I have had mild and well controlled asthma since age 5.
In October 2022 I had an adverse reaction to a Covid vaccine, in and out of hospital with breathing difficulties, severe worsening of asthma and constant airway inflammation for around 9 months, my life was turned upside down. After around 1 year I returned to work, but had 4 severe flare ups in the last year.
9 weeks ago I caught a cold which is the usual cause of a severe flare up. Took steroids for 2 weeks and upped my Fostair (also on Spiriva Respimat) and used the nebuliser multiple times a day for the next 2 weeks (4 weeks at this point). In the fifth week I felt a big improvement which is around the right timescale for me.
I returned to work on amended hours and duties in the 6th week, however only lasted 9 days. I developed a strange tightening of my airway, however my peak flow is only between 5-10% down, from around 500 to 450-470.
What I really need help with, is figuring out what has been going on for the last 3 weeks. My airway is now constantly tight, however peak flow isn’t that bad. I’m exhausted doing anything. I’m constantly clearing my throat but often there isn’t anything to clear, although it feels like there is! I do however seem to get phlegmy and chesty after eating. The best way I can describe how I am feeling is that I feel like I’m on the verge of wheezing whilst breathing in which is really strange.
I am taking 2 x Spiriva in the morning, and 8 Fostair throughout the day. Montelukast in the evening along with an anti histamine as I have post nasal drip. The stranger thing is, the airway tightness gets worse at different times. Upon waking it isn’t too bad, then pottering about it seems to get worse after breakfast and doing my inhalors. I’ve tried some exercise as I’m trying anything right now, and that actually helps, peak flow has been up at 490 after exercise and feel okay. Then for example yesterday I had eggs on toast after exercising and then 2 x Fostair, within 15 minutes my airway was so tight I had to sit down, which makes no sense to me.
Ventlolin nebules help open the airways for about an hour. After 3 weeks of this strange airway tightness I’m at my wits end. I saw my GP and explained and he kept pushing anxiety medication but it isn’t that, it’s a physical tightening and wheeze! I suggested LPR or reflux even though I don’t have heartburn and he said he didn’t believe in that causing asthma symptoms. I had bloods last week which all came back normal, Aspergillus normal and allergy tests showing no allergies.
I’ve been told steroids are for if your peak flow drops by 20% or more so I’m reluctant to start them again but I want to know whether they would help so I’m tempted.
Please if anyone thinks this sounds familiar or has any ideas, I would welcome any replies at all.
Written by
rob27489
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Hi I'm so sorry you're going through this, it sounds awful and definitely beyond my experience. There is the helpline here so you can speak to a professional who'll listen, advise & give you guidance on what to do plus what to ask your medics. 0300 222 5800 between 09.15 & 5pm Mon to Friday. Good luck
After that period I got my normal asthma attacks, but I also got attacks that were more sudden, they were reactions to certain things, my trusty fostair 100 did not help. They were quite frightening.
I went to see a respiratory physio privately, she said the other attacks were ILOs. Inducible Laryngospasm, or something like that. It is a physical tightening, more in your throat than asthma is, caused by your body over reacting to certain stimuli, eg perfume. With me, it is mainly sortable by learning certain breathing exercises, for when it happens.
Gerd definitely triggers some of my asthma attacks.
I would ring the asthma UK helpline on 0300 2225800, office hours, and chat your issues through with one of the asthma nurses. They can give you some ideas, and also tell you how to discuss then with your GP.
Hi, I can relate to much of what you say, for some reason which I can't work out I have had an underlying tightness. One thing I would suggest is keeping a record of what you eat, this may need to be quite detailed in so far as what type of bread you toasted with the eggs and how that effects you and how quickly you get an effect, then look for a pattern or take the record to the doctor to show that food causes a reaction. I'm surprised he dismissed food as an issue as I thought it was generally accepted.
Thank you so much for caring enough to answer, I really appreciate it.
It has been a really difficult period! I have 2 young children and I can’t currently work and all that added stress certainly doesn’t help.
I will start a log of everything I’m eating or doing and how it affects me. I have councilling starting this evening with a clinical psychologist who specialises in coping respiratory conditions so I really hope she can help me. I have also been referred to the difficult asthma unit by my GP this week.
