Just been to see the consultant at chest clinic. my spiro test was normal and i actuall y managed a pf of 350. my oxygen levels were also ok as was my ecg.so that was all good news but i felt like a failure as i still get the coughing bouts , chest crushing feeling, and a painful upper back, SO the conultant said i may be suffering from GERD. gastro-eosophagus reflux disease. he says it is very common with asthmatics as asthma coughing can weaken the eosphagul (not sure of spelling) muscles over time. i am continuing with my seretide 250 but he has prescribed medication for the GERD. i have to go back in 4 weeks. so we shall see. i was a bit puzzled at this cos i have never suffered heartburn once in my 40 years.
You need much worse reflux to get heartburn - you only need a tiny bit of reflux to make asthma worse. My GP fiddled around with antacids for a while before getting some expert advice. For full acid suppression, you need to take omeprazole with breakfast and supper and ranitidine at night and continue for at least 3 months. I found it helped a lot, especially with night time coughing, BUT only after I'd been on the regime for 8 weeks.
hi alison. he has put me on Omeprazole 40mg) once a day and Metoclopramide (3 x a day),just for 4 weeks.. still coughing but its only been 3 days. i have got hand shakes now but if it cures the coughing it'll be worth it.
Sounds like you're getting the right amount of treatment, stick with it and I hope the side effects wear off soon.
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