Chronic wheeze but no asthma?

[Mattb2449]

Hi all,

Aware this might not be strictly relevant to this forum but I’ve posted before and got some really helpful advice so I thought I’d give it a try - I wonder if anyone has had any similar experiences to mine below:

- always had a reactive wheeze to dust. If I took an antihistamine the wheeze went away.

- for the last 10 months I’ve had a chronic wheeze everyday - have tried Beclometasone inhaler twice a day but that didn’t help.

- only thing that relieves the wheeze is ventolin.

- have had spirometer and Bronchial challenge test - both came back completely normal.

- have also had a continuous laryngoscopy during exercise test that was normal.

- got a cold air breathing test tomorrow.

So I have no idea what is causing this wheeze (can hear it on inhale and exhale). My peak flow is always in a normal range (560-600)

If anybody has had any experiences of an undiagnosable wheeze I’d be really interested to hear if you ever found out what it was!

Thanks very much

[EmmaF91 Community Ambassador]

Do you suffer from allergies/have a lot of mucus? And is it an audible wheeze or do they also hear it in your lungs?

I know my lungs are usually wheezy when they have mucus stuck in them. (And I do have asthma wheeze but that depends on the trigger...). If it used to clear with an antihistamine does that still happen? And have they done BT to check for infections etc?

I have a wheeze that comes and goes. It’s only around when my asthmas bad and is audible to the ear despite chest being clear. I’ve had VCD etc ruled out and general consensus is that is a weird protection thing my airways do when my breathing is bad (personally i feel like it’s something like VCD triggered by asthma, and vent calms the asthma so VCD clears up🤷‍♀️)

Hope that helps

[Mattb2449 in reply to EmmaF91]

That’s interesting - thanks for the reply.

It doesn’t clear with an antihistamine anymore - beforehand it only occurred when I was in a dusty room for example - the wheeze now happens in any environment.

I have had blood tests but they came back clear, also had an x ray and no abnormalities.

I don’t think there is much mucus - beforehand when I knew it was an allergy I could feel the mucus clearing as I coughed after taking the ventolin, but that doesn’t seem to happen this time.

My main concern is whether its something more serious as I’m doing a lot of travelling in the coming months

[MrsCMK]

Hey! I suffer with many severe allergies (one being dust) and have always relied on antihistamines. About 4 years ago, I was wheezing almost on a daily basis- most mornings I would wake up with a wheeze.

My consultant added Montelukast to my meds and I’ve never wheezed since! For me personally, it’s been the best thing I’ve ever taken. I have allergic asthma also but even when I’m having a bad flare or an attack, I never wheeze. To add, which again is similar to you, my peak flow is always great and rarely drops when I’m at my worst.

Some similarities between our conditions here, so possibly the addition of Montelukast by your physician could be worth trying?

[Mattb2449 in reply to MrsCMK]

Oh really interesting! Thanks very much for the advice. That does sound very similar - I never feel the wheeze is gonna go into an asthma attack or anything, buts it’s just always there. The blood tests did show that I’m very allergic to dust.

My mum has quite severe but controlled asthma and I think she takes Montelukast.

Am I right in thinking their oral tablets you take before bed?

[MrsCMK in reply to Mattb2449]

Same- the wheeze was always there, never really progressed, no disruptions to my breathing as such.

That’s correct- I take one at night. Honestly, for me it’s been a miracle drug! It works so well that a LOT of doctors questioned whether or not I had asthma. I had to stop taking Montelukast for a few weeks to make the wheeze come back!

[SheilaC]

'Cold air breathing test' I've not heard of this before but I don't need one. I know I have an asthma attack if I go from warm air to cold air.

I had severe wheezing, also felt ill and was losing weight. The GPs kept increasing my asthma medication . I looked the individual doctors up on their website and saw that one was interested in respiratory conditions. I went to her and when I told her I was losing weight without trying, she turned away from her computer and looked at me. She sent me for a CT scan and then all hell broke loose.

That was two and a half years ago and I have improved. After many tests, it turned out that I had a sort of non-contagious TB (mycobacterium intracellulare). Chest infections had caused mild lung damage (bronchiectasis) and nodules had formed. Eighteen months of three anti biotics every day followed and I am reasonably ok at the moment.

I just tell this story in case it helps somebody. I was lucky that it was diagnosed as it is quite unusual. I used to have an allotment, thinking that was healthy but compost can cause this. Also I used to go to the gym and use the swimming pool and steam room afterwards and both these things can also cause it. Oh and the hot tub is bad as well!

[Poobah]

I had to look up cold breathing challenge and it is a good way to establish if asthma is the cause of symptoms. There are all types of asthma and so there are a range of medicines to address specifics.

Inhaled steroids are not always the answer with antibiotics stepping in in some cases.

You don't say that you've had a mucus test - usually done after using a saline based nebuliser. The clinicians can examine the produced mucus for any bacterial or viral growth plus old lung cells for signs of disease or damage.

Have you been tested for acid reflux? Even if you have an allergy to dust there may be a secondary trigger for your wheeze.

I hope you get to the bottom of this and the answers you seek.