Bad mood, irritable, fatigued and restless

[Junglechicken]

I’ve been struggling with a flare for about 2 weeks now. I had a chat with my GP on Fri morning who has recommended I temporarily up my preventer dose. On Friday night my PF dropped into the amber which is unusual. As a general rule my PF doesn’t drop. The only time I can remember it happening was just before a severe attack. My increased Seretide has lifted my PF back into my green zone and I do feel a little better when standing up. However I’m so grumpy, irritable, fatigued but can’t sit still. Every little noise is irritating. I find lying down uncomfortable (breathing wise). I’ve read that this behaviour can be an early warning of an attack. Has anyone else had experience of this? Thanks JC

[JustR]

Hi, i know I’ve struggled a little over the last couple of weeks with pollen count being so high and such warm weather. I know I’m feeling a little stuck at home and irritable due to shielding and I’m no way getting enough exercise for my lungs which is impacting my asthma too.

Hopefully the increase with your preventer will help. Have you had to use any other inhalers to help with the uncomfortable breathing, is your chest feeling tighter than usual?

I hope you feel better soon.

[Junglechicken]

Hi JustR. Chest definitely tighter with a slight quiet wheeze and back pain around my ribs. Just checked PF and it has dropped back to 78%, from 92% after meds this morning. Been taking salbutamol twice each day for the last few weeks. I know the quality of my sleep has declined through coughing and unable to settle.

[twinkly29 in reply to Junglechicken]

If you need salbutamol for a few days and it's helping, then use it, that's ok. That's what it's there for. The ideal is that it's not needed more than 3 times a week (or whatever it is) BUT that is routinely. Even someone who rarely used salbutamol might have a flare and need salbutamol for a few days. That's normal asthma blips and doesn't necessarily need any further input (though of course sometimes it does).

I would say that if using it and it's helping (ie improving symptoms, improving peak flow) and it's lasting 4 hours, then that's ok for a few days. It might take longer for the increased seretide to embed anyway. If after a few days things aren't better, maybe phone your GP again and be explicit about how salbutamol need and the effect it's had.

However, if it's not helping symptoms or peak flow - or it is helping but it's not lasting 4 hours after you have the salbutamol - then you need to seek help now.

Pollen could well have been an issue the last few weeks. I know you take antihistamines anyway but people are struggling regardless of those. However, in a way the cause is irrelevant - if your reliever meds help, use them and monitor (but, if you can, in a relaxed way otherwise anxiety or stress gets involved and makes things worse - I know it's not easy to just not worry though 😅). If your meds are not helping then seek help.

[Junglechicken in reply to twinkly29]

Thanks Twinky29. 😊I’m trying to relax as much as possible.

[twinkly29 in reply to Junglechicken]

I know how hard it is, particularly trying not to focus on symptoms. I'm not great at that! But I guess my main thing was don't be afraid to use your salbutamol - just keep an eye on it in case it's no longer helping.

[JustR in reply to Junglechicken]

I agree that increasing the frequency of salbutamol may help in the short term and if not then seek further help with GP.

It’s so hard when you have a flare up of symptoms, I always find myself firstly thinking how bad I’m going to get before I get better..I need to change my mind set..lol

Hope things improve.

[twinkly29 in reply to JustR]

It's hard not to think about it/worry. I suppose better than ignoring completely though as that's when problems occur! Finding that balance between thinking about it enough to keep an eye....yet not all the time is really hard though 😅.

I also used to find the "at what point do I seek advice" thing difficult. Like one couple of days iffy, next ok morning ok. Great. That evening iffy but again ok after, so not long enough to know if it's sorting itself out or not. Arghh!

[Nutzs47]

Have you got rescue preds ?

As a rule if you need your reliever more than every 4 hrs your having an attack that’s according to my action plan .

My asthma nurse has told me that I can take an extra dose of my preventer mid afternoon for up to 5 days if my peak flow as started to fall below 400 (it’s better to take it at a different time than your usual dose as it helps opening your airways longer ) If I don’t see any difference or my peak flow carries on falling I have to take my rescue preds and even if I do respond I need to see my dr to check that there’s no underlying problem and my chest is clear.

Hope you feel better soon

[Junglechicken in reply to Nutzs47]

Hi Nuts47. No, I don’t have emergency pred. In the grand scale of things I’m ok. It was the unusual drop that had me concerned from past experience. I’m back up to PF 82% after a few days of increased preventer use. I jump to about 94% after double Seretide dose and feel great for a few hours. Then I start to drop back to 78-80% and feel under the weather again.

[twinkly29 in reply to Junglechicken]

That sounds promising regarding the increased seretide, especially as it's not long been increased. Fingers crossed that keeps helping.

While pf isn't the only marker, 70-80% is usual green/yellow border so, depending where your parameters are, you could actually still be in green zone when things "dip" which is ok. Even if they're going slightly into yellow, I imagine using salbutamol would bring things back up. But hopefully the longer the increased seretide has been building in your system, the less you'll have to do that.

[Hamscoul]

I can sympathise with the irritability. When my asthma was bad everything was hard work. Showering, or walking never mind anything more strenuous. I often felt frustrated that I was taking all this medication and was always wheezy. My quality of life was quite poor. I tried to accept flare ups as just part of having asthma but it would play on my mind. I would do the only thing I could, comply with my meds and contact GP as soon as my symptoms and peak flow suggested things were worse. I would trust your instincts about your symptoms. You will know when it's not right, but back it up with your action plan. My peak flow rarely drops but my symptoms were debilitating. We all have asthma but it affects us all differently. You sound like you are managing yours well. I hope it gets easier soon. Sending you my best wishes.