Newbie .... Hello

Hi , I found this website after a depressing chat with a Dr and I thought there must be help out there ! I was on various different tablets for my heart for approx 15 years but a chance comment made by a Dr when in for another problem she commented about the cough I had and said it was a side effect of the Sotalol I was on , she took me off it and the cough improved but not quite , so I went back and was told I had asthma symptoms and was put on Sybicort and Singulair . I assumed that it would clear it up and I would be back to normal but the Dr says that Ive got it now and thats it ... if it hadnt cleared up within a couple of months after coming off the Sotalol then .. too late ... :0(

Any suggestions for any thing I can do to improve it ? Im very active ( I work with horses ) but the struggle for breath and coughing does slow me down , Ive never smoked and I dont drink at all .

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Hi Beej,

Sorry you've developed these sympoms. Sotaol is a beta blocker and therefore can cause broncospasm which in asthmatics is not a good thing! From what you said it sounds like you possibly had underlying asthma and the sotalol has made it rear it's ugly head.

You mentioned you work with horses? Could it be possible that you have an allergy to them or to the hay? You could try taking an antihistemine and see if that lessens your symptoms along with your symbicort and your singulair.

If you are still experiencing symptoms you should go back to your GP because they should be able to get better control of your asthma.

Good luck with everything, and I hope your feeling better soon!

Alice

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Thank you , I doubt its the horses as Ive had them all my life and this only came up once Id gone onto to Sotalol . The exercise and cold air dont help but its the same in the summer ( Ha .... what summer !!!) its deff as soon as I start doing something ... moving bales , walking briskly ... through mud ... up hill , which was never a problem .. even last year . Its just gone down hill in the last year . My peak flow was 80 , so depressing when the scale goes up to 800 or so !!!

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Hello and welcome!

My GP is convinced I am allergic to horses but I have been around them all my life (since a small child) and was only diagnosed with exertion induced asthma a couple of years ago (in my 40s now). I do take antihistamines in the summer to help with obscene reactions to horse fly bites and it also dries up the rhinitis (runny nose) that comes with asthma sometimes, but I have a break from them in winter when not around the nags (I work with them only seasonally). My asthma is just as bad when not around them and am over exerting. My colleagues know I can't walk up to the top of the farm (a Welsh hill farm)to collect horses when the ground is too bad and we can't round up with the quad bike, so I give them all a lift up in the land rover to save some time!

Hope you find this website and forum really helpful - I do.

Karen