Really feel for you. My Mum had this issue and had GERD. They prescribed her Omeprazole and Gavison which almost solved her symptoms. Have you been allergy tested recently? As you are probably already aware you can develop an allergy at any time in your life. When I have difficulty with this problem I have a warm water drink, not classic tea with milk. A herbal tea as it seems to relax the oesophagus and helps the airways. Hope this helps 🤞
I am so sorry you're having such a rough time. I wonder if trying something I use might help? The DuoResp Spiromax has helped me to regulate my asthma, after a time when I was taking my ventolin 6+ times per day and the same during the night - and that was obviously not helping anymore. I actually found the more I took the ventolin, the worse the tightness in my chest, and the new salamol generic inhaler that the NHS now prescribes is worse.
Hi Rob I have asthma but I also have severe stage 4 copd and I find the changing of the season makes me tight and I need a double dose of steroid and antibiotics I hope you get well soon
Hi Rob I think your asthma is getting uncontrolled for whatever reason … I am not sure if you know what type Of asthma you have but it’s good you have been referred to difficult asthma clinic … I think all the symptoms are happening due to poor control … you need to see if it’s severe asthma then it may be that it could have evoke persistent…. Or even mild to moderate asthma something is triggering … your feno will give a good indication to if there’s airway inflammation …. It depends and sometime for people peak flow isn’t best indication … good luck
Thank you. I have explored the vaccine damage scheme, it took 14 months to get a reply which I got a couple of weeks ago. The issue I have is proving that the vaccine did this to me, it’s well and good the consultant saying in his opinion it was that, however I was treated with GP and hospital thinking it was a bad chest infection in the first 2 months so different antibiotics and steroids were thrown at me, meaning my blood results were completely skewed from the drugs. I’ve been told by my consultant that if I’d had bloods done immediately, it will probably have shown a direct response from the vaccine on my results. I have got to live with the fact it’s me against the system and I don’t stand much chance.
Hi Rob As you said its an adverse reaction to the covid vax, maybe find out, if you don't know which one you took and look up the side affects as you maybe able to find some answers there and if this continues to be a problem going forward you may be intialled to compensation which can be upto £120,000 this might be some help whilst you get yourself back on your feet.
I wish you a speedy recovery as there's nothing worse than struggling to breath properly
I’m absolutely stumped. I have completed a Spirometry and FENO test and the spirometer test came back good!
Peak was 490 and then 510 after salbutamol so showed about 5% improvement.
FENO test was 12..? I’ve been told that is really low, I am so fed up and confused. My consultant did say it may be low because I have been on strong inhalors for years and 12/13 hours without taking my inhalors isn’t long enough to get them out of my system.
There’s no doubt I do have asthma and I respond to Prednisolone and salbutamol especially via nebuliser. But what is going on with me.
If it's any consultation, my spirometry and FENO all come back as normal. I had a Methocholine challenge test that was positive to asthma but a mannitol challenge test wasn't. I kept a copy of the Methocholine challenge test which was done at the cough clinic in Hull, so I could show it to Dr's in the future.
Hi, I was annoyed on your behalf about your GP suggesting it's anxiety. Have you been referred to a respiratory consultant? If not then I strongly suggest that you are. You can see a different GP if the one you are seeing is unhelpful.
Post nasal drip can make asthma symptoms worse. I use nasal douching once a day which helps. I personally found Sterimar less aggravating to my nasal lining. Some people find Neilmed good.
Silent reflux can also trigger asthma symptoms. Gaseous mist triggers the vagus nerve causing asthma symptoms (thanks to Prof Alyn Maurice for educating me on that one.) A ph probe test is used to see if it's reflux. Hence why I suggested that you get referred to a respiratory consultant. A cough clinic is another possibility to be referred to. That is how I was diagnosed.
GERD typically causes heartburn and can be a cause of waking up at night. LPR (Silent reflux) doesn't cause waking at night and there's no heartburn. I take Gaviscon double action after each meal and before I go to bed as suggested by my respiratory consultant.
There are other things that can cause asthma type symptoms that a respiratory consultant will be aware of. A GP doesn't specialise in asthma and there isn't always much knowledge about Silent reflux.
I have had Silent reflux for over 20 years as well as asthma. I hope this helps and you manage to get referred.
So I have been under a private respiratory consultant for almost 2 years since I had the reaction to the Covid vaccine (thankfully funded by my employer).
He is very good and has put me on several long courses of steroids over the last 2 years and been trying to manage me.
