Hi Everyone,
I hope you are all well.
Does anyone else out there wake up with a very tight chest/bad asthma and have to take a number of salbutamol/ventolin puffs to get going in the mornings?
I don't wake with chest tightness in teh night strangely unlike so any of you.
My respiratory consultant wants me to cut down on it in the mornings, but without it I can't get going. (I take Fostair x2 morning and evening plus 2 puffs of Tiotropium).
All the very best, Matthew
I often get asthma symptoms immediately I get up. I am assuming there is some form of trigger causing this, so am going through all the obvious candidates.So not the same as you, but what are the possible causes for you.
Thank you for your kind reply, I should think about that actually as maybe there is a trigger. I often find I'm clear when I wake but as soon as I walk around the house my asthma comes on and quite a bit of airway soreness until I take my Inhalers. When I am well I still need ventolin in the morning to start the day but can go without when I take fostair in the evening before sleep.
Do you get a morning dip in your peak flow. If you haven't been monitoring it I would as evidence to the health team that things are not well controlled.So you are comparing your evening peak flow and morning before Ventolin.
Hope this is helpful
Hi my peak flows are generally the same both morning and evening. Evenings are easier though with my asthma when I am well.
Hi! With the colds coming, both of my kids, 4 and 2 y.o (one of them is already using preventors and having relievers with), wake up with a really bad cough in the morning. It doen't last long, an hour and a half maybe, but i was also wondering if cold has something to do with it. Our friends have an asthmatic kid who with the colds started feeling worse in the mornings.
If I am already struggling then as you say the cold is definitely a trigger. But I even have this in the summer too,.I've always needed ventolin and quite a few puffs in the morning so I can get my breath before starting the day.
I used to get a morning dip (for years) but that's a rarity now as I take Montelukast in the evening. I'm also on Fostair, twice a day.
Definitely monitor your peak flow evening and morning, before & after Fostair and Trip inhalers, just to confirm the range of the dip without Ventolin and before/after your prevention meds. This info will be helpful for your doctor when it comes to reviewing your treatment. Ideally, Ventolin should be used 2 to 3 times a week and if it's required more than that, indicates that symptoms aren't controlled satisfactorily and treatment should be reviewed.
Overnight you may be experiencing post nasal drip or reflux (GERD), both can irritate the lungs and cause asthma symptoms, but there are treatments for them. Reflux can be addressed by looking at what you eat & when and/or raising the head end of the bed.
But sleep apnoea could also be a factor, this is diagnosed by a specialist sleep clinic which your doctor can refer you to if they think you may have SA. Other symptoms of SA can be a headache on waking, tiredness during the day, lack of concentration & mood swings. During sleep apnoea leads to breathing stopping and starting and you wake alot, maybe snore and all that affects oxygen levels. Definitely something to rule out.
If your doctor does give you additional treatment, continue with peak flow monitoring as you want to see if the meds are having the desired affect. If you see no improvement after a couple of months then it's back to the doctor to try something else.
Hi Matthew,
It does sound like your asthma isn't necessarily well controlled. You don't have to be waking up/aware of waking to struggle with your asthma during the night. Yes, that applies to sleep apnoea, but equally it can also apply to poorly controlled asthma. I have severe asthma and my body is fairly bad at waking me up properly if it happens at night (which does then mean I can't do anything about it!) Sometimes I am kind of aware because it gets into my dreams, but sometimes I might just wake up feeling really tired.
I appreciate it's difficult at the moment with energy costs, but advice to 'heat the person not the home' or 'no one needs heating at night/a cold room is better for sleep' isn't always relevant to asthma, where breathing in the air can be an issue however warm you are. People are different, but if you can afford it and you find cold affects you then you may need to try to make your room a bit warmer at night. Or whatever you need to do - you mention it's an issue in the summer too so it may not be the cold.
This page might have some tips: asthma.org.uk/advice/living...
I agree with others to keep an eye on it - peak flow monitoring, if that helps you, though not everyone has peak flow which neatly fits with symptoms. But as Poobah says, it may be useful to be able to show that the Ventolin is doing something.
I know you said you're ok in the evenings, but I wonder if you've ever tried taking your Ventolin before bed, and if that helps at all with mornings? I sometimes find I need to take mine before bed for a better night's sleep, which I worked out through trial and error.
Thank you both for all your kind help and advice above. I think over the last year I just got used to having uncontrolled asthma and carried on with things despite it, but have now had two chesty colds this autumn that have brought it into focus again and this time stopped me working or exercising, along with the shock of having to focus on every breath again which I find very depressing.
I found I hit a brick wall under the care of my respiratory consultant who after tests came back clear said he thought it wasn't asthma and spent time asking me about whether I've had the covid jab or not. It didn't feel all that helpful and thej they forgot about me for a year until I called them recently and got myself a follow up in March and lung function test.
I've decided to get on top of it again, I changed my diet, took in more Vitamin A via fish oils, ate lots of green leafy home grown veg and lost a fair bit of weight and doing lots of exercise and was feeling stronger. This episode has stagnated me and all I can manage is a leisurely walk. Even then my chest burns after and makes me pay for it the following day.
I've restarted taking Omeprazole again as I do get reflux and am now wondering if this has been the problem. My younger brother used to get lots chest infections as a result of reflux so I'm wondering if this is causing mine. Even so, my underlying, life long asthma is still not controlled all that well despite doctors and consultants changing my meds.
Even when I am doing much better, I still find after my morning meds that by lunchtime during a busy shift at work I need a ventolin again. Do you think this means that my preventative meds aren't working for me? I have felt this way for a while but I let it slide as was generally OK.
I do tend to leave things until a problem comes up with a cold etc.
Thanks a lot for your help as always.
For exercise, I am presently going swimming rather than walking, as walking gives me asthma due to the cold.
My new air purifier seems to be stopping the dip in my readings when I get up.
Though the thorough clean and airing I gave the bathroom might also have helped.
I had it too and I can recommend you to do breathing exercises, like diaphragmatic breathing, pursed lips breathing, or Buteyko breathing. These exercises can help regulate your breathing and reduce symptoms. If your symptoms persist, make an appointment with your doctor. They may suggest a combination of new medications, or your current medication doses might be modified to help reduce your symptoms. I personally take vitamins and meds from this pharmacy canadapharmacy.com/ to maintain my health.
