Peak flow tracking

[elanaoali]

Hi all

I must admit to not tracking my peak flow unless I think my asthma is getting worse. What is the gold standard for doing this correctly?

[EmmaF91 Community Ambassador]

AM/PM. Same time each day. Either always before or always after meds regular meds. If doing after meds you do it before reliever unless daily reliever is part of your daily regime (if this is the case I’d recommend always doing it before meds).

Hope this helps

[Emzcat41]

No I don’t either, unless I feel particularly bad or know I need to speak to gp who will ask. I prefer to go on symptoms, shortness of breath, cough, waking at night etc. To me that’s more predictable and I trust how I feel, rather than numbers on a ‘blower’ lol xx

[elanaoali in reply to Emzcat41]

I just felt as its getting to my worse time of year it would be good to start tracking.

[Emzcat41 in reply to elanaoali]

I know it’s always recommended and a good idea - doesn’t hurt! I think I just try to do as little as poss to not let it become too time consuming/over taking in my life. I do do it when I’m really struggling tho. I’m not a good example xxx

[twinkly29]

This is basically all the Peak Flow information you could need!

healthunlocked.com/asthmauk...

[Lullabelle_18]

I never used to do it regularly but when I started having recurring chest infections a few years ago I started doing it morning and night before my inhalers. I use an app to track mine called Asthma and you can also input how good or bad your symptoms are each day and how many puffs of reliever you’ve had. It does really help me x

[Eupnoos in reply to Lullabelle_18]

Do you use these records when you meet with your GP/ asthma nurse? Does it come in handy then?

[Lullabelle_18 in reply to Eupnoos]

Yes I have done in the past as you can download the data. It also gives you a good indication of how well your asthma is being controlled at a glance.

Try it for a month and see how you go, the app is free so you’ve got nothing to lose 😁

[Eupnoos in reply to Lullabelle_18]

I find that these apps are handy but in the short term, I want to find a way to look at the preventive aspect too from overuse of medication. My 38-year-old cousin developed osteoporosis because her meds were not tracked in a way that gave her thresholds. I work in technology so decided to put my experience to better use and am looking at a way to prevent this kind of a thing from happening. If you have some time I would really appreciate your feedback and help with developing a system that is a lot more holistic. This is a link to a survey I created as a starting point, would truly appreciate your input and also from those who would be interested in contributing. Thanks Lullabelle LINK to survey rb.gy/p8jjhz

[Autie1]

I track mine every morning and evening. I only started when i was having a huge flare at work and my record is being used as part of the evidence for occupational asthma. Its been a massive help in thaf respect.

[peege]

Its probably sensible at this time of year to know your normal so you can take precautions if there's a dip. I know that keeping track of a child's peak flow is useful because when it dips can be an indicator of infection brewing. P

[EmmaF91 Community Ambassador in reply to peege]

*Or just generally that they are loosing control of their asthma due to other triggers 😉😅