Asking on behalf of my husband as I’m really worried it’s not being taken seriously. I have asthma myself, I have always taken brown inhalor daily and never have to use blue unless ill.
My husband had childhood asthma but after covid he woke up breathless and had a very bad night cough. After waiting weeks for a gp phone call was given a blue inhalor and told to get in touch if he needed to use it so many times a week. Long story short after a lot of scary wheezing and being unable to get in touch with a GP I told him to try my brown inhalor.
It instantly calmed down! He didn’t have any night coughing fits, nothing. He talked to the dr and they said to not take brown until the asthma test as it can mess with results… this could be weeks away. A few days of no brown inhalor and last night he’s wheezing and taking the blue inhalor..
Is this safe??? My mind is screaming that it’s not as there was such a huge improvement on the brown? I’m terrified he’s going to have an asthma attack…
Anyone heard of this? I don’t understand why they won’t get him a low dose brown if it seems to have helped? Surely prevention is important?
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figTree23
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The first thing I would do is call the asthma UK helpline. They have some experienced asthma nurses who can advise your husband, and tell him what to ask the GP for. Their phone number is on this page.
With me when asthma was suggested as a possibility, my gp sent me to the GP asthma nurse. She then did a peak flow reading pre any drugs, then over the next four weeks introduced me to the blue and brown inhalers, taking peak flows as she did it. She then diagnosed asthma on the basis of the improvement in peak flow, and only then referred me for spirometry etc, with the normal three month wait.
Looking back I was lucky to have such a good gp asthma nurse, and this approach has some correlation to what your husbands GP is doing. It has also been useful that my gp surgery had readings pre taking any meds. I know now that my peak flow is 300 or so pre meds and in the 600s, when OK, with meds.
However the approach only seems sensible to me if the asthma testing is going to be done relatively soon and the asthma is not too bad.
Since the initial diagnosis, I have been diagnosed three more times, ie each time they transfer me, and each time my taking of inhalers has not been an issue, beyond stopping them shortly before the test.
Re being scared of an asthma attack, I have them regularly. The key for me is to have a blue inhaler always in the pocket and a spacer nearby. For me the blue inhaler is pretty miraculous.
So have your husband ring the asthma UK helpline and chat it through not only what to say to the GP, but to make sure he knows what to do if his breathing does worsen.
Helpline: 0300 222 5800 uk office hours only & I think they close over the Xmas hols so call today.
When childhood (undiagnosed) asthma returned 20+ years ago the gp prescribed a brown inhaler, said "try it for a few weeks, if the wheezing stops & shortness of breath improves then its asthma "! It beggars belief you husband has to wait. Tell him to cover mouth & nose when going out in cold & wind or inhale through the nose whilst out n about. One little thing to help prevent attacks
I've had several respiratory tests over the years, and they ask that you stop taking your inhalers/montelukast about 24 hours before the test. Not weeks. Otherwise the drugs can give the appearance of healthy lungs, so its worth coughing and wheezing for a day, if you can, but not weeks. I'd check this request out if I were you.
I don't understand why your husband has to wait "weeks" for a GP appointment. I've had two next day GP appointments recently at my local medical centre due to asthma. I also have an asthma review every year, arranged by the local asthma nurses.
Personally, I don't think it's acceptable to make a suspected asthma patient wait weeks for a diagnostic test while they're experiencing symptoms that may escalate. The breathing tests can be carried out by the asthma nurse and they don't take that long.
Hopefully, you or your husband has phoned the Asthma UK helpline. But I would contact the GP surgery and stress that the symptoms are worsening and could your husband see the asthma nurse as a matter if urgency.
The 111 service may be an avenue to consider, in that they will assess your husband's need to be seen by a doctor. However, that may result in a trip to A&E rather than a GP appointment. The 111 service can advise an urgent GP appointment with your own surgery and that will override any system of waiting that is in place, so a next day appointment can be secured. It helps if you've tried and failed to get an earlier appointment with your GP surgery as that will inform 111 service of your efforts.
Do you have a peak flow at home? It may be worth taking your husband's peak flow before he takes Ventolin and take the peak flow again 20 minutes after Ventolin. Then you can tell 111 that husband's PF is improving after Ventolin (if it is) so that they have an idea of the effects of short term treatment on symptoms. They won't diagnose asthma, but it will help them realise that the case is urgent.
It would be worth buying a peak flow meter just to do this. I had real trouble getting a diagnosis for years because my peak flow is so far above average, and it was seeing the huge jump between pre and post Ventolin recordings that made the GP really look into the possibility of asthma.
When I go for spirometry, I’m told not to take the “brown inhaler” that morning before I go; the reversibility tests with Salbutamol during the spirometry seem to be unaffected by such a short duration without the “brown inhaler” (I would have taken it the previous evening).
Theoretically, because brown inhalers are long-acting, there will be a lag before their effect wears off, but this seems to be pretty short in your husband’s case. If you can’t get a definitive response from the avenues which others have suggested then, when you get the appointment, your husband could arrange to stop the brown inhaler just for as long as is reasonable, given his experience. The fact that your inhaler works well for him should be good enough evidence that this is the way forward; getting precise detail of the degree of reversibility may not be necessary to get the right treatment (which is what is important) - sometimes the best can be the enemy of the good.
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