I am 60yrs old never been diagnosed with asthma. Then suddenly from no where had a asthma attack. I had noticed over the last few months getting short of breathe but just put that down to getting older.Two days before the attack after climbing stairs at work my colleague said to me you are very out of breathe are you alright. I thought it was a cold coming on. My chest was tight.
This weekend apparently had an asthma attack never went to hospital waited for GP. Had crackles on both lungs and a wheeze and could not stop coughing. Now I am on steriods, antibiotics, and inhalers got an appointment for a asthma nurse. Told to ring 999 next time. Where did this come from scared, confused 😕 Is it a good idea to get all my questions ready for the nurse will she answer them? Or will she be just doing tests.
Sorry for the post being so long. I am off work to rest and recover questions going round and round in my head. No idea what is happening or where this came from. Do i need to do anything. 🤔
Written by
Whin1963
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Sorry to hear you not well. Because you are on antibiotics and steroids it sounds like you have a chest infection. Is good you are seeing asthma nurse because you can organise an action plan together so you know what to do in different circumstances.
It is quite normal to get asthma a little later on in life, it is called late onset asthma
Your asthma nurse may well want to check your diagnosis for which there are a range of tests. There is a range as some asthmatics will be positive for one test but negative for another. Also you can be positive one day and negative the next.
Your asthma nurse should prescribe you a peak flow meter and show you how to use it. It is normally initially to keep a peak flow diary doing regular readings. This helps in the diagnosis and teaches you what is normal for you. Then you will know when your readings are abnormal
Your asthma nurse should give you an asthma management plan, which tells you what to do when your peak flow is abnormal.
You are probably on one inhaler, blue, to use when having an attack, and possibly another inhaler to stop an attack. There is a huge range of inhalers which the nurse can experiment with, to find the right one for you.
All the info you need is on the asthma UK website. If you need advice ring 0300 2225800, office hours and the asthma UK nurses will help.
Good luck, and seek medical advice early rather than late, as asthma can get scary quickly.
Thank you everyone I am on fostair and salamol easi-breathe. Prednisolone steriods and doxycycline antibiotics. I will think about some questions for nurse which is in 2 weeks. Once again thank you so much.
Hi Whin. Welcome. I know where you are coming from - I was 62. Like you I had got breathless occasionally and I thought “so this is what getting old is like” so of course I ignored it. You don’t go to the doctors because you are getting old, do you. Then a tickle in the back of my throat, usually in the middle of the night. Annoying, but again, not something I would bother the doctor about. Then one night the tickle wouldn’t go away and I ended up having a very nasty asthma attack. It felt like I wasn’t breathing at all so I put my hand on my chest so I could feel it move. A paramedic came and luckily I responded very well to the nebuliser. Off to hospital and more nebs, chest X-ray and home with a blue inhaler and a packet of prednisone with the instruction to see my GP for lung tests when I was feeling better. I asked was it asthma ( my dad got asthma at around the same age) I was told no, as there was nothing to trigger it at this time of year. How wrong she was. Tree pollens are prevalent at the moment (I had my attack on 3rd March.
However, you didn’t come here to find out about me, but I thought you might find it reassuring to know that there is someone else of your age who has had a similar welcome to the world of asthma.
In answer to your question yes, make a list of questions. The nurse may not have time to answer your questions but at least you are prepared if she has.
As Homely says, take your peak flow. I would but one from Amazon - the basis one is quite cheap. It is a plastic tube you breathe into -one hard breath and a little arrow moves down the tube. This is your peak flow. I did mine before my inhalers and then about two hours after., at the same times each day. You record your results on a graph. This allows you to see at a glance what is going on in your airways. (I’ll pop a link on to the asthma U.K. record chart.) asthmaandlung.org.uk/sympto...
Do you have hayfever? If you do you might want to take start your antihistamines. Maybe not immediately in case the nurse is doing allergy testing. It is ok to take them if it is blood tests for allergies but you shouldn’t be on them for skin prick tests.
Don’t be afraid to use your blue inhaler. Some say it is for an attack ( which it is) but you can also take it if you are not breathing properly. I find it best to have my blue inhaler through a spacer with a mask . If you did have another attack, if it’s on a mask spacer you can just breath in and out -you don’t need to hold your breath. AND in the event of an attack you can take up to 10 to settle it.
