Asthma hospital referral

[Dwileman67]

Morning all, I've been referred to the hospital as my gp is struggling to keep my asthma under control. I've been asked not to take my medication beforehand... can anyone tell me what to expect from the appointment... other than a wheezy morning... thanks

[Troilus]

The only time I was asked not to take my inhalers was for Spirometry. Is that mentioned on your appointment letter?

[Dwileman67 in reply to Troilus]

Yes it just says they will perform breathing test, so I assume yes

[Poobah]

My hospital appointments always start with seeing a clinic nurse who goes over my most recent symptoms and their severity & patterns and how it affects your daily life. You will also be asked about your medical history and even family medical history if it involves respiratory illnesses. They then do spirometry & lung function tests (breathing into a digital gadget). Very occasionally there are blood tests and you may have these to establish if your asthma is eosinophilic or IgE triggered (there maybe other less common phenotypes). They can also screen your blood samples for allergies. Height & weight will be recorded.

Your respiratory clinic may also do a chest x-ray or CT scan.

After seeing the nurse you'll see a consultant who will have the primary results and other information from the nurse. The doctor may or may not ask supplemental questions. But they will assess the early results and may even recommend changes to your medication. However, if blood & other test results remain outstanding, they may just want to wait for these and see you again in a few weeks before changing your meds. Ask what phenotype you have as at least you can then read up about it and understand it more and find out about latest research and treatments.

If there's any information you think you should volunteer but haven't been asked about, don't hesitate to share it - you never know how important it may be to understanding your asthma (asthma can be very individualistic). Years ago I waited until the end of my appointment to share an experience I had when taking aspirin (I had never been asked about it over the years) and the consultant became very excited. That was a game changer for me and my treatment. I now know that between 8 & 20% of asthmatics have a problem with aspirin, in varying degrees, but my hospital respiratory clinic still doesn't screen for it as they don't believe it's common enough to be a factor for a majority of patients. But it was a major factor for me.

Good luck with your appointment.

[Dwileman67 in reply to Poobah]

Thanks that's useful to know

[Chip_y2kuk]

Normally you get there they will weigh you and do spirometry sometimes they will do Feno as well depends on what the consultant has ordered

Then the consultant will have a chat with you and come up with a 'plan' before sending you for bloods and scheduling tests and arranging to see you again in so many weeks/months (once all the tests are done and the results are back normally)

[Dwileman67]

Thanks