New to Asthma

[welshbesam]

I have just accepted the fact that I am a true asthma sufferer at the age of 60!! The last 2 winters I have had several severe chest infections and I was treated with inhalers and steroids, including a 6 day stay in hospital. In my ignorance I thought it was just short term help but the last few months I have had a persistent cough and a visit to the doctor gave me a shock. 'you have asthma and need to take your inhalers all the time'. Talk about shock especially after yesterday when I had my first real full blown asthma attack. I was terrified and so was my husband. So now I am in need of support and information and any help you can give.

[Hidden]

I have had asthma for years, take the inhalers and I live with it. A shock at first, but sadly, things dont stay perfect with our bodies. I WISH!! I do get chest infections++ but I do have bronchiectasis as well. You will have to listen to your doctor, and hopefully, it will become a way of life like other conditions such as diabetes.

Have a chat with the BLF nurse who is so helpful. tel.[phone], or your respiratory nurse. Study any websites, forums and you will find plenty of fellow sufferers. There are a lot of measures you can take before and during an attack.

I hope this is helpful, to you, welsh besam Love Annieseed xx

[KingoftheCocktails]

I am sorry to hear about your asthma.However welsh besam do as annieseed says take your puffers as instructed and phone the BLF Helpline for a friendly chat 03000 030 555 Mon-Fri 10am 6pm

Richard

[cofdrop-UK]

Hi welshbesam

Being newly daignosed can be very overwhelming but as you gain more knowledge you will be more in control of your asthma. Like Annie I have asthma and bronchiectasis and with the help of your medical team you will learn to manage this condition. Good advice from Annieand Richard to 'phone the nurses at BLF - they are very supportive and will give you advice and reassurance.

Wishing you well

Love c

[Hidden]

It is very scary when you have an attack, and it is best to try and stay calm, but that can be hard to do, hopefully you would recognise the signs if it starts building into a full blown attack, and take your emergency puffer sooner, rather than later, try and stay stress free, and welcome to the forum.

[scrobbitty]

Welcome to the forum, welshbesam, just sad that we only all gravitate here because of rotten lungs The BLF Helpline team are wonderful and can give you lots of information.

If you have specific questions that you feel they cannot answer, just pop it on the questions tab and I am sure you will be answered quite quickly Until then, keep calm and keep well.

[Hidden]

Now you have recognised and accepted you have asthma, you have to learn to manage it!

Take your preventer meds regularly, even when you are well.( steroids)

Avoid attacks, avoid situations that may cause attacks and talk to your gp/nurse and get a plan so you know what to do when things go wrong...

Take responsibility for your asthma and let your healthcare provider help you get and keep good control.

Best wishes

Kevin

[welshbesam in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for your advice. Stopping taking my preventer was the worst thing I did but I thought I knew best, I was well so no medication was needed what a harsh lesson I have learned.

I won't stop it again that's for sure I realise now it was keeping me well

[Hidden in reply to welshbesam]

The more asthmatics that realise and learn that lesson, the better controlled they will be! Now that you have learned that the next lesson is to use the inhaler well! You need to get the drug right down into your lungs! Good technique is essential! Check your with your asthma nurse.

Atb

Kevin

[Hidden]

Welcome welshbesam! I have severe asthma,&also Copd.You have been given good advice,as usual from our friends.The best being to make sure you take your preventives,as you found out!Full blown asthma attacks,can be very scary,at first,but I'm sure you'll learn how to handle it,with some advice from the professionals.

Good luck with it all,

Love Wendells. xx

[peege]

Welcome to you Welshbesam. I'm sorry you've had this fright.

Perhaps it's a good thing this has happened now while you're still young and fit enough to make a difference to your future.

Some of us started off with asthma and it's progressed to something else.

You have the opportunity now to get your lungs in good shape and also your muscles fit, strong and efficient - see other blog on oxygen which has helped me enormously to understand the importance of being fit. This will help to prevent any deterioration of your lungs.

I too had mild asthma diagnosed diagnosed 9 years ago. I now realised I'd had it all my life, badly and untreated as a small child. As an adult I was mostly super fit(!!). It made no impact on my life at all bar walking in hills, mountains & certain exersises for ie the cross trainer.

God, I wish I knew 3 years ago what was coming I might not have sat on my arse & got low & unfit.

No one tells you you have to change your life a bit to avoid ill health in the future. For instance, did you know you must avoid mould spores like the plague? I do now but only from being quite ill and having a few tests.

It feels like your life is over but this site will teach you that isn't so. Ask any questions even if you think they're trivial.

Take good care of yourself, eat healthily, lose weight if you need to, learn breathing exersises to strengthen your lungs, always ask for the results of any tests - the GP practice wont necessarily let you know, be pro-active, get some Manuka honey, avoid people with coughs and sneezes and above all - as others have said - ensure you're taking your preventive properly. I think I probably wasn't so have suffered needlessly.

All the best to you. P

[welshbesam]

Thanks to everyone for their support and advice. There is so much to take in.

Been shopping today for some hypo-allergenic pillows cos up until now I have always used a feather one!! I just crave a good nights sleep. I'm not used to surviving on 3-4 hours and that is if i'm lucky. And I'm still working.

Any advice to get any sleep

[peege in reply to welshbesam]

Hopefully when you get a referral to a specialist you will get some skin prick allergy tests to find out if &what you're allergic to.

I went mad when I was diagnosed, put away my lovely goose down pillows and duvet. Bought hyper allergenic. Turned out to be a waste of money because it made no difference. Now 9 years later I've finally had allergy testing for airborne allergies (last 3 years awful) and find I'm not allergic to dust mite or pet stuff (so the dog can stay).

Have you got a respiratory nurse at your practice? I find mine more useful than the GP, more clued up on the various brands and dosage of inhalers, chases up referrals. It was she who put me down for a Pulmonary Rehab course. It was she who immediately gave me a pneumonia jab as well as flu jab as well as checking on my well being.

Pulmonary Rehab is the breathing and exercise course - I think, awaiting my start date. It will be very useful says everyone here so I can't wait to get a crack at it.

Find out as much as you can, knowledge is power. It would be great if you can get a CT scan of the lungs to see if anything else is going on. Take care, peeg

[Jake364]

Hello I have asthma and I get bad attacks and have other problems linked the doctors are good at giving the right meds for the right problems it's scary but the best thing you can do is try not to panic and believe me I know how hard that is