Eosinophilic asthma

[Sunnydays1982]

Hi everyone!

I have eosinophilic asthma (diagnosed in May 2019) I have a brilliant consultant who has got it all under control with a cocktail of medication (fostair 200, montelukast, omeprezole, dymista etc) which I take religiously!

My fear is that ‘will I have a flare up?’ This is all new to me and coming into the winter scares me a little! I know it may sound ridiculous as I am under control and I know it’s the fear of the unknown...I just want to know what things could trigger a flare up and is it less likely that I would have a flare up if everything is under control? I am getting very anxious that I don’t want to go back to how poorly i felt!!

I suppose the other thing is that you don’t hear many positives of this asthma and I am feeling pretty good at the moment despite this worry!

Thank you in advance! 😊

[Echoblue]

Hi, do you have an Asthma Action Plan? Your Consultant should be able to work with you for this.

No one can promise you won’t ever have a flare up, but knowing what to do and when to do it will be key to minimising any impact and giving you more confidence 👍🏻

[Sunnydays1982 in reply to Echoblue]

Thank you for your response 😊👍🏻 my consultants only action plan to me was if my leak flow was 350-400 to take my emergency steroids. Also if I m having symptoms to try taking my fostair an extra couple of puffs.

I know it is the unknown but I think my health anxiety is kicking in!! 🙈

[Echoblue]

Anxiety doesn’t help with breathing issues. Tricky as it sounds, the more you can find ways to keep calm, the better you will be able to cope. Learning techniques while you are well will help tremendously should you have any flare ups. X

[Amy2091]

I too have eosinophilic asthma and am still experimenting with new medication. My resp team have written me an action plan which for the first time in 28 years makes it simple to understand. I simply double prevention meds and ventolin when my peak flow drops 30% and then begin a rescue pack if it drops by 50%. The trick is your peak flow, keep an eye on it regularly so that you know what's normal/good and are aware of when you're becoming unwell even before symptoms.

[Sunnydays1982 in reply to Amy2091]

Thank you for your reply!

Sometimes I get symptoms...which I would describe as irritated airways...I get chest twinges for example after working out in cold weather. I then check my peak flow and it’s fine but still have the twinges. I m just not sure what to do when that happens! Do you ever get this? 😬

[Amy2091]

I'm not sure how you would describe your 'twinges' but I often struggle to catch my breath on exertion rather than a wheeze type of attack and this has reduced greatly from using the spriva respimat. I'm really bad for tracking my peak flow so I can't give much advice, my plan going forward is to keep up with this so I can spot the changes rather than wait for an infection or flare up.

[Tinytune]

My husband was diagnosed with eosinophilic asthma in February this year he was first ill on 27th December last year, he is terrified of the approaching winter. He is well managed although he has a lot of sinus difficulties, paralysed vocal chords, no smell ot taste etc.. he takes the same meds as you and his action plan is that if his PF drops to 390 we need to contract hospital. It's very scary but I am sure now you know what it is there is no need to be as ill as you would have been. My husband ended up in resus with silent chest and then in hdu, hopefully this doesnt happen again. Take care