out of no ware. I was luck that I was in the hospital grounds and the physio and asthma Nurse new what to do. Which was to call my doctor and she told them to take me up the E.D. I got to the E.D and went down hill from there. Untill the head of I.C.U turned up. I then was taken to the ICU department where stayed for about a week and a half. Then after that I was on the ward for another week. So I now feel that I have a knife hanging over my head all the time.

[ihatesteroids in reply to asthmatim]

I'm sorry to hear that.Hope things get better.