new possible asthma!

hi all just wondering if anyone could help.... been havig difficulty breathing since jan which was chest infection , after antibiotics chest has remained sore with breathing becoming increasingly worse only on left side. After seeing doctor had xray which was clear, been doing the spiromitory test highest reading is 350 has been for last 3 days, lowest 250 and today started on 8 predosilone tablets daily. i'm just wondering how long these tablets would take to kick in ?? Right now dont feel too good, and this may sound daft but is it usual to have asthma in one lung only? I am out of breath all the time not just after excercise, hope to get to the bottom of this soon...

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My son took pred for the first time ten days ago. He bounced back very quickly with a noticable improvement within 2 days. However, he has picked up a cold over the last few days and his asthma has gone downhill. He has started the 3 day course again today and I am hoping it works just as quickly as last time! I also find that steam inhalation really helps him breathe and a hot water bottle helps to ease the sore muscles in his chest (he coughs a great deal).

Hope you feel better very soon. x

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hi thanks for replying, oh bless him i hope he feels better soon,thought they should work quite quickly, been reading a few posts on here and had no idea it could be so hard to get under control this is all new to me i'm a bit lost x

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I know how you feel, I can deal with my Sons asthma no probs, even though it's severe but me I have not got a clue and why is it so hard to get back to being well. The chest pain is driving me mad. I was really ill in my teens and 20's and knew what I was doing but there has been a 13 year gap. My chest got better when I was pregnant with my 1st child and has behaved since really. I'm not having any more, I'm too old

Hope you feel loads better soon, medicines have improved so much now, it's just getting the right doses, it's just taking too long!

Kate

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Lulu please don't panic - remember that, almost by definition, most of the people on this site have asthma which is hard to control as they are the ones who are more likely to need the support of this type of board. There are many, many more asthmatics out there whose condition is mild and/or straightforward to control.

All this must be quite a shock to you if you've never had lung problems before January. It does sound odd that you only feel the symptoms in one lung . . . maybe you've incurred some lung damage to just one lobe or something, as a result of the infection. I'm not a medic, just guessing! I am sure others here can advise you better.

If you don't feel completely better after this course of prednisolone, maybe you should ask your gp for a referral to a respiratory consultant, who may then decide to do a CT scan to check out what this problem in your left lung is as not everything shows up on x-rays (eg minor lung damage won't show up).

My gp says his rule of thumb is, if he can't get to the bottom of a problem in 3 visits, and it's a significant one, to refer on to a consultant, so by that yardstick it wouldn't be unreasonable for you to ask this. But you maybe lucky and the pred will damp all the inflammation down and set you straight again - I certainly hope so x