Finally. You will be ok. You have got your blue inhaler which you didn’t have last time. The blue one is very good at warding off a big attack. You should also have a preventer which will reduce any swelling in the airways and keep them open for 12 hours. You should start to feel an improvement as a result of the prednisone in a couple of days .
For now, just try to relax. You have had a shock.
If you have any specific questions that don’t get answered or are playing on your mind and can’t wait or are causing you anxiety then feel free to post them here. There are a lot of different people here with a lot of different experiences all ready to help.
you can use Google to get a chart of predicted peak flow rates for men and women but don't assume that there is something wrong if you do not match the prediction, some people may have a naturally low reading some higher which is why you need to keep a record to see what your base level is.
Troilus thank you, Your story is very similar to what happened to me and I am so glad you shared this with me. I did not call an ambulance cos I thought I would look silly calling an ambulance for just a shocking cough or chest infection. So stupidly I waited all weekend till Monday morning to see my GP. I am not someone who visits my GP offend. Who went crazy with me and said this could not have end well which scared me but I did not know what it was. She rang me later that day to check i was ok which confined to me how serious it must have been. You're right I am very shocked.
Hi Whin. I think it is to do with our age - you don’t bother the doctor with “ minor “ things. Wait and see how it goes. The upside of that is we are resilient and very good at self management - both of which are necessary in this condition.
For me, part of the shock was that I had always considered myself fit and healthy. I was doing very well for “someone my age.” Then, bam, in the course of one night I discovered I was dropping to bits ( or so I thought) and for the first time in my life I knew I could die - as quickly as that. Fit as a lop at 10 pm and dead by 6 am.
I think another part of the problem was that those around me didn’t realise how serious it had been, how much of a wake up call it was.
The upside is that feeling subsides. It reduces to caution, which subsides to awareness and awareness is good.
The best advice I can give right now is to take your meds on time, take your peak flow and be aware of your symptoms to see if there is a link with anything you are doing or using.
I should add that I am absolutely fine now. Took a while but all is good. I’m not quite invincible but pretty close 😁
It's scary when you first get a diagnosis, isn't it?! Best thing you can do is to ring the helpline on 0300 2225800 - they are absolutely brilliant, so helpful and reassuring. No question is too daft to ask, and they are great at talking through the everyday practicalities, as well as giving helpful advice on what to ask at medical appointments. I felt so much calmer and more able to cope after my first phone call with them.
I can relate. I had adult onset asthma diagnosed too. Urgent care diagnosed as bronchitis then primary care said cracked rib? Went for a bit sadly before diagnosis. It began as attacks where I could not breathe and felt like I was suffocating. Scared and no clue what i was experiencing. I went to a naturopath who did blood allergy tests and i was allergic to everything. Was told to modify diet and read all labels for triggers. He said adult onset was majority of time allergies. I believe the immune system is backfiring. A by product of our polluted toxic world!!! Wheat is my #1 problem. Followed by dairy and sugar. Modifying diet helped a lot. Emotional stress is also trigger.Best to you navigating this scary unpredictable disease. I don't believe the general public has a clue the suffering and fear that comes with asthma. Until youve experienced that suffocating feeling no one can empathize with you the trauma it brings. 😞
Stay strong and find your triggers boost your immune system!
I'm sorry you have had this distressing experience. I too was 62 when I had my first asthma attack. I was still working and had recently moved house. It was really frightening not to be able to breathe and I felt strange for a week or two afterwards despite meds. I continued to work for another two years without problems. I'm 75 now and my asthma has been well controlled, currently with Fostair and Montelukast tablets. I rarely use my blue inhaler now.
Thank you all for your replies. I finally got a full night's sleep last night which hopefully should help. I work on a farm but in the office's so I am back to work on Monday after a week off. It knocked me off my feet that is for sure. All the messages from everyone has been so helpful. It was OK to be scared not nice but I had reason to be.
I'm 1963 vintage like you but have had asthma all my life (had a bit longer to get used to it than you ☺️). I can't imagine what it's like to suddenly have this thrust upon you but please know that scary that it is in most cases it can be well controlled and life will go on mostly as before.
