Late onset Asthma - help and advice

[Munchkin53]

Hi. I'm hoping that this forum may be able to help. Sorry in advance if this ends up a long post. I started in January with a cough that was accompanied with a wheeze. I had no other symptoms other than a continuous cough which effected my sleep. 1st visit to the doctors its a virus and will clear up. Fast forward 2-3 months. I was then given a blue inhaler, shown how to use it and asked if it improved my breathing. I could breath perfectly well. It just made me shake, they told me to use it if i got short of breath. I never did so didnt use it. Next step as the cough was persistent and i was getting tired due to lack of sleep, i was given a preventer inhaler and told to use it religiously till told to stop. I was confused, as they were talking asthma. Id just walked up snowdon without a problem how was it asthma. Anyway i did as i was told and it did indeed ease the cough. Then the problems really started. Within 2-3 weeks id been given steriods and antibiotics as they thought id a chest infection. I felt better but not massively, i was getting progressivly worse coughing more and more again. I went to spain at the end of June and just couldn't stop coughing. I was still taking the inhaler religiously. I started struggling to breathe and couldn't even walk on flat ground. 1st July i was admitted into hospital put straight on steriods and nebulised which didnt seem to actually do anything, if anything i was worse 😞. I was allowed home after the steriods settled my breathing. The medication i was on was doubled and they said they were sure it was late onset asthma. After another few weeks i decided the inhaler was making me so ill and stopped taking it over night i felt better but the cough was still there and i was struggling with breathing but not as bad without the inhaler. I was given a different preventer, which i started taking and ended up pretty much on steriods till the end of October to control the symptoms. Having seen a consultant beginning of November i was given frostair, told i had to take it as prescribed. It was definitely late onset asthma and this would make me better. By the end of November i was back in hospital with serious breathing problems even steriods didnt work anymore. I was put on a nebulizer 4 x a day for 4 days before starting to feel better. I was let home after 5 days and felt better than i had in months. 3 weeks later im struggling again. Ive been off steriods all that time and really don't want them again if i can help it. I'm taking the Frostair still as ive been told i need it. Im also using the rescue inhaler more. I fear within a week ill be on my 3rd hospital visit :-(. Has anyone else been on a similar journey ? Is there any advise anyone can give as to how i help myself ? If a get my heart rate up with excercise will i make things worse ?? Thank you in advance. Tara.

[Homely2 Administrator]

I was diagnosed with late onset asthma a year and a half go. Not as bad as yours though, two short hospital visits.

Mine is still deteriorating, one minute I cannot walk on the flat, a couple of days later I am much better and can do three flights of stairs.

The key to asthma for me is getting my drug regime correct and targeting my triggers.

So ask your asthma nurse what triggers your asthma.

Mine is triggered mainly by dust, pollen, cold air and heavy meals. The hospital did blood tests to show what I was allergic to, the results are on my NHS app.

So I simply have to keep the house dust free, I use an air purifier etc. If I did not I would be in hospital continually.

So identify what triggers your asthma, then avoid and control that trigger. Become a detective.

Re your drug regime, read up on the various asthma drugs, then discuss with your asthma nurse. Make your asthma nurse check that you are taking your inhalers correctly, also ask her about how to breathe correctly, or look up on Google.

If you have not got an asthma nurse, ask for one.

Also have a chat with the nurses on the asthma UK helpline. Go through triggers and the various drugs with them.

Re exercise, you need to exercise, but too much triggers my asthma. I mainly exercise by swimming, it suits me. It does not suit all asthmatics,, if they dislike chlorine or humidity etc. So find out very gently what exercise suits you.

You have to learn all about the asthma that has entered your life.

[lakelover]

Everything Homely2 says is correct, I would add though that some people react badly to dry powder inhalers & others can react badly to the aerosol type. When I was diagnosed my peak flow was 350 & the doctor wanted it to be over 400. After a month on the aerosol inhaler it was down below 250. As soon as I was put on a dry powder inhaler it shot up to about 425 & my cough went.

[Tugun in reply to lakelover]

The propellant in the normal blue inhaler gives me asthma. So my asthma got worse on it - quite a lot worse over 10 months. I now take powdered salbutamol (ventolin) and have no problems. It relieves me almost instantly.

[flowerjunky]

Hi

My late onset asthma (eosinophilic non-allergic asthma) started with persistent cough at the age of 54.

I agree with the reply by Homely2 about triggers etc but have you also considered acid reflux (GERD) as a possible cause ? Silent reflux (no obvious symptoms) can aggravate the windpipe and sometimes also the lungs. Try raising the head end of your bed on blocks or using a foam wedge to prop you up a bit at night. You could also try otc meds such as Nexium or Gaviscon Advanced (check with pharmacist if ok with your current meds) at bedtime as well as avoiding heavy meals and spicy /acidic foods. If this helps, speak to your gp or asthma nurse about testing for acid reflux.

Good luck and I hope you find a way to manage your symptoms soon.

[Mandevilla]

Late 40s here and developed asthma 3 years ago following a severe chest infection, but wasn't diagnosed for two years (kept being told I was experiencing breathing difficulties due to 'stress about Covid'!!!) The most helpful thing I found was the helpline - the nurses are brilliant, talk you through everything and give really useful advice. I also found it helpful to go back to my GP with 'the asthma UK nurse suggested...'

The other thing that helped me was asking for an 'asthma review' with an asthma nurse at my GP practice. I spent the first year only having telephone consultations with the GP and my asthma was really out of control. The asthma nurse put me on to some new medication and my Ventolin use has gone down from multiple times a day to once every 3 weeks or so! The asthma nurses can often be much more up to date in their knowledge than the GPs, so if you're struggling to get help from the GP, try the nurses.