Hola. My asthma has been well under control...then Spring hit! Now I cannot say that I amstruggling to breathe...but...my lungs feel so inflamed! I think it is the pollen! Started on March 24th and each day since then, its been up and down. Still on same dose. My 02 sats are 100. And no medication dose changes. But lungs just feel inflamed. Any suggestions on how to avoid pollen or take care of myself better in spring? My peak flow is still same at 800 too. I monitor this all closely and would consider myself in extremely good shape...but I cant avoid this lung annoyance. I was training outside at beginning of Spring for a few days...can I have just inhaled too much pollen? My asthma is also sensitive to weather...and it has been thunderstorms and pouring rain...that must help pollen stir up no?
Spring Noooo: Hola. My asthma has been... - Asthma Community ...
Spring Noooo
It sounds from your symptoms like pollen is affecting you but not actually your asthma at the moment - so tackling the pollen hopefully will stop it doing so.
Ideas (some you may already do, well the first you definitely do because you mentioned them 😆, but in case others are looking for ideas too)...
- Showers are good (and recommended at night to remove pollen to aid sleep), and steam helps you (danger note for others reading in case they don't know if steam helps them or is a trigger for them!)
- Antihistamines: take regularly, easily available and different ones suit different people so if one doesn't work then another should. They should help a bit within a day but I think are best after a couple of weeks of consistent use for things like hayfever. There are antihistamines available on prescription too but the non-prescription ones would need to be tried first and some find the non-prescription ones are better for them anyway.
- Antihistamine and/or steroid nasal sprays: apparently these can be more effective than tablets, though many people need sprays and tablets; also widely available. Pharmacists should be able to advise which to try. Also should be used regularly.
- Eye drops
- Sinus Rinse (eg NeilMed) is my main tip other than antihistamines. Washes out the nasal passages which is where most allergens get in, preventing as much as possible getting further in. Use twice a day with warm water and the saline sachets (before other nasal sprays). Feels a bit like you're drowning the first time 😩 but after that is fine. Allergy consultant recommended it to me many years ago now....was kind of annoyed it helped because it's a bit of a faff. But it really does help.
Some people use a saline spray instead but these sort of moisten the nose rather than washing stuff away.
- Windows closed early evening and at night (maybe all the time when counts are very high). Pollen typically "comes down" from the atmosphere early morning and early evening.
- Dry bedding/clothes inside not outside.
- Some people change clothes after being outside.
- Ensure asthma medication is taken religiously as prescribed (should be anyway but it's not going to help if pollen etc start to bother the asthma)
Not everyone with asthma is triggered by pollen - that sounds a bit obvious maybe but it's possible to have both things running separately without them interacting. So in some people their asthma might be affected if they don't manage the hayfever symptoms. In others the asthma won't be affected even then - of course they'd still want to manage to hayfever symptoms as they can still be pretty horrible!
The best thing I think is to ensure good meds regime for antihistamines/nasal sprays etc - the other ideas help but you have to deal with the underlying issue (a bit like needing preventer meds for asthma not relying on ventolin).
I’ve really started struggling with the tree pollen (Tested allergy) the last two weeks too - chest irritation, inflammation, short of breath and wheezing. Seretide 250 seems to run out short of the 12 hours and I feel breathless. Peak flow not great. I am planning to contact GP tomorrow. I am very consistent with meds, antihistamine, nasal spray etc.
In addition Twinkly’s suggestions above, I’ve got two air filters going in the house and just bought a personal one to wear outside. All of my asthma triggers seem pollen/weather related - hot, cold, wind, thunderstorms. Sooo annoying☹️. The beautiful blossoming plum tree outside is clearly not my friend.
Have you considered yelling at the cherry blossom? That sucks my friend. Im sorry to hear that. These are frustrating symptoms. I am experiencing inflammation, no wheezing and my cardio sucks now. Hang in there...spring is allllmmmoooost over 
Spring is till May 21st then summer starts with the grass pollen season !!!
The latest Q&A video on asthma UK covered pollen & hayfever if you have 5 mins to watch that. Wearing an anti pollution mask (or any face mask) plus goggles or glasses outside should reduce your exposure to pollen significantly, but sprays and tablets are probably easier! If the over the counter hayfever drugs don’t help then you could ask your GP for something stronger.
These are all really good tips. It is hard no? Not fun when asthma is under control and then weather comes along to ruin it. Just gotta stay calm and figure out how to get back. Do you take your anti histamines only when outside or do you also take them even when staying indoors?
They need to be taken daily really to build up a good response. They will help as a one off but for sustained issues they're better taken every day. For some people this would be a few weeks for tree or grass pollen (tree normally March to end April, grass normally mid May to end July). For some through both periods. Others take them for a longer season or even year round for other allergies.
Hi Tengudreams, I take everything all the time. The thought of wearing goggles as well as a mask and a personal filter around the neck made me laugh. I feel sorry for my long suffering hubby who is trying to work out where we can go on holiday. I suggested a city break (Stayvacation of course).😅
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