Morning chest.

Every morning I use my brown preventer inhaler before I leave home but I still feel a heaviness in my left chest area when I walk for the bus. Does anyone else have this and what's causing it please?

[Meme50]

Yes me too! I preventer does help but not 100%.

[Poobah]

It sounds like you need to see your asthma nurse or doctor for a medication review. The preventer inhaler (brown) can be supplemented with a reliever inhaler that will open up the airways for several hours (Ventolin or Salbutamol). Or you may be prescribed a combination inhaler which contains the preventer medication plus a long acting bronchodilator to open up your airways for up to 12 hours (Fostair, Symbicort, Seretide). The review will also look at the doseage of your current medication.

A heaviness on the chest or a band around the rib cage is indicative of breathlessness and a step up in your asthma plan should address this. The breathlessness can be caused by inflammation and narrowing of the airways. The brown inhaler, at the current dose, doesn't seem to be enough to fully address your asthma symptoms.

Asthma can change at different times of the year, so some asthmatics require more medication in the colder months. Whereas others need help during the high pollen months. Being observant about when you struggle with symptoms will help you prepare for the challenging times and your asthma plan can help with this. If you haven't got a plan then definitely ask your asthma nurse if you can work together on one. This will give you the flexibility to increase and decrease your asthma medication when necessary.

If you do receive different or additional medication, it's important to give it about 8 weeks trial to see if it suits you and does the job satisfactorily. If not, then go back for another review as the doseage isn't quite right or you may need to try different meds. We're all different and sometimes it takes a while to find the right treatment and that can involve several appointments, but it's worth it.

All the best.

[Chelle25 in reply to Poobah]

great advice as always!