He recently diagnosed me with Brittle asthma and said I need to be referred to Guys hospital difficult asthma unit and wrote to my GP to do this as it needs an NHS referral.
I have an appointment with him next Wednesday thankfully so will discuss my most recent symptoms with him. He does always ask me if I have acid reflux and I always say no as I never have heartburn, but I guess that doesn’t define reflux.
Good to hear that you have an appointment next Wednesday at Guy's hospital.
I'm under a severe asthma service, the initial one I was under about 20 years ago diagnosed me with silent reflux. I asked them who is the best person to see regarding that and they recommended Prof Alyn Maurice based in Hull (I don't know if he has retired). I was having horrendous symptoms, regular chest infections, pneumonia, choking with no warning. Hoarse voice and my singing voice cutting out without warning, post nasal drip. As well as asthma attacks, some were very sudden (brittle asthma). I ended up having 2 Fundoplication operations which helped. Unfortunately my symptoms have got worse so I'm waiting for a gastroenterology appointment for a pH probe test. I feel your frustration, I sometimes wish I just had straightforward asthma that's easier to treat.
Its so frustrating when they think you need anti depressants. As grown ups we know if we're depressed. It's just a kop out. If the drs don't know what to do they should immediately refer us to the people that do!!!
Clearing throat is a sign of vcd/ilo.i often put hand to throat b4 that was diagnosed.my vocal chords close to s pinhole,but persistence with contrbreayhing does help along with remaining v calm,to keep much reduced airflow to go in x
I have severe eosinophilic asthma and I now have a biologic injection every 8 weeks. Before I started it my asthma was not controlled with any of the meds I was on so ended up on steroids all the time. My iron levels could have a significant effect on my symptoms. I was advised that my ferritin levels are kept above 50. I could always tell when they were low because I would get more symptomatic. My lung function and peak flow levels were always good a did not reflect how symptomatic I was. They also found a bacteria that was causing infection which was treated with the 3 times a week antibiotic.
So for the last couple of days I’ve been monitoring what symptoms I’m having and what I eat etc.
The breathlessness improved over a couple of days, and on Friday I felt well enough to take my son to the park (3 min walk) but it was freezing. Got home after and I was breathless the rest of the day and night regardless of taking my inhalors. So frustrating.
Slightly better yesterday, and then today it’s gone up to 17C from around 6-8C the last week, and today has been a lot better. Then I ate some tuna and I was really breathless for around 30 minutes after. A few days ago when I wasn’t too bad, I ate some scrambled eggs and half hour after I was really breathless. I don’t know what’s going on, I’ve never had a reaction from either before.
I also have notice that after I’ve eaten anything, I have a chesty cough almost instantly, and I am able to cough up mucus as a result from eating, it’s so strange.
I'm really sorry to hear about what you're going through.
I have a similar story but it sounds like you have it tougher than I did. And I'm not confident that what is working for me is even relevant to you but wanted to mention it just in case - you never know. And sorry for the long reply but I wanted to give some context rather than just say what has helped me. Skip the next 3 paragraphs if you're short of time
I'm about 12 years older than you. Long term asthma, but controlled all through my 20s and 30s after some attacks that hospitalised me when I was a kid. Active lifestyle, gym-goer etc.
I had Covid in March 2022 (I'd been vaccinated prior to that). From some of the NHS long-covid sessions I attended subsequently, the problems I had seem to be a common story - months of fatigue, mental fuzziness, nausea, post nasal drip. The virus hit my chest & lungs, so that 3 months after Covid I still couldn't walk to the end of the road and back. Chest / rib / lung ache which worsened through the day and tight airways which seemed to worsen from the slightest provocation (cooking smells, laundry smells, movement, even loud noise). Ventolin doing very little to relieve the issues. I went through a cycle of Sertraline (which I asked for, Covid made my brain feel like it was falling apart all over again). The Sertraline helped my head but seemed to make my chest worse.
Time improved things just enough that after about 15 months I went to help a friend with some kitchen fitting, but then I had some kind of evil bronchospasm, which brought all the chest + lung symptoms straight back, so I went onto high dose Seretide which helped but gave me the tremors and the fear (not to mention a permanent weird full-gullet feeling). Worth it though to buy some time for recovery. Also Montelukast which I was concerned about, but in the event doesn't seem to have caused me any problems & could well have contributed to my stabilisation.
Aside from time (soooo much time), and the medication I've mentioned above, the main thing that seems to have helped me is the realisation that my breathing pattern was thoroughly broken after many years of high-stress work and asthma. The only type of breathing I was doing was shallow mouth breathing, in and out through my mouth and only as far as my chest, so that my chest muscles were exhausted and easily inflamed, with a knock-on effect to my airways. I'd never realised that we are meant to breathe in and out through our nose and into our belly, making good use of our diaphragm. So I did some reading up on the subject, and I've practiced and practiced, and deep nasal breathing has helped me significantly. I'm not trying to claim it's a miracle cure, just that in combination with time and medication it has really helped to ease the strain on my chest and significantly reduce inflammatory responses.
Stay strong & keep fighting, there will be better times ahead.
Sorry to have taken so long to reply. I have been trying to work out what’s going on, had some appointments and sadly lost a family member yesterday.
I want to give you all some background of what’s been going on the last 2/3 weeks.
Spoke to my consultant by email on 18th December, I explained:
• Having strange shortness of breath that I haven’t experienced before, more in my throat than chest?!
• The difficulty is when breathing in, not out so much. Almost wheezing breathing in.
• Peak flow down around 8-10% so not too much which is odd but getting very breathless and exhausted doing things.
• Feel I’m struggling to get a deep breath.
• 4 - 5 weeks ago it was noticeable and lasting most of the day, then was happening a lot throughout the day but particularly after eating some meals, throat would suddenly tighten right up and be very scary.
He suggested starting Omoprazole at 40mg/day for 2 weeks, started on Monday 18th Nov. Also cut out coffee, carbonated drinks, onions. Also ran bloods which came back ok, but had ‘Elevated White Blood Cells and Neutraphils’ which always seem to show up on bloods for me? Unsure why?
The problem remained until around Saturday 30th Nov. I then began to notice a slight improvement in my breathing symptoms, not sure if related? This improvement was gradual the Monday, Tuesday, and then I woke Wednesday and felt normal! I hadn’t felt normal in 2 months?! However I had stopped Omoprazole 3 days prior? Could it be that the Omoprazole and cutting certain foods helped and this was still having an effect after stopping the Omoprazole?
I then had an appointment with my resp consultant on Wednesday evening and he said it sounds like I have silent reflux, I explained my GP said he didn’t believe in silent reflux a few weeks ago and completely dismissed it. My consultant said it’s odd the shortness of breath was lasting all day weeks ago but everything else made it sound like the Omoprazole was working.
He prescribed 20mg Omoprazole for 3 months. However they weren’t available until Friday, so I had gone 4 - 5 days off them before starting again and on a lower dose.
On the Thursday morning (day before getting more Omoprazole, I went downhill and breathing issues came right back, I started Omoprazole 20mg Friday but I have been drinking coffee again but going to cut out again from tomorrow. It’s now Monday so only been back on for a few days and feel rubbish, shortness of breath isn’t good.
Would love people’s thoughts on whether this all adds up, and if they think it’s Silent reflux or LPR?!?!
I'm wondering whether you might have paradoxical vocal fold motion (I obviously can't diagnose as I'm not a Dr). The symptoms of this are very similar to an asthma attack, (I wheeze when I breath out not when I breathe in). This could be PVFM as well as LPR )silent reflux). PVFM sounds like a radio station.
I have both of these and have seen a speech therapist who has given me exercises to do. Apparently it can be triggered by perfume, reflux, smoke as well as emotions. Mine is triggered by humid air and saline nebulisers.
I've been on a PPI for a long time, I now take gaviscon after each meal and before I go to bed for the silent reflux. I've been avoiding the usual food culprits for ages. I too can feel very unwell when symptomatic, it's very frustrating.
I have looked into Vocal cord dysfunction, but I don’t believe my voice sounds any different now to how it ever has?
Also my breathing right now doesn’t have any particular sound to it, I can just feel that the airway is tighter than it should be and in a wierd way I can’t breathe in a fast as I should be able to, because it’s restricted, I can’t get a deep breath most of the time either, and I guess I just feel a big restriction that wasn’t there before!
As I say, I had about 3 days where it improved and 1 day where it wasn’t there at all in the last 11 weeks (this time last week) I am so so confused and keep getting upset as I don’t know what’s going on.
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.
Fexofenadine 
Asthma triggered by ibuprofen?
Leg cramps
Just a little rant!
Asthma still not controlled on highest steroid dose, what next ? 