You've already received lots of great advice from this lovely group but I thought I'd add a couple of things.
It will be helpful to try to keep a diary of what you were doing, where you were, what time of year and what the weather is like when you have asthma symptoms - that way you can start identifying your triggers. There may be one or more, likely a few and maybe many. Once you know your triggers you can adapt to avoid or mitigate them (or at least be forewarned). For example many of us are triggered by cleaning products, especially spray ones. Before I knew this housework was a huge trigger and a morning cleaning meant an afternoon of asthma. Now I only use plant based cleaning products which is a big improvement.
My other bit of advice is to keep as active, fit and healthy as you can, once you have your asthma under better control and recover from you chest infection get out there and continue to be your fit, healthy self.
I hope that you feel well soon and if you need support you know where we are
Thank you fit and healthy walk my dog every morning before work and sometimes after work. Always on the go at work. It was very strange this week not able to do this but tomorrow I am going to try a morning walk maybe shorter than normal till I build it back up again.
Hi, I'm glad this works for you. But just for anyone reading - it isn't recommended for most people to use pulse oximeters for routine asthma monitoring. Unless this is under medical guidance of someone who understands you and your asthma and how it relates to the oximeter readings.
I'm not commenting on whether that's appropriate for you Emer1000 as I don't know your situation. But this isn't something anyone else should be trying by themselves to keep track of their asthma, as oxygen saturations won't necessarily drop on the finger oximeter even if you're having an attack and need immediate help.
I also had late onset asthma. In my case about 4 or 5 years ago (I'm currently 59). Likewise I didn't know it was "a thing" until it happened. Oddly, my eldest brother also developed it shortly after I did.
I would say its a big plus you've got a diagnosis of asthma quickly. I was initially misdiagnosed by primary care for a few months. They were giving me Prednisolone but wrong type of inhaler and not treating it as asthma but possible COPD. This went on for a couple of months with my getting better very quickly while on the steroids and then quickly falling off the edge of a cliff again when the course finished. Rinse and repeat.
The turning point for me was firstly seeing a visiting specialist respiratory nurse, who thought it was probably asthma. And then, after a real full on attack while out on my bike, getting referred to hospital based chest clinic services. They got me stabilised and got it under control. Subsequently they did full lung function tests to unequivocally nail it down as asthma.
With the right people you really should end up getting it under control. Apart from my taking drugs twice a day, my life became almost no different to what it was before - apart from carrying an emergency inhaler with me when I am cycling (in particular).
One note: Make sure they know about any other conditions you might be taking drugs for. Due to recent unfortunate event, I've now found out that Salbutamol (blue) doesn't play well with a drug I've just been put on for unrelated heart issue. Not something you would want to find out when you actually need to use it.
Good luck: you will get it under control with the right help.
You may have had it,but shrugged symptoms off.sounds like you have a lung infection, which frequently is a trigger for exacerbation of asthma/lung disease. At least now u know you'll be on appropriate treatment and shld feel better whn infection& inflammation settles.I would keep a symptom diary and make a list of any queries u have,for Yr nxt appointment x
Hi Whin, I have same problem, I'm 61 now and was diagnosed with asthma 3 years ago, went to doctors after a trip to Bournemouth climbing stairs at seafront and had to stop halfway coz cudnt breathe! After lung function tests was diagnosed with late onset asthma (which I knew nothing about) took a while of trying different inhalers to get right one (found some of the first ones didn't touch it) I'm now on symbicort 400 which has definitely made a difference, thought life as I knew it was gone but now I'm almost back to how it was! Takes a while to get your head round it all coz certain things have to change but on the whole I'm more or less who I was! Good luck with your journey and once you get on right treatment you can resume life and as you were, very best of luck to you 🙂
Thanks again for all your replies. I have loads of questions going round in my head. I think I am going to ring the asthma help line. I take other medication for high blood pressure and meds for palpitations. I can not explain how confused I feel but I guess all of you felt like this at some point. It came to me yesterday how serious this can be until I get it under control. I do not know where to start with peak flow and a asthma journal. Or even when you should ring an ambulance. 🥺
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Asthma attack or panic attacks. 
2 year old asthma attack but trigger unknown
Asthma attack recovery 
Severe infrequent asthma